© EuroFootball.com
Germany must win the 2006 World Championship. At least that's what the Germans themselves believe. The team overcame a crisis of generational change and is led by a successful coach - Rudi Voller, who unexpectedly led the team to a silver medal at the 2002 World Championship.
If successful, Voller will be carried on hands in the native fields in 2006 in Germany. In case of failure, he has a backup plan. Leverkusen's managing director Reiner Calmund named Voller as his successor after the current director of "Bayer" retires in 2006.
The well-known figure in German football, Calmund, seemed to permanently lead the "Bayer" club. A lover of good food, with the financial assistance of a certain aspirin manufacturer, he turned "Bayer" into a high-level European club at the end of the past decade, even reaching the final of the Champions League. But on Friday, Calmund announced that he would retire in a couple of years. "I will propose Volleri for my place," Calmund noted.
In the past, the former German national team forward ended his career in 1996. Immediately after that, Calmund offered Voller to work as the club's sports director. Voller would still be working at Leverkusen to this day if a scandal involving Christofo Daumo, who was already appointed as the national team coach, and his inclination to cocaine use had not occurred after the unsuccessful 2000 European Championship for Germany. Daumo was hurriedly replaced by Voller, who worked wonders. The team, which few believed in and which had experienced a serious crisis due to generational change, became World Championship runners-up, only losing to the Brazilians with the unmatched Ronaldo, who twice defeated Oliver Kahn in the final.
After such success, Voller was predicted success at the 2006 championships and the great Franz Beckenbauer's glory, who became a World Champion for Germany both as a player and a coach. Voller, as is known, became a World Champion in 1990 when Beckenbauer himself led the team.
Calmund hopes that Voller will continue the work he started more than ten years ago. "He is an ideal candidate. He knows football well and is very popular," said the "Bayer" boss.
Rudi Voller's contract with the German Football Association expires right after the 2006 World Championship, so if he wants to return to lead "Bayer," he likely won't have any problems.
