Euro 2008: Steve Staunton's adviser, Bobby Robson, believes Juergen Klinsmann will stick around to build on the success he achieved with Germany in the World Cup and that the side Ireland will face in Stuttgart on September 2nd will have a very similar look to it as the one that powered its way to third place with an adventurous style of attacking football that won over many neutrals during the past month.
"I think he likes what he has seen," observes Robson when asked about Klinsmann.
"He has had a sniff of it and I find it hard to believe that he will be able to leave it alone for another four years. He sees young players coming through and looking ahead, he has a chance. I don't think he could give it up now."
Robson believes that with essentially the same group of players to choose from, the Germans will be stronger during the next campaign and warns that he expects them to be still on a high in the wake of what has proved to be a hugely successful tournament.
"There is no doubt about that," he says. "It has been a great motivation factor for them I think, and with the next European Championships virtually on their doorstep in Austria and Switzerland, which is virtually their second home, they won't want to miss out.
"But we always knew it was a difficult group and now it will be harder, because Germany have come good."
Apart from the host nation's strikers, Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski, their captain, Michael Ballack, and left back Philipp Lahm, Robson points to left-sided midfielder Tim Borowski as having particularly impressed him over the last few weeks.
"I like Borowski," remarks the Englishman, who was in Berlin on Sunday night to see the Italians edge out France on penalties in the final.
"Every time he came on I liked him. He didn't get in the side because he is very similar to Ballack, except when they were in trouble - and this is why I think Juergen did very well against Argentina when Ballack was in trouble. Juergen didn't take his captain off and go like for like.
"Instead, he put two attacking players on and played Borowski and Ballack, and, if you remember, Ballack put the ball in, Borowski flicked it on and Klose came in with the second header to score. It was a great moment for Klinsmann. He got a lot of criticism early on but he is much loved now."
Asked about the possibility of Czech star Pavel Nedved deciding to quit the international game before the European Championship qualifying campaign gets under way in the autumn, Robson laughs.
"It would certainly be extremely helpful," he replies. "I hope he doesn't play, because he is a top European player and he is still young enough to go on.
"I have heard he is going to retire, though, and it will help if he does because, for sure, he is a very good player."
As a team, he says, the Czechs only impressed against the US. "After that they were poor, and the expectation is that three or four of them will go, so we'll have to wait and see what type of side we end up having to play.
"From our point of view, though, I think we will have to play to our best to give ourselves a chance.
"We need to know how we are going to play and we need to be able to deal with the very special players who are going to play against us, otherwise they will create chances.
"Ballack will have played a few games for Chelsea in the Premiership before we play them, so we will need to go and have a look at him and see how he is performing.
"But the application of our own players will have to be spot on if we are going to do well. Players like (Richard) Dunne, (Robbie) Keane, (Steven) Reid and (John) O'Shea, our most prominent players, are going to have to be leaders and get the team going."
If that happens, he insists Ireland have a chance of making an impact on a tough qualification group.
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