Juergen Klinsmann, who had been unsuccessfully courted by U.S. Soccer to replace Bruce Arena in 2006, has been sacked from his first coaching job since guiding host Germany to third place of 2006 World Cup. Bayern Munich dismissed Klinsmann on Monday following the latest disappointing result -- a 1-0 loss to Schalke 04.

The loss left Bayern in third place in the Bundesliga, which it won last season for a record 21st time. Klinsmann replaced Ottmar Hitzfeld at the start of the 2008-09 season.

 

Klinsmann, who had never coached club soccer and whose Germany stint was his first as a coach overall, lost his bosses' faith when Bayern was eliminated from two cup competitions and slipped up again in league play. Bayern was ousted from the Champions League by Barcelona, which thumped Bayern 4-0 in the first leg of the  quarterfinal, 4-0, and won 5-1 on aggregate. Bayern was also ousted from the German Cup, which it had won last season.

Former coach Jupp Heynckes will take over as head coach for the remaining five games with Hermann Gerland as his assistant. The two American assistant coaches brought in by Klinsmann, Martin Vasquez and Nick Theslof, have also departed.

"We did not come to this decision lightly," club chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said in a statement. "But the results of the past weeks, the way in which they came about and above all, the situation we find ourselves in five games before the end of the season forced us to act out of a sense of responsibility to the club."

 

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