During the 1990s, there were few strikers more feared in international football than Oliver Bierhoff. Italians may remember him for the 143 goals he scored during spells with Ascoli, Udinese and AC Milan, but the rest of the football world will forever associate the German with one match: the final of UEFA EURO 96.

Wembley certainly proved to be Bierhoff's field of dreams, witnessing as it did the big striker step off the bench to score a double, the second of which - arguably the most significant strike in the short-lived history of the goden goal - sealed a 2-1 win over Czech Republic and a place in history. Then 28, he went on to play in two subsequent FIFA World Cups™, the first of those in 1998 coinciding with him being voted Germany's player of the year, this at the end of a season in which he had topped the Serie A scoring charts with 27 goals.

These days, he is still closely involved with the German national side in his role as team manager, supporting first Jurgen Klinsmann and now current head coach Joachim Low. The job recently took him to South Africa on an official visit with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and it was during his time in the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ host country that Bierhoff spoke exclusively to FIFA.com about the success being enjoyed by Germany's men and women, and his views on African football.

FIFA.com: Oliver, have there been any dramatic changes in the German team since the change of coach?
Oliver Bierhoff: There is consistency in the system, in the way we work with the players and the way we play. But for sure there is a different style of leading and different style about how to use certain players. It was very important for us, when Jurgen decided not to continue, to remain consistent with the work he had done with the team, so Jogi (Joachim Low) was the right choice. It has also been a good thing for the players because they know what to do and what to expect.

How do you think the team is performing at the moment?
It is still growing, it's exciting how these players have developed over the past three years. We are very satisfied with our qualification campaign for the European Championship. We haven't lost a game and we have drawn just once. So we are very happy. I think if we continue like this, we will go into the European Championship as favourites. But we have to be patient, we have to see how tough the games will be against Italy, France and all the other big teams.

Are there any players who are particularly impressing you?
There are lot of players who are impressing us, because we didn't expect that they could develop like this. If you look at Per Metesacker, he was 19 years or 20, straight out of school and he wasn't even sure that he could become a professional player. Now he is a very important defender both for the national team and for Werder Bremen in the Champions League. And then there's the development of Miroslav Klose. There's no question that he dipped after the 2002 World Cup and we didn't know if he would come back in a strong way, but he did. So we are happy that we have a lot of players who are in a very good mental and physical shape.

Were you pleased to see your women's team win the FIFA Women's World Cup China 2007?
It was excellent, really brilliant. It was a very good final. I hope that they can continue like this until 2011 and, hopefully, defend the title in Germany.

Birgit Prinz had another very good tournament. What do you think of her?
She is extraordinary. She is such a great player. I think she started in the national team at the age of 16 and has shown her maturity ever since. Birgit really showed her class during the World Cup.

Are there any African players in the Bundesliga sparking your interest?
I think African players impress people everywhere they play, they are invariably really fit and extremely physically powerful players. We are curious about the (Boubacar) Sanogo, he started in Werder Bremen and he has had some interesting reviews.

South Africa's national team is struggling to find form at the moment. Germany experienced a similar problem prior to 2006, so do you think this is a normal situation for host countries?
I don't think it is normal exactly, but often you have good teams that struggle ahead of World Cups. For sure though, South Africa has to make a change, it has to introduce some younger players. We had the same situation in 2004, when Jurgen Klinsmann put out a lot of older players and we had to work with some new talent. The good thing is that South Africa has two and a half years to give their young players a chance to gain experience, to work with them and get a team together. The coach has all the power and support behind him: from the population, from the players, and he doesn't need to motivate the players because everyone wants to play in a World Cup in their own country. That should help South Africa to build a stronger team.

Do you think the influx of German coaches into Africa is a positive thing for the game?
It's good for African football and also good for our coaches. I played with some African players and they have a different attitude and mentality (to Europeans), so I think these coaches will come back to Germany having learned a lot.

Is there an African player you played with who stood out?
George Weah, I played with him at AC Milan. The way he played was just incredible.