But German Soccer Federation (DFB) president Egidius Braun and five of his top officials will meet Vogts at a secret location today to discuss the future following the national side's disappointing showing at the World Cup.

The coach has come under media and public pressure to quit, but DFB spokesman Wolfgang Niersbach said Vogts, who has not spoken publicly since the day after Germany's shock 0-3 quarter-final defeat by Croatia, wanted to continue.

Niersbach, who spoke to Vogts by phone this week, said the coach continued to enjoy the backing of DFB bosses.

"We're planning the future of the national team with Berti Vogts. Everybody involved is going into the talks with that clear intention," Niersbach, one of the six supremos who will take part in the meeting, told Kicker magazine.

Veteran German soccer watchers, however, don't rule outthe 51-year-old may decide he has had enough of the massive criticism of the past few weeks and bow out.

"It could be that he's thinking it over today," said Raine Holzschuh, Kicker's editor-in-chief and a former DFB spokesman.

"Then Egidius Braun would have to go too and we'd have a completely fresh start for the national team and the DFB," the head of the respected magazine told German Television.

Braun is seen as Vogts's staunchest ally at the DFB, although some of his recent remarks have prompted speculation the 73-year-old is distancing himself from the coach.

Braun publicly reprimanded Vogts for comments after the Croatia defeat, when he heaped blame on referee Rune Pederson, who sent off defender Christian Woerns. Vogts even implied an anti-German conspiracy among international soccer chiefs.

The coach duly apologised to FIFA president Sepp Blatter on Wednesday, as Braun had demanded. DFB bosses were tight-lipped about today's meeting, declining even to reveal precisely where and whenit would take place. Niersbach said the media would only be informed about the outcome tomorrow. If the coach decides to fall on his sword after eight years in charge, Jupp Heynckes is favourite to take over.

A former Borussia Moenchengladbach player like Vogts, Heynckes has the pedigree for the top job. He has coached the likes of Bayern Munich and Real Madrid and also has the advantage of not being tied to any club at present.

Regardless of who is coach, the DFB faces a major rebuilding task. Germany had one of the oldest squads at the World Cup an many of its leading members such as captain Juergen Klinsmann are retiring from the international game.

Meanwhile, the Bild newspaper reported today that Schalke 04 general manager Rudi Assauer wants Vogts sacked as German national team coach.

"For me, there can only be one conclusion -- Berti has to go straight away and the entire coaching staff with him," said Assauer.