Matthaus turns down Hungarian job

German football great Lothar Matthaus will not become the head coach of Hungarian side FC Fehervar after talks between the parties broke down, the club announced on Saturday.

“The negotiations did not bear fruit,” the club said in a statement, declining to give further details.

“The parties consider the details of the failure of the negotiations to be confidential, therefore will not disclose more information.”

The 48-year-old former head coach of the Hungarian national team came to Hungary last Friday to discuss the terms of his employment at Fehervar after a prior agreement was reached on June 10.

Matthaus, who represented Bayern Munich and Inter Milan with distinction in his playing career as a sweeper and midfielder, was the captain of the West Germany team that won the 1990 World Cup.

As a coach, he took charge of the Hungarian national side but left the post after failing to secure qualification for the 2006 World Cup in his homeland.

He spent the 2008-2009 season in charge of Israeli side Maccabi Netanya, with whom he parted company in April after a lacklustre campaign.

Located in Szekesfehervar, FC Fehervar finished sixth in last season’s Hungarian first division championship.