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Jürgen Klopp made a punchy start to his new job as Germany coach Friday, laying out red lines he’d consider resigning over, even before his turnaround effort with a squad which failed yet again at the World Cup.
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In a combative first news conference, the ex-Liverpool manager warned the German media he’ll quit if he believes they’re intruding on his family’s privacy.
He also hinted Germany could be his last job in coaching and admitted he hasn’t been an avid follower of international games.
Klopp’s targets are Euro 2028 and the 2030 World Cup
Klopp was the German federation’s top target and now he’s signed a contract through to the 2030 World Cup. At his presentation Friday, he said it was “a big honor” to take the job and signaled it could be his final role as coach.
Klopp said Friday he would be prepared to leave without any severance pay if it doesn’t work out, or if criticism becomes overwhelming, and threatened to resign if the media doesn’t “leave my family in peace.”
“Jürgen Klopp has no career after the national team,” he said. “Ideally, this will be the highlight of my career, my life, my working life. I will put everything into it that I possibly can.”
He replaces Julian Nagelsmann, who resigned amid heavy criticism after Germany’s loss to Paraguay meant it failed to reach the last 16 of a men’s World Cup for the third time in a row.
Klopp indicated he believed Nagelsmann and England’s coach Thomas Tuchel had been treated unfairly in the media. “I’m doing the job even though I’ve heard how you treated Julian, although I’ve heard how England treats Tuchel,” he said, without specifying what exactly he thought was the problem.
Klopp wants to make German soccer cool again
It is Klopp’s first coaching job since he left Liverpool in 2024 citing fatigue. He said he was “recharged” in comments while in talks over the Germany job.
Klopp signaled he plans to make some surprising squad selections and said his mission isn’t just to win games, but to bring back a buzz around the team.
Klopp himself admitted that “it’s been a while” since he watched national team games outside of major tournaments.
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“I want to create something with the national team that means that people go home after the game and think ‘That was really cool.’ That’s what I’d like to see happen,” he said.
Klopp’s arrival follows talks during the World Cup
The man known for thrilling “heavy metal football” at Liverpool, Klopp was Germany’s preferred candidate as soon as Nagelsmann quit.
Over weeks of talks, the 59-year-old German — 20 years older than Nagelsmann — stayed in the United States as a World Cup pundit for a German-language broadcaster.
The federation also held talks with the Red Bull group, where Klopp spent the last year and a half as “head of global soccer” advising its worldwide group of soccer clubs.
German federation president Bernd Neuendorf said there wouldn’t be a typical release fee paid to Red Bull for Klopp. Instead, the federation pays one million euros ($1.14 million) to a Red Bull-linked charity and has agreed to hold three national team games in the eastern city of Leipzig, where Red Bull backs the city’s Bundesliga club team.
Klopp faces a tough introduction to his first national team job with four Nations League games in 11 days against the Netherlands, Greece and Serbia in late September and early October. The first major milestone will be the 2028 European Championship.
Mertesacker joins Klopp in Germany setup
Germany hasn’t won a knockout game at a World Cup since beating Argentina in the 2014 final. Now a player from that team will be working alongside Klopp.
Former defender Per Mertesacker joins Klopp as the federation’s new managing director for sport, with a role overseeing the German men’s national teams and an emphasis on bringing players through youth national teams to star for the senior team. He will start the role in January and joins after eight years running Arsenal’s academy.
Klopp is reunited with two of his assistants from his Liverpool days, Peter Krawietz and Pep Lijnders, weeks after Lijnders left a role as Pep Guardiola’s assistant at Man City. Ex-Germany player Sven Bender also takes an assistant role.
In an unusual arrangement, Klopp’s longtime agent Marc Kosicke joins the coaching team in a role focusing on strategy and administration, but won’t be a federation employee.
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer