Klinsmann leaves the team hotel in Berlin on Wednesday. (Reuters)

Berlin: Germany’s young team has a bright future and can be proud of its World Cup despite the 2-0 semi-final loss to Italy. The question now is how to persuade coach Juergen Klinsmann to stay.

Klinsmann has asked for time before giving a final answer and is unlikely to make his decision known soon. German soccer officials want a quick reply but are willing to give Klinsmann time to make up his mind.

“We’d like an early reply but it’s the wrong time to put on pressure,” team manager Oliver Bierhoff said on Wednesday. “I wish he would stay. Klinsmann has been a stroke of luck for German soccer,” German soccer federation (DFB) co-president Gerhard Mayer-Vorfelder said Wednesday.

“He’s started a project and he should continue it,” Mayer-Vorfelder added.

Klinsmann’s contract ends after the World Cup and he has said before he wants to consult his family before making a decision. Klinsmann has resisted calls to move back to Germany from his adopted home in southern California.

“I need time to let this sink in,” Klinsmann said after Tuesday’s extra-time loss to Italy in Dortmund. “I haven’t made a decision. I was only thinking so far as the final, not beyond it. I’ve asked the federation to give me time.”

Franz Beckenbauer and other influential German soccer officials had criticised the way Klinsmann has overhauled the team and ditched Germany’s usual safety-first tactics. The coach has also drawn fire for adopting US-style training methods and commuting from his home in the United States.

But Klinsmann won them over with his team’s exuberant, attacking style that pleased the fans and took Germany into the last four, way past early expectations.

Even Beckenbauer urged Klinsmann to stay after Tuesday’s game. “He started a job that he hasn’t finished. He wanted to be world champion, and he didn’t manage it, so he has to continue,” Beckenbauer said.

“He’s formed a young team that he trusts and that trusts him. It would be a terrible shame if we would go back to California,” Beckenbauer said.

“He has to carry on this work. He has no choice.”

With a handful of players who could still be on the under-21 team, Germany will not peak until the 2008 European Championship or even until the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

“This is their chance and he should stay. We saw that Italy was at its peak and that it has great experience. We are still away from our peak and we were a bit careless with our chances,” Mayer-Vorfelder said.

“But compliments to the staff and the coach, he gave them self-belief and faith. This World Cup showed that the investment was good and sound.”

The federation has not released any figures, but Klinsmann has surrounded himself with a large staff he brought from outside that has increased the cost of running the team significantly.

“Nobody can now doubt the quality of Klinsmann’s work,” Bierhoff said.

After Germany complete their World Cup with the third-place game in Stuttgart against either France or Portugal, their next game is a friendly against Sweden on August 16 and the DFB has said the team must have a coach by then. Germany beat Sweden 2-0 in the second round of the World Cup.

SCORERS’ LIST

Five goals — Miroslav Klose
Three — Hernan Crespo, Maxi Rodriguez, Ronaldo, Lukas Podolski, Fernando Torres, David Villa, Thierry Henry
Two — Tim Cahill, Adriano, Paulo Wanchope, Tomas Rosicky, Agustin Delgado, Carlos Tenorio, Steven Gerrard, Patrick Vieira, Luca Toni, Aruna Dindane, Omar Bravo, Bartosz Bosacki, Maniche, Alexander Frei, Andriy Shevchenko
One — Flavio, Roberto Ayala, Esteban Cambiasso, Lionel Messi, Javier Saviola, Carlos Tevez, John Aloisi, Harry Kewell, Craig Moore, Fred, Gilberto, Juninho, Kaka, Ze Roberto, Ronald Gomez, Darijo Srna, Niko Kovac, Jan Koller, Ivan Kaviedes, David Beckham, Joe Cole, Peter Crouch, Franck Ribery, Zinedine Zidane, Torsten Frings, Philipp Lahm, Oliver Neuville, Stephen Appiah, Haminu Draman, Asamoah Gyan, Sulley Muntari, Sohrab Bakhtiarizadeh, Yahya Golmohammadi, Vincenzo Iaquinta, Filippo Inzaghi, Alberto Gilardino, Marco Materazzi, Andrea Pirlo, Francesco Totti, Gianluca Zambrotta, Alessandro Del Piero, Fabio Grosso, Didier Drogba, Bonaventure Kalou, Bakary Kone, Shunsuke Nakamura, Keiji Tamada, Francisco Fonseca, Rafael Marquez, Antonio Naelson Zinha, Arjen Robben, Robin van Persie, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Nelson Cuevas, Deco, Pauleta, Cristiano Ronaldo, Simao Sabrosa, Sami al-Jaber, Yasser al-Qahtani, Sasa Ilic, Nikola Zigic, Xabi Alonso, Juanito Gutierrez, Raul Gonzalez, Ahn Jung-hwan, Lee Chun-soo, Park Ji-sung, Marcus Allback, Henrik Larsson, Fredrik Ljungberg, Tranquillo Barnetta, Philippe Senderos, Mohamed Kader, Radhi Jaidi, Ziad Jaziri, Jawhar Menari, Maxim Kalinichenko, Andriy Rusol, Serhiy Rebrov, Clint Dempsey
l Own goal — Cristian Zaccardo, Carlos Gamarra, Brent Sancho

Note: Updated till the Italy-Germany semi-final

Player of the Day

ANDREA PIRLO

Andrea Pirlo is proving to be a key man in most of Italy’s wins in this World Cup. Like in the opening match against Ghana, Pirlo was once again controlling the midfield for Italy, either in a defensive role or in a more advanced position.

He also broke up the German counter-attacks on innumerable occasions. And when the match was destined for a penalty shoot-out, Pirlo plotted the downfall of the hosts with a perfect assist that was converted into the first goal by Fabio Grosso.

Pirlo is generally regarded as one of the best midfield players in the world today, especially in the Serie A. He possesses good passing talent and creativity, thriving in the deep-seated playmaking role in which he is employed at AC Milan and Italy.
Creative, with excellent passing ability and capability of producing brilliant free-kicks, Pirlo is also a highly successful footballer on set-piece moves.