Berlin: Germany manager Jurgen Klinsmann has stirred up a hornet's nest in his homeland by calling for the national field hockey coach to be appointed as the new technical director of the German Football Federation (DFB).
Klinsmann has backed Bernhard Peters, coach of the German hockey team since 2001, for the role claiming it is time for football to welcome outside influences.
"Bernhard Peters is the man who can help us progress," said Klinsmann. "It would do football some good to open up. In the last 10 or 15 years we have been sleeping in Germany."
The concept of employing a man with no real football credentials to oversee the DFB has sparked controversy within Germany and West Germany's 1974 World Cup winner Berti Vogts was one figurehead to ridicule the idea.
"I think hockey is a different sport to football," Vogts, Germany coach for the Euro 96 success, informed Kicker magazine. "You can not compare the two and I can not believe the idea."
Since taking charge in July 2004 Klinsmann has not been afraid to try out innovative ideas using fitness coaches from the United States and employing a psychologist to prepare for the 2006 World Cup on home soil.
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