Klinsmann to coach Bayern Munich

Munich: Juergen Klinsmann said on Friday he felt honoured and privileged to be asked to coach Bayern Munich and made a quick decision to accept the job at what he called one of the top clubs in the world.

Klinsmann, who guided Germany to a third-place finish at the 2006 World Cup, will replace Ottmar Hitzfeld on July 1 on a two-year contract. No details were given of the deal that took Germany completely by surprise.

Klinsmann, 43, quit the Germany job after the World Cup and has not coached since. He turned down an offer to coach the United States, and has been linked to various other coaching positions, including at Liverpool.

"I had other options but this was by far the best opportunity I got," Klinsmann told a crowded news conference at a Munich hotel.

"It's a huge honour and I am very pleased to have the opportunity to coach Bayern. It's the No. 1 club in the country, it's a privilege. I knew that at some point I would return to coaching. Bayern is one of the 6-8 top teams in the world, that's what makes it fun."

Before taking over Germany, Klinsmann had never been a coach. But he said the experience of guiding Germany through the World Cup would help him in the most demanding club job in the country.

Klinsmann commuted between Germany and his residence in Huntington Beach, California, for most of his tenure as national team coach but said he would move with his family to Munich.

"Our 10-year-old son Jonathan was born here and I have close family ties to Germany," said Klinsmann, who was born near Stuttgart and whose mother still works in the family bakery there.

Klinsmann played for Bayern Munich between 1995-97, but was not believed to have a close relationship with Bayern's management.

Bayern officials, including president Franz Beckenbauer and chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, had criticised Klinsmann when he was in charge of Germany.

But Rummenigge said the club hired "absolutely the coach we wanted" and that Klinsmann had been the unanimous choice.

General manager Uli Hoeness said the idea came from Rummenigge and that Klinsmann accepted the offer after sleeping on it for one night.

"He is a maverick, we wanted a man who has strong opinions, who looks for new ways and who can approach young people. We are proud and curious and we are pleased he chose us, because he had other offers," Hoeness said.

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Beckenbauer, who was in charge of Germany when it won the World Cup title in 1990 with Klinsmann as striker, called the appointment "somewhat courageous but clever."

"He introduced new methods, he brings some experience from the United States," said Beckenbauer, who appeared at the joint new conference along with Klinsmann, Rummenigge and Hoeness.

Klinsmann said he would build his own staff that would include Americans and other international experts.

"We want to make every player better and so make the team better," Klinsmann said, citing a slogan he also used at the national team.

He pushed through sweeping changes into the often-staid German football establishment and its national team, such as bringing in American fitness experts. His Germany team played with an attacking flair.

He caused massive anger at Bayern when he demoted goalkeeper Oliver Kahn to a reserve and took away his captaincy of the national team.

Kahn will retire at the end of the season, and said he didn't care who would be coach when he's gone.

"It doesn't concern me," he said.

Hitzfeld, who said last week that he would not extend his contract, said Bayern had picked a "first-class" coach. The multi-lingual Klinsmann can easily communicate with foreign players, he said.

While playing for Bayern, Klinsmann won a Bundesliga title and the UEFA Cup. He also played for Stuttgart, Inter Milan, Tottenham and Monaco, and scored 47 goals in 108 games for Germany.

Bayern announced the deal on their website on Friday and the news dominated headlines around the country.

Joachim Loew, who was Klinsmann's assistant and replaced him as Germany coach, was also surprised by the news.

"But after our telephone conversations in recent weeks and months, I was sure that he would return to a coaching job," Loew said.

"It will be a gain for German football. It's an exciting project to have a former national team coach, who shook up a lot of things, take over a top German club. I am looking forward to good cooperation."

Hitzfeld took over as Bayern coach on February 1, his second stint at Germany's top club. During his first stint between 1998-2004, Hitzfeld won the 2001 Champions League title, four Bundesliga titles and the German Cup.

But he was stung by public criticism from Bayern's managers, who spent $103 million on new players assembling the most expensive team in Bundesliga history, only to see it level on points with Werder Bremen halfway into the season. The league is in its winter break.