An Outsider's View

Peters said he had held initial talks with the German Soccer Federation (DFB) Friday for a job as an adviser to a new "competency team" that will be make key decisions concerning the national side and the coaching of young players.

Peters was the center of a controversy when former Germany coach Jürgen Klinsmann requested him to take over as the DFB's technical director earlier this year. The organization, however, declined Klinsmann's request, saying the new position should go to someone with a soccer background. Former Germany defender and Euro 96 winner Matthias Sammer was eventually named to the position.

The organization's decision not to fill the position with Klinsmann's recommendation, which came at a time when many in Germany wondered whether the national team would have a successful World Cup campaign, is now regarded by some observers as one of the reasons why Klinsmann left the team after finishing third and becoming a national hero in the month-long tournament.

An outsider's view of soccer

Klinsmann successor and current Germany coach Joachim Löw as well as team manager Oliver Bierhoff and DFB president Theo Zwanziger, however, were all keen on bringing Peters on board in an advisory capacity.

"It is always good to listen to advice from outside and to have someone neutral who does not just have soccer glasses on," Bierhoff said, adding that Peters is well regarded for his ability to motivate players.

Löw should be able to make good use of Peters' skill of dealing with developing players as the soccer coach said he remains committed to the team of young players he helped put together for the World Cup.

Focusing on the next generation

German soccer fans can also expect the trend of new faces in national team jerseys to continue, Löw added, saying a fresh team would increase Germany's chances of winning the 2008 European Championships in Austria and Switzerland.

Löw said he and his scouts are watching a group of 15 to 20 young players and developing performance profiles to track their skills.

"We will be making it clear to them that we want to improve them as future national team players in two to four years," he said.

Lofty goals for Peters' regional league team

Peters, 46, is standing down as German field hockey coach after the 2006 men's hockey World Cup, ending a 22-year association with the German Hockey Federation that saw him win back-to-back hockey World Cup titles with the team in 2002 and 2006.

On Oct. 1 he takes on a new appointment in soccer as technical director of the regional league side TSG Hoffenheim, with responsibility for sport and youth development.

Hoffenheim's president and major sponsor, SAP software co-founder Dietmar Hopp, has an ambitious five-year plan to get the third division club into the top-flight Bundesliga.

The club has already signed the former Schalke, Stuttgart and Hanover coach Ralf Rangnick, and there are plans to build a new 30,000-seat stadium in Heidelberg.