"After long consideration, I have decided to step down," an emotional Voeller told a press conference here the day after his side were eliminated at the group stage following a 2-1 defeat by a second-string Czech Republic side.

"I did not take this decision immediately after the match. But I had thought about stepping down before," he added.

Voeller, 44, had said after the match that he wanted to stay on as coach and see out his contract which ran until the 2006 World Cup in his homeland but he opted to step down after reflecting on his team's poor performances.

"I would have loved to have guided Germany to the World Cup but I am not the right man," said the former international striker. "I would never cling to my job if results were poor.

"My successor now has two years to build a team and I am sure we will have a good side for 2006."

The president of the German football federation, Gerhard Mayer Vorfelder, said: "We regret this decision but we respect it."

Mayer Vorfelder confirmed that former Bayern Munich coach Ottmar Hitzfeld was in the running to take over.

Germany drew two of their matches and lost one in Portugal, scoring just two goals in total and finished third in Group D behind the Czechs and the Netherlands, who beat Latvia 3-0 on Thursday to book their place in the quarter-finals.

Draws against the Dutch and tournament debutants Latvia left the Germans needing to beat the already-qualified Czechs to qualify for the last eight.

But despite taking the lead with a Michael Ballack goal, they missed a host of scoring chances, allowing Marek Heinz to equalise before Czech substitute Milan Baros scored the winning goal 13 minutes from the end on Wednesday.

Voeller took over as coach from Erich Ribbeck following a disastrous Euro 2000, when Germany failed to win a match, although he was initially only 'warming' the seat for the under-contract Bayer Leverkusen chief Christoph Daum.