Ottmar Hitzfeld has revealed that he would be keen to
manage Switzerland after leaving Bayern Munich.
Hitzfeld is set to leave the German giants at the end of the
season, with his replacement Jurgen Klinsmann already having been
confirmed, and he has been strongly tipped to move into
international management with the Swiss.
And Hitzfeld, who guided both Borussia Dortmund and Bayern to UEFA
Champions League glory in 1997 and 2001 respectively, has admitted
an interest in becoming Switzerland boss after Euro 2008.
"To represent a country, to train them for an exact goal and reach
the 2010 World Cup, that would be a good stop in the road to
retirement," Hitzfeld told Sueddeutsche.
Pressure
"The pressure and expectation in Switzerland would be great but not
unmanageable."
Meanwhile, the appointment of Klinsmann as successor to Hitzfeld at
Bayern has been met by criticism in Germany.
Klinsmann led Germany to the semi-finals of the 2006 World Cup, but
Bayern's goalkeeping coach Sepp Maier does not believe the
appointment will be a success.
"I am not pleased he (Klinsmann) will become Bayern's coach," Maier
told Stern magazine.
Strong opinion
"None of the backroom staff expected his appointment. Nobody,
except the executive committee, saw it coming.
"He must know that coaching a national side and a club team are two
totally different things. It is much harder to coach a club team
and Bayern Munich is an established side.
"The club's executive committee understands a lot about football
and there are some strong opinions here. That could become a
problem for Klinsmann in the running of the club."