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Klinsmann makes Bayern his enemy

(China Daily)
Updated: 2006-04-11 06:47

MUNICH: German manager Jurgen Klinsmann has shown he is not afraid to make unpopular decisions - even if they upset his old club Bayern Munich.

Klinsmann won the 1997 German title at Bayern and will rely on several Munich players at this summer's World Cup, including his captain Michael Ballack, but he continues to anger the German champions.

Just 24 hours before Bayern's game against rivals Werder Bremen on Saturday, Klinsmann revealed that Bayern's goalkeeper Oliver Kahn was no longer first choice for Germany after occupying the number one jersey for eight years.

Arsenal's Jens Lehmann is now the number one heading into the finals.

"It was Bayern's request that the decision be made quickly because it was a burden for the club. Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (Bayern chairman) told me that at the airport," said Klinsmann.

But Klinsmann's decision to rock Kahn's confidence before the Bremen game, which Bayern lost 3-0, infuriated the club's management.

"A decision like that made before the most important league game this year is not good timing," raged general manager Uli Hoeness.

"We could have sat down on Sunday in Munich but maybe there is another flight heading to California," added Hoeness acidly, referring to Klinsmann's much criticised insistence on returning to his California home regularly.

For some time Klinsmann has been criticised for continually jetting back to his home in the United States rather than staying in Germany to prepare for the first World Cup match on June 9.

The 36-year-old Kahn cut a glum figure against Bremen and his misery continued as Bayern lost 3-0.