Beckenbauer Scolds Germany's Klinsmann

With the wounds still fresh following the bitter defeat against Italy in a pre-World Cup friendly, Jürgen Klinsmann headed to his second home in California to bask in the sunshine. But his break from the glaring criticism was short-lived. Less than a week later, Franz Beckenbauer lashed out at the Germany national coach for failing to attend a workshop of top officials from all 32 World Cup finalists.

"It's incredible that he's not here," the self-proclaimed Kaiser of German soccer said at a press conference in Düsseldorf Monday. "As host country you have to be here. Nearly all the coaches are here. Carlos Alberto Parreira came from Brazil, Sven-Goran Eriksson came from England, but our head coach is not here."

Beckenbauer, who is the president of Germany's organizing committee for the World Cup and instrumental in bringing the 2006 soccer championship to Germany, berated Klinsmann for skipping out of his duties as coach and a representative of the host country.

"He should have been here. This is an obligatory meeting and he does not have all that many meetings that are obligatory," Beckenbauer told reporters and then added tersely: "I don't want to say anything more about it because the more I think about it, the more drastic my choice of words will become."

The two-day gathering of World Cup coaches had been planned for some time and was designed to give the officials a chance to discuss technical issues. Klinsmann's assistants, Oliver Bierhoff and Joachim Löw, represented the German team.

Klinsmann in the spotlight

Klinsmann, who has been commuting between his native Germany and his home in southern California since taking the job in August 2004, has had to endure harsh criticism after his side's embarrassing performance in Italy last week. The game, which was one of just a handful of pre-tournament friendlies, had been billed as key to testing Germany's skills. Instead it ended in a crushing 1-4 loss.

Many in the media and soccer world pinned the blame on Klinsmann's decision to stay based in the US ahead of the World Cup. Several Bundesliga coaches and German officials have argued that the national coach should be in Germany to watch matches every week.

Klinsmann has rejected the criticism. "I was in Gemrany for three of the last five weeks after the Bundesliga started up after the winter break," he told mass-circulation daily Bild. "I've got my plan with everything necessary for the World Cup preparations."

Private interests should take back seat

The 60-year-old Beckenbauer, who lives just south of the German border in Austria, has for the most part supported his younger colleague's decisions and rarely criticized Klinsmann in public. But he said the national coach needed to show more presence in Germany at the very least to calm the country's nerves after the defeat in Florence last week.

"I don't know how often I've spoken with him and told him that he must be in Germany during the final run-up to the tournament," a visibly angry Beckenbauer told reporters.

With only 94 days left before the World Cup kicks off in June, Klinsmann has very little time left to quell the fears of his critics – and their number is growing.

On Tuesday politicians from all sides of the spectrum joined the Klinsmann bashing and attacked his plans to stay in California. "There are only three months left before the start. Jürgen Klinsmann belongs here in Germany," said Detlef Parr the sports expert for the opposition neo-liberal Free Democrats.

"The national trainer would be well advised to come here," added Stephan Mayer, the Christian Social Union's representative in the federal sporting commission. "Mr. Klinsmann must now learn to push his private interests aside for the World Cup."

Interior Minister lends support

But Klinsmann has at least one strong ally in the interior ministry, which is responsible for sports and ultimately for a successful World Cup. In an interview published in the Bild newspaper on Monday, Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble defended Klinsmann and declared that the Germany team "will not disappoint us."

He confessed that the German soccer federation "knew Klinsmann would not be easy to handle," but said he did not "believe in changing horses in the middle of the river."