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BEIJING, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- Former Dortmund star Karl-Heinz Riedle said on Friday that China made a right decision to name Marcello Lippi as head coach.
Riedle was Dortmund's hero in the 1997 Champions League final as he scored twice in the first half, helping the team beat Juventus.
"I knew him personally in Italy when I played for Lazio, he is a good coach. China made a right decision," he said.
"For China, it is important to get someone experienced like Lippi, because he has known the game for a long time, and was successful in each team, so it is a good move for China to bring him in."
"I hope that he will be successful and China can qualify for the 2018 World Cup. This is an aim for everybody in China," he added.
Riedle attributed Germany's rise in the last decade to youth training, adding Dortmund had its own characteristics.
"All the clubs in the Bundesliga are quite successful in training young players, but Dortmund has a special academy," he said.
"We focus a lot on the academy in our club, it is an important instrument to bring young players to the first team. Dortmund is a strong team, it is not easy to go directly to the first team from the young team, but it is important to have an academy like this."
The rivalry between Bayern Munich and Dortmund has been a selling point for the Bundesliga. But Riedle admitted it was hard to beat the arch rival this season after Dortmund lost Mats Hummels, Ilkay Gundogan and Henrik Mkhitaryan this summer.
"In the moment, we are not second on the table, but if you look at the squad, we are close to Bayern," said Riedle.
"But we had a lot of changes. If you lose three key players, you need to start again. If you watch the game, you can find many talented players, such as Ousmane Dembele and Raphael Guerreiro. I am quite confident in the next one or two seasons, they can completely beat Bayern. At the end of the season, we can at least sit the second place. But now Bayern is still very strong, it is very hard to beat them this year."
Germany's weak forward position was mentioned again after Miroslav Klose retired, but Riedle believes Germany can repeat the success with the current players.
"It is not the main problem. If you look at the Germany's national team, it is still successful," he said.
"But definitely, we could be even better with a strong No. 9 like we always had in the past. I like a system with all players, but I also like a system with one player just like Robert Lewandowski who is quick and strong. But we don't have this player in this moment, we have different players like Thomas Muller and Mario Gotze, they are probably not No. 9. Maybe we should live with what we have now to find different systems and be successful as we have been before."
Reidle said Dortmund were keen to keep in touch with Chinese fans.
"I have heard from the press that Dortmund left good impression in the International Champions Cup held in China this summer," he said. "We want to extend the relationship with the fans in China and bring them close. Maybe we can't come here every year but will visit China as much as possible."
