Netanya beckons for Matthaüs

Big plans
"I'm in love with Israel," said Matthäus, who agreed terms with Netanya owner Daniel Jammer in Frankfurt. "I visited the country a few times recently, including a trip with my ex-wife and son, and everyone who came to Israel fell in love with the place. My grandmother is Jewish so she'd be delighted that I am coming to Israel. I can't wait to start pre-season in July to prepare my team for the UEFA Cup next season. My aim is to guide Netanya to the Israeli title."

Iconic player
The 47-year-old, capped 150 times for his country, was one of the great sweepers of his age, playing for VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach, FC Bayern München and FC Internazionale Milano before moving into coaching with SK Rapid Wien in Austria and FK Partizan in Serbia. He subsequently coached the Hungarian national team and more recently was Giovanni Trapattoni's assistant at FC Salzburg. He will replace Reuven Atar at Netanya, who are second in the Ligat Ha'Al after beating Hapoel Tel-Aviv FC 3-0 on Saturday and face Beitar Jerusalem FC in the State Cup semi-finals on Wednesday.