Germany head coach Jürgen Klinsmann has hit back at Franz Beckenbauer’s recent condemnation of Klinsmann’s commitment to the Germany national team.

“I've got my plan with everything necessary for the World Cup preparations,” the former Germany and Spurs striker said after Franz Beckenbauer berated him for returning home to California instead of attending a World Cup workshop.

Klinsmann, already under fire after the German’s 4-1 loss to Italy last week in a warm-up friendly in Florence, flew back to his home in Los Angeles, where he is based.

“I was in Germany for three of the last five weeks after the Bundesliga started up after the winter break,” the 41-year-old told Tuesday's issue of German national newspaper Bild.

Beckenbauer, the President of Germany's World Cup Organising Committee, said on Monday he was angry and disappointed that Klinsmann was not in Düsseldorf for the two-day meeting of World Cup coaches to discuss technical issues for the Finals.

German World Cup legend Beckenbauer, rather than criticising Klinsmann for the dreadful performance against Italy, was furious that the Germany boss flew home to California instead of attending the workshop of World Cup coaches, which started on Monday.

“The coach of the host country has to be there - that is beyond question,” said Beckenbauer.

“If I have to think about this anymore my choice of words would be more drastic,” said a fuming Beckenbauer of Klinsmann’s return to the US.

It is not the first time Klinsmann has faced criticism for his decision to keep living in the United States. Since taking the top job in August 2004, he has been commuting between his native Germany and his home in southern California.

The loss to Italy came only 100 days before the World Cups starts, and has surprisingly prompted some German lawmakers to demand that Klinsmann appear before parliament to explain how he plans to win the country's fourth world title with his un-balanced squad, and to explain his training methods.

The three-times world champions have not beaten top class international opposition in a 17-match since a 1-0 win over England in the last match at the old Wembley Stadium in October 2000, and the German media are now predicting an embarrassing early exit for the host nation at the World Cup starting on June 9.

Klinsmann has been blamed notably for fielding a young and inexperienced defence and for leaving the seasoned Christian Wörns out of Germany's World Cup plans after the Borussia Dortmund defender blasted the coach's team selection in the media.

Since the Italian rout, German football officials have also said they might add three extra World Cup warm-up matches to their schedule in the run-up the World Cup, to give their struggling young team more practice after their dismantling by the Italians.

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