"Klinsmania" Threatening to Steal Kaiser's Thunder

Beckenbauer has faithfully attended every match so far in the World Cup, but for the moment his thunder is being stolen by national coach Jurgen Klinsmann.

While Beckenbauer, nicknamed 'The Kaiser', is every inch a German patriot, he could be forgiven for feeling that his role as head of the World Cup organizing committee is being steamrollered by the Klinsmann express after the German team reached the second round.

The German media is also enthralled with a kind of freedom and freshness in the German side that hasn't been there for years -- a factor many people are putting down to the free spirit Klinsmann has developed since he made the United States his home.

California-style coach

Of course, many in German football circles have taken issue with the fact that the 41-year-old is now commuting from California, including Beckenbauer himself, who publicly grumbled about Klinsmann's absence at a soccer workshop held in March.

"Jurgen Klinsmann should have been here," Beckenbauer said. "This is a meeting he had to make and there are not too many of them."

Klinsmann, who was also called to account over that by several other notable figures and had to hold emergency talks over the issue of his absences, took note and announced shortly afterwards he would be spending more time in his homeland.

It was not the first time that the two had clashed. Ironically, it was when Klinsmann was a player for Bayern Munich, coached by none other than the Kaiser, that the two had a difference of opinion.

Though Beckenbauer did not name Klinsmann specifically, he cited several players behaving as if they were playing for "FC Hollywood."

Klinsmann, 108-times capped and scorer of 47 goals for Germany, defends his trips home to California on the basis that he is always in touch through e-mail. But this led to one paper, The Berliner Zeitung dubbing him "The California Internet coach."

Confident Klinsmann

Klinsmann knows the best way to answer the critics is by lifting the World Cup on July 9 and achieving his goal of emulating Beckenbauer by winning the World Cup as both a player and manager.

Proving he's in tune with the new mood of optimism and patriotism currently sweeping Germany, Klinsmann even said he's already booked hotel rooms for the day of the final in Berlin on July 9.

Beckenbauer, on the other hand, has played a more cautious game saying a quarter-final spot is the very least Germany should achieve.