Beckenbauer: Fink could coach Bayern

Bayern Munich's honorary president Franz Beckenbauer believes Hamburg coach Thorsten Fink has all the credentials to succeed Jupp Heynckes when he decides to call it a day. Heynckes still has 18 months left to run on his contract with Bayern, but he has hinted that he will retire when his current deal expires. Beckenbauer has told the Bild newspaper that Fink would be the ideal candidate to replace him when he does decide to leave. "Jupp Heynckes will be 67, 68 and he does not need to have the genes of [Giovanni] Trapattoni who will still be coaching [Republic of] Ireland at the age of 100," said 'Der Kaiser'. "Fink - he is one for Bayern." Fink was part of the Bayern team which lost a dramatic UEFA Champions League final to Manchester United in 1999, and he spent nine years with the Bavarian club before hanging up his boots. Since becoming a coach, he has won the Swiss league title twice with FC Basel, before joining Hamburg in October and leading them from the foot of the standings to mid-table by the halfway stage of the season. That achievement has not gone unnoticed in Munich. "At the start of the season, I thought only a magician would be able to save them [Hamburg], but Thorsten Fink has arrived and he is doing a really good job," added Beckenbauer.