Legend Hitzfeld perfect fit for Socceroos
* Tom Smithies
* From: News Limited newspapers
* June 18, 2010 12:30AM
HINDSIGHT is a wonderful thing, but well before Switzerland pulled off the shock of the World Cup, Ottmar Hitzfeld's name should have been the target of Frank Lowy's famous ability to persuade.
Hitzfeld is a vastly experienced European coach, a ruthless disciplinarian with an itinerant career that suggests he needs a regular new challenge. Sound familiar to the coach who took Australia to the last World Cup?
He also earns a huge amount of money, in absolute terms let alone as coach of a minor European side - E1.75m ($2.5m) according to a recent list of coach salaries, which thanks to the collapse of the Euro puts him on a par with Pim Verbeek.
And despite being born in Germany and working most of his life with German teams, Hitzfeld has a huge affiliation with Switzerland, not least as he grew up near the Swiss-German border and spoke the neutral state's German dialect as a child.
So he might seem an unlikely chance as far as Lowy is concerned, and European observers believe Switzerland will throw even more money at him after beating Spain to persuade him to stay on.
And yet. Hitzfeld's contract expires in July, the latest instalment in a phenomenally successful career. Twice World Coach of the Year, he is the only man to have won the Champions League with two clubs, has won the Swiss League twice and more importantly the German league seven times.
He is also sufficiently hardline to be nicknamed der General, commanding and demanding absolute respect, and is a brilliant tactician. Switzerland played a superb defensive hand against Spain, but Hitzfeld is - like Hiddink - a coach to tailor his tactics to the players available.
All of which of course means the world will be beating a path to Hitzfeld's door once Switzerland are out of the World Cup - exactly as happened in 2008 when he left Bayern Munich, of his own volition, and opted for Switzerland.
But Hiddink was similarly in demand, and between them Lowy and John O'Neill lured him to Australia.
This is a different gig, a longer-term operation away from the bright lights of Europe. But $6m is a decent sum - around E2.5m in net terms, which is how European coaches talk about salaries.
Enough to tempt him to the other side of the world? You'll never know unless you ask Frank.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/world-cup-2010/legend-hitzfeld-perfect-fit-for-socceroos/story-fn4k63e5-1225881078287