Germany’s Littbarski lobbies for Australia coaching job
By DPA, IANSWednesday, June 9, 2010
SYDNEY - German football coach Pierre Littbarski has put his hand up to replace Dutchman Pim Verbeek as Australia’s national coach, news reports said Wednesday.
Verbeek, hired in 2007 to get the Socceroos into the World Cup and the Asian Cup, ticked both boxes but is to take up a coaching job in Morocco after the South Africa finals.
“I’m absolutely interested in the Socceroos job,” Littbarski told The Australian newspaper. “Because I know the coach is finishing, it’s very enticing for me, but it depends what the federation thinks.”
The Football Federation Australia (FFA) is unlikely to promote a local coach to the position, and Littbarski is a known quantity.
The Berlin-born midfielder, who played in two World Cups, coached Sydney FC to the local league’s first championship five years ago.
The 50-year-old Littbarski’s last job was with Liechtenstein-based Swiss club FC Vaduz.
The newspaper speculated that Littbarski was a long shot because the FFA would likely appoint a top-shelf coach in hopes of advancing its bid to host the World Cup in 2018 or 2022.
Verbeek, 54, was not a first-choice replacement for fellow Dutchman Guus Hiddink, the coach who took Australia to the World Cup in Germany. Gerard Houllier and Dick Advocaat turned down offers.
Verbeek’s replacement will have to rebuild the Australian side, which plays its opening game against Germany this weekend with almost the same line-up as in Germany four years ago.
