25 June 2004	Friday	06 Jamadi-ul-Awwal 1425

ALMANCIL, June 24: Germany coach Rudi Voeller resigned on Thursday after the three-times world and European champions were knocked out of Euro 2004.

Germany drew their first two group matches, including a 0-0 result with debutants Latvia, before going down to the Czech Republic 2-1 on Wednesday in Group D. The Czechs were playing their second string team.

The 44-year-old Voeller said the national side needed a new start before the 2006 World Cup in Germany. "I have the feeling that only someone who is untarnished and has a certain credibility - like I had four years ago - can do the job over the next two years," he told a news conference.

Voeller told team officials overnight and they had asked him not to make a hasty decision. "He told us it was not a spur-of-the-moment decision taken just after the game. We regret this decision very much but we have to accept it," said German federation president Gerhard Mayer-Vorfelder.

Voeller had a contract until the World Cup in 2006. His predecessor, Erich Ribbeck, resigned after Germany were knocked out of the 2000 European Championship in the first round.

Ottmar Hitzfeld, recently sacked by Bayern Munich, is favourite to replace Voeller. Greece manager Otto Rehhagel and Christoph Daum of Turkey's Fenerbahce are also in the frame.

A World Cup winner as a player in 1990, Voeller restored Germany's pride with a surprise run to the 2002 World Cup final where they lost to Brazil. Meanwhile, Spain coach Inaki Saez has tendered his resignation a day after saying he would not quit over his team's first stage exit from Euro 2004, Spanish media reported on Thursday.

Saez caved in to intense pressure, several newspapers said, after the media attacked his announcement on Tuesday that he planned to lead Spain's qualifying campaign for the next World Cup.

"Saez throws in the towel," was the headline in AS sports newspaper. A spokesman for the Spanish soccer federation declined to comment on the reports. A statement on their website said Saez had met the head of the federation, Angel Maria Villar, on Wednesday to "analyse the situation caused by his (Saez's) announcement... that he would lead the national team into the final phase of the 2006 World Cup". -Agencies