Al-Ahram Weekly | Sports | Leave it to Voeller

		27 June - 3 July 2002 Issue No. 592 Sports	Current issue Previous issue Site map
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875		Recommend this page

Leave it to Voeller
It hasn't been beautiful but Germany's play was good enough, and much of the credit goes to the coach

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Rudi Voeller's enthusiasm has rubbed off on his players
In his first major tournament as coach, Rudi Voeller has shown that even a mediocre German team can win.
By restoring the team's trademark determination and relentless drive -- characteristics that served German soccer well in the past -- Voeller has taken a team woefully low on confidence back to the top ranks.
Voeller is the first to admit his team has not exactly electrified World Cup audiences. But he also points out that the best team does not always win the title.
"Honestly, we were not so good in 1986 and 1990, yet we went to the final in '86 and won the title four years later," Voeller constantly tells his players.
The Germans' run in Korea and Japan helped erase some of the bitter memories of Euro 2000, when they went home without a victory as defending champion.
"Voeller was an absolutely fortunate choice," said Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, a vice president of the German Football Federation whose main job was to help reconstruct the team after Euro 2000.
"He is very confident and he relays this feeling to the players," added Rummenigge, Voeller's teammate on the 1986 team that lost the final to Argentina.
Voeller, who only got the job because coach- designate Christoph Daum flunked a drug test, knows how to get the team through the daily grind of the month-long tournament, keeping it relaxed, encouraging the younger players and making sure everyone stays motivated.
"It's very important to have a coach who has been through it all," captain and goalkeeper Oliver Kahn said.
As one of Germany's all-time best strikers, Voeller won the World Cup in 1990, the last of their three World Cup championships, and enjoys tremendous popularity at home and unquestionable authority among the players.
Voeller did not make any major changes immediately after becoming coach two years ago, although no one would have questioned him if he had. He gradually brought in younger talent and started giving those players more responsibility, while retaining some of the veterans.
"He managed to stabilise the team very quickly and then started slowly changing the team," Rummenigge said.
Voeller's tenure has not been all success. He had to endure the bitter 5-1 loss at home to England in qualifying that sent Germany to the nerve-racking playoff against the Ukraine.
The 42-year-old coach says that game was a defining moment for his team. "Those were the hardest days of my career. I had never been under so much pressure," Voeller said.
"But that's when the team grew together, when we created this spirit we have and when we showed that we are able to produce under pressure."
Having lost several starters to injury just before the World Cup, Voeller refused to dwell on the problems and installed 21-year-old central defender Christoph Metzelder into his starting line-up. Metzelder will be hard to remove after the World Cup.
The main reason Germany's game has sputtered has been the subpar showing of midfield star Michael Ballack, who is not in top shape because of a string of late-season injuries.
Ballack probably has not reached more than 40 per cent of his potential, but that has been enough for two goals, including the winner in the 1-0 quarter-final victory over the United States.
Voeller's defence basically comes down to one man -- Kahn. But the goalkeeper has been outstanding, protecting the 1-0 victory against the Americans in the quarter-finals with three stunning saves and allowing only one goal in the first five matches.
Up front, Voeller trusted his instincts and went with striker Miroslav Klose who, before the semi-final with Korea, was one of three leading scorers at the tournament with five goals.
"We have a very good goalkeeper and we are very good at set pieces. It's no shame to win games that way," Voeller said.

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