Klinsmann given time to ponder future, cost not an issue

Jul 6, 2006, 12:13 GMT

Berlin - Germany coach Juergen Klinsmann will be put under no pressure to make a decision on his future after the World Cup, German Football Federation (DFB) president Theo Zwanziger confirmed Thursday.

'He really needs a few days - whether that's eight or 14, or three or four weeks does not matter,' he told Kicker sports magazine.

Klinsmann has said he wants to consider whether to stay on as coach once Germany's last match - the game for third place against Portugal in Stuttgart on Saturday - is over.

Klinsmann, 41, will be taking a holiday in Europe with his family after the World Cup. Germany's first match after the tournament is a friendly on August 16 against Sweden.

Zwanziger, who is at present sharing the DFB presidency with Gerhard Mayer-Vorfelder, wants Klinsmann to sign a new contract at least up until the 2008 European Championships.

Any negotiations on a new contract are unlikely to fail on financial questions, DFB treasurer Heinrich Schmidhuber said.

Some federation officials have questioned the cost of Klinsmann's tenure as coach, including the expense of his training staff and first-class flights to and from his home in California.

But Schmidhuber told Munich's Abendzeitung daily: 'I never said we have to make savings because of Klinsmann. It is a question of what priorities one sets.'