Stielike looks forward to Ivory Coast challenge By Lars Reinefeld

Deutsche Presse Agentur
Published: Tuesday September 19, 2006

By Lars Reinefeld, Frankfurt- With the ink barely dry on a two-year contract as head coach of the Ivory Coast national side, Uli Stielike was in London over the weekend talking to Didier Drogba and Kolo Toure. First impressions were positive.

Stielike's knowledge of French learned while playing in Switzerland held him in good stead in his talks with Chelsea striker Drogba and Arsenal defender Toure.

"It was positive for the good atmosphere. Both are very optimistic as regards what the future holds," Stielike told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa on Tuesday.

For the former German international and coach of the Swiss national side, the Ivory Coast comes as the right job at the right time.

The 51-year-old, who put pen to paper on Saturday, had been considering job offers after becoming surplus to coaching requirements at the German Football Federation (DFB) this summer.

The West African nation was also seeking a new coach to succeed Frenchman Henri Michel who in Germany this year had taken the Elephants to their first World Cup.

Stielike will now be guiding the national squad to the 2008 Africa Nations Cup.

With players of the class of Drogba or Toure, expectations are high in Ivory Coast, especially with the World Cup being played on the African continent in South Africa in 2010.

"It is a very attractive task. I think the team has a lot of potential," Stielike said.

"Ivory Coast were definitely the strongest team to go out at the group stage of the World Cup in Germany."

Stielike played 42 games for Germany between 1975 and 1984, appearing in the 1982 World Cup final that Germany lost 3-1 against Italy and playing in the side that won the 1980 European Championship.

As a player in the 1970s and 1980s, the former defender played for German side Borussia Moenchengladbach before moving to Real Madrid in Spain. He appeared in two European Cup finals, and was both three times a German league and UEFA Cup winner.

He finished his career as a player with Swiss team, Neuchatel Xamax, and later coached the Swiss national team.

Stielike also coached several German national youth squads and was assistant coach under Erich Ribbeck for the German national team between September 1998 and May 2000. Most recently he was under-20 coach.

Stielike will be taking former Neuchatel co-trainer Klaus Maretan with him for the Ivory Coast job, although the German intends to continue living in Germany.

"It makes more sense to stay in Germany as all the national team players are with European clubs," he said.

"I will be flying to Abidjan for the matches and for some matches involving youth teams."

Contact with the Ivory Coast federation, which had also negotiated with former German defender Juergen Kohler, came via an agent. After Stielike had obtained more information about the federation, he met officials in Cologne and Paris, and found his feelings confirmed.

"Ivory Coast is the country in Africa which is the most developed, The federation has made a very professional impression on me," he said.

He dismisses the notion that he could meet a fate similar to that experienced by German coaches in Africa like Winfried Schaefer, who was suddenly sacked by Cameroon in November 2004, or Otto Pfister, who briefly walked out on Togo at the World Cup after a pay dispute involving the players.

Stielike's first game in charge will be an African Cup qualifier against Gabon on October 8. "It's a game which will already decide who progresses," he says.

Ivory Coast, runners-up at the last Nations Cup tournament, also have Madagascar and Djibouti in Group One of the qualifying stage.

"The Africa Cup is the first big aim. If that goes well the 2010 World Cup could also be an issue," Stielike said.

The coach can at least discard an offer he has also received from the Colombian federation. "The Ivory Coast were quicker, and that's a good thing," he said.

© 2006 DPA - Deutsche Presse-Agenteur