LIGHTNING ROD GERMAN SOCCER COACH KLINSMANN DOES THINGS HIS WAY, WHICH MAKES MANY UNHAPPY.

Byline: Scott French Staff Writer

DORTMUND, Germany - Juergen Klinsmann always has had his own ideas about how things ought to be done: as a top striker for Germany's national soccer team, playing a pivotal role in its 1990 World Cup triumph, and for some of Europe's biggest clubs; in retirement, when he chose virtual anonymity in California over celebrity at home; and now as coach of the German team, as he seeks to revolutionize seemingly every aspect of the game in his native land.

Klinsmann's aims and methods have angered the old guard, and in the absence of sterling results - more product of lapsed talent than anything else - his tenure, Germany's omnipresent fussball media echoes, could be in jeopardy should an anticipated victory over a far-from-full-strength U.S. team today at Westfalenstadion fail to materialize.

Those with the power to make such decisions claim nothing of the sort, but with the World Cup less than three months away, there exists considerable angst that the home team, under Klinsmann's leadership, appears destined for failure.

Klinsmann, 41, won't entertain such thoughts, won't give in to growing criticism - and neither will his supporters, some of the best and brightest of his generation of players, coaches and administrators.

``The minute we start the World Cup,'' Klinsmann said in a television interview this week, ``the minute we win our first game, you'll all try to jump on board. But that train will have left.''

The criticism has been deafening, most of it aimed at Klinsmann, although its roots are deep and varied. Germany is in recession, with high unemployment, especially in the east. Its once-mighty stature - three World Cup titles (1954, 1974, 1990), seven finals (most recent four years ago) and breeding ground of legends (from Uwe Seeler to Franz Beckenbauer, Gerd Mueller to Rudi Voeller, Karlheinz Rummenigge to Klinsmann, Fritz Walter to Lothar Matthaeus - is long past.

Its organization of the World Cup has been beset by problems, and match- fixing scandals have brought into question the integrity of the game. Few top players have emerged the past decade - only midfielder Michael Ballack, among current players, is considered world-class, and results in the buildup to the June 9-July 9 tournament, particularly a humiliating 4-1 loss to Italy three weeks ago in Florence, have been substandard.

Klinsmann, who took charge of Germany's national team after its poor showing at the 2004 European Championship, has taken the brunt of the griping. His refusal to return to Germany after accepting the job, insisting upon commuting between his Huntington Beach home and his native land, has roiled his foes, and even Beckenbauer, the biggest figure in German soccer - maybe in all of German society - and president of the World Cup organizing committee, has weighed in.

Many have blasted Klinsmann's more radical ideas, his use of an American fitness instructor, of a sports psychologist, and his desire to alter the foundations of the game. Some laughed when he demanded earlier this year that Bernhard Peters, the coach of Germany's powerhouse men's field hockey team, be hired as the German federation's technical director, a post heavily involved in youth development.

German legend Berti Vogts, a former national team coach and coaching coordinator under Klinsmann, called the idea ``a carnival joke.'' Former German star Juergen Kohler, coach of Bundesliga club MSV Duisburg, said it was ``unimaginable.'' Others, including Rummenigge and Klinsmann's former teammate Oliver Bierhoff, the national team's manager, saw wisdom in the request.

``(Peters) has achieved much in (field) hockey,'' said Rummenigge, the president of Bayern Munich. ``In that sport, we are among the world elite, while in football at present, we are nowhere.''

The federation voted unanimously to give the post to Matthias Sammer, a star midfielder in the 1990s coming off coaching successes and failures. Klinsmann called the decision ``regrettable''; Sammer said he was open to Peters' ideas.

In the absence of established talent, Klinsmann has forged a young, inexperienced team, one with great promise but middling in attack and prone to error at the rear. Road losses last year to Slovakia and Turkey exposed the team's limitations. The Italy disaster confirmed them.

The subsequent loss of often brilliant winger Sebastian Deisler, who will miss the World Cup with a serious knee injury, just as he did in 2002, is a major blow. Klinsmann's refusal to consider veteran defender Christian Woerns, who criticized the coach through the media, has fueled displeasure, especially in Dortmund, where Woerns plays.

Klinsmann, publicly, has no concerns, and his frequent trips home to California, where his wife is from, have been productive, drawing all criticism to him and away from his young players. If it's a considered tactic, it might be brilliant.

``We're not going to let ourselves be unsettled,'' said Klinsmann, who scored 11 goals in three World Cups and is No. 2 on Germany's all-time appearances list (108) and No. 3 on the goals list (47). ``Wewill do our thing. - We're not worried. The team is young and very talented. We firmly believe we will be in the World Cup until the end.''

The German public doesn't necessarily agree - only 3 percent believe the home side will win the Cup - and neither does the old guard. Stefan Effenberg blasted his former teammate earlier this month, telling Bild: ``If I was in charge, I would get rid of Klinsmann right away. The rest of the world is laughing at us, and the others are losing respect.''

Klinsmann has the government's backing - Chancellor Angela Merkel last week said she was ``convinced Juergen Klinsmann and his team are on the right track,'' and Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, whose duties include sport, said Klinsmann ``has my trust.''

CAPTION(S):

5 photos, 2 boxes

Photo:

(1 -- color) no caption (Juergen Klinsmann)

Staff Illustration/Getty Images

(2) CONVEY

(3) KELLER

(4) KAHN

(5) PODALSKI

Box:

(1) U.S. at GERMANY

- Scott French

(2) UNITED STATES AT GERMANY