From the BZ editorial team
Hammer at the DFB! The contract with managing director Oliver Bierhoff (54) is terminated prematurely. The DFB and the ex-national player agreed on this on Monday evening.
The association announced this in a press release. His contract originally ran until 2024.
After the end of his active career in 2004, he took over the newly created post of “manager” of the national team. In 2018 he became director of national teams and academy.
Bierhoff: “My work has always been driven by the conviction that I should do my best for the DFB and the national teams. The performance of the men’s national team at the World Championships in Russia and Qatar hurts me all the more. That’s why I don’t leave without the necessary self-criticism. In the past four years we haven’t been able to build on previous successes and give the fans reason to celebrate again. Some decisions we believed in did not turn out to be the right ones. No one regrets that more than me. I take responsibility for that.”
His time included winning the 2014 World Cup title, but also the bitter World Cup tournaments in 2018 and 2022, where the DFB team failed in the group phase.
Bierhoff continued: “I wish the DFB every success in their important tasks. I hope that the football fans will continue to support our teams with passion in the future.”
When the news of the termination of the contract was announced on ZDF, there was applause. The ZDF experts Per Mertesacker (38) and Christoph Kramer (31), on the other hand, were visibly touched.
Kramer: “I think it’s a shame. I personally owe him a lot. He’s a great person.” Mertesacker: “I find it very sad because I owe him at least as much as Chris. (…) He did a lot more than many probably think.”
► Bierhoff became a national player himself shortly before the 1996 European Championships (70 international matches) and became immortal during the finals in England when he scored two goals in the final against the Czech Republic (2:1 gg). After stints at Bayer Uerdingen, Hamburger SV and Borussia Mönchengladbach, he played for many years in Italy (Udinese, Milan, Chievo Verona) and for a year in France at AS Monaco.
He took part in two World Cups (1998 and 2002) and scored four goals there. At the EM 2000 he led the DFB team into the tournament as captain.