'Klinsmann should go if Germany exit early'

BERLIN, May 12: Germany coach Juergen Klinsmann should be replaced if his team exits the World Cup early, Franz Beckenbauer said in a radio interview today.

''If he and his team are ejected from the tournament early, if their performance is disappointing ... then (his position) would be unsustainable,'' Beckenbauer told ARD radio.

Beckenbauer suggested the German Football Association (DFB) should have a replacement for Klinsmann ''on the back-burner'' in case the coach no longer continued in his position after the month-long tournament, which begins in Germany on June 9.

A soccer icon in Germany, Beckenbauer has been one of Klinsmann's most vociferous critics, repeatedly questioning his tactics and commitment to the job.

Klinsmann himself has said his future as coach depends on whether or not the team is successful and has resisted DFB efforts to extend his two-year contract beyond the World Cup.

REUTERS