BERLIN, Nov 27 — Former World Cup winner Juergen Klinsmann replaced sacked Ante Covic as head coach of struggling Hertha Berlin today until the end of the season, returning to the Bundesliga for the first time in a decade, the club said.

Covic lasted on 12 league matches as his team, who have lost their last four league matches, are currently in 15th place, level on points with 16th Fortuna Duesseldorf who are on the relegation playoff spot.

Klinsmann, whose most recent appointment was United States head coach from 2011 to 2016, last worked in the Bundesliga during a hapless spell at Bayern Munich that lasted less than a season in 2008-9.

The 55-year-old who won the 1990 World Cup as a player with West Germany, has also coached the German national team, leading them to a third place finish at the 2006 World Cup at home.

He was sacked from his US post in 2016 after a string of bad results in the early 2018 World Cup qualifiers and the team eventually failed to qualify for the tournament in Russia.

He was recently made a member of the Hertha board.

Hertha are holding a news conference later today. — Reuters