Klinsmann Down Under?

Germany's World Cup coach Jürgen Klinsmann has been sounded out by Australia to lead their 2010 World Cup campaign, according to reports in Sydney newspaper The Sun Herald on Sunday.

Klinsmann, who led host nation Germany to third place at last year's World Cup, met Peter Lowy, son of Football Federation Australia chairman Frank Lowy, for lunch in Los Angeles last Tuesday, the newspaper said.

The newspaper quoted one observer who said of the meeting: "Real estate was one subject they discussed but coaching opportunities with Australia were tossed around. The meeting was definitely business and not at all a social call."

Rumors unconfirmed

FFA officials Sunday declined to confirm that the meeting had taken place and Klinsmann could not be immediately contacted for comment. But the former German striker is known to favour coaching international football over taking on the day-to-day grind of club duties.

"I'm preparing myself for something new that might come along," Klinsmann said last week. "It could happen in a month or two, or a year or two. "You have to be open to a lot of things. There is not an endlessly long list of job options at this level. The air is pretty thin up there. And if it's the right fit with the family and the right challenge, you go to the country where you might have once never thought you'd go."

Peter Lowy runs the US arm of his family's Westfield property group, and according to the Sun-Herald, he is known to unofficially conduct FFA business when he can. Klinsmann has lived in California with his American wife and children since he retired from playing in 1998. He was in discussions with the US Soccer Federation last year about coaching its national team but ended talks in December when it became clear he wouldn't have control of team matters.

Aiming to win in 2010

The FFA wants a full-time replacement for Dutchman Guus Hiddink to take charge of the team before the 2010 World Cup qualifiers kick off next year. Australians were thrilled when Hiddink coached the Socceroos to World Cup qualification for the first time in 32 years, and are likely to be searching for a European with a strong track record again. Australia currently ranks 39th with FIFA and the FFA is expects to take the team further in 2010.

The Sun-Herald said under any deal with Australia, Klinsmann would continue to live in the United States. He was criticised in Germany for not moving home in the lead-up to the World Cup, preferring to commute from Los Angeles.

If Klinsmann is interested in the job then he is in competition with the Socceroo's assistant coach, Australian Graham Arnold, who has made no secret of wanting the top job.

'If they're talking to Jürgen Klinsmann, all I can do is try and make it as difficult as possible for them,' Arnold told Australian news agency AAP. 'On Jürgen Klinsmann, he didn't live in Germany when he coached Germany, he still lived in the United States - and Germany is his home country.'