Sammer not worried over lack of backing from Klinsmann

Germany's new technical director Matthias Sammer is unconcerned about head coach Juergen Klinsmann's preference for a different candidate.

"It's not a bad thing to have different opinions," the former European Footballer of the Year said at a news conference yesterday.

"My wife didn't like me at first. Now we're married and we have three kids."

Klinsmann, who will lead Germany's bid for a home triumph in this year's World Cup, wanted hockey coach Bernhard Peters to take on the role of technical director.

Instead, the German Football Association (DFB) opted for Klinsmann's former team-mate Sammer, while promising to offer Peters an unspecified role from October this year.

Sammer will be in charge of Germany's youth teams up to the under-20 age group and will be asked to work with the head coach on defining tactical systems.

Klinsmann, who has yet to decide whether to stay on after the World Cup, said he would accept Wednesday's decision to appoint Sammer but reiterated Peters was his preferred choice.

Sammer, who played alongside Klinsmann in Germany's 1996 European Championship-winning team, has coached at Borussia Dortmund and VfB Stuttgart. He said yesterday he had no interest in replacing Klinsmann.

"It's not a topic that interests me," he said. "I won't be behind him pawing the ground."

Hosts Germany have been drawn alongside Costa Rica, Poland and Ecuador in Group A for the World Cup finals.

They open the competition against Costa Rica in Munich on June 9.