Hitzfeld rejects Dortmund
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ByEurosport
Published 18/12/2006 at 11:18 GMT
Ottmar Hitzfeld is unlikely to make a sensational return to Borussia Dortmund, saying he was not interested in the job. The man who made Dortmund European champions said he had been offered the coach's job at the Westfalenstadion but turned it down.
FOOTBALL 2006-2007 Hitzfeld
Image credit: dpa
"I was honoured to be offered the job, and I also thought seriously about it. But in the end it did not seem right," he told Bild.
Earlier it was revelaed that Dortmund wanted Hitzfeld to return to coach the club he led to two Bundesliga championships and the Champions League title.
"Yes, it's true. We have made Hitzfeld a concrete offer," managing director Hans-Joachim Watzke was quoted saying in the Ruhr Nachrichten newspaper on Monday. "Now we're waiting to see if he wants to work with us. We don't have an answer from him yet."
Dortmund coach Bert van Marwijk has come under pressure since announcing he would be leaving the club at the end of the season. German media have speculated he would be sacked during the winter break.
Dortmund have won only two of nine home matches this season and their disappointed fans mocked the team in their 2-1 loss at home to Bayer Leverkusen on Sunday -- cheering when Leverkusen went ahead 2-0 late in the match.
Hitzfeld coached Dortmund from 1991 to 1998, winning the Bundesliga championship in 1995 and 1996. He also won the Champions League with Dortmund in 1997.
Hitzfeld, who also coached Bayern Munich to the Champions League title in 2001 and led them to four Bundesliga championships, said on Sunday he was not interested in coaching another struggling Bundesliga side, Hamburg SV.
"It's not an issue for me," Hitzfeld, 57, previously told Arena Television, adding that it would have to be "a rather extraordinary offer" to lure him back to the Bundesliga.
Dortmund executives will hold a meeting on Tuesday to discuss the team's performances after their loss to Leverkusen.
Dortmund fell to ninth place after Sunday's defeat and have 22 points from 17 matches.
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