GERMANY: Germany coach presents local ally as assistant.

Germany coach Joachim Loew has presented a little-known former third division coach, Hans-Dieter Flick, as his assistant to the press at a news conference in Frankfurt on Thursday (August 24). Like Loew and his predecessor Juergen Klinsmann, who both speak with a strong southern German accent, Flick is from the same part of southwestern Germany and coached third division side TSG Hoffenheim for five years before getting sacked in 2005. Flick, 41, was a midfielder who played 148 matches for Bayern Munich and scored six goals between 1984 and 1990. He later played 44 matches for Cologne before retiring in 1993. Widely known as "Hansi Flick", he never played for Germany. Flick, who was born in Heidelberg and coached the team in nearby Hoffenheim, had recently been working as an assistant at Red Bull Salzburg. Klinsmann stepped down after the World Cup, where Germany finished a surprise third, after recommending his assistant Loew as his successor. Loew recently said last week he was looking for an assistant who would above all fit in well with his staff. Germany begins its Euro 2008 qualifying campaign against Ireland on September 2 in Stuttgart.

ITN Source | August 24, 2006

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