The 48-year-old saved the club from relegation after being relieved of his duties at Naturena and has now been rewarded for his efforts in Germany with an early extension that keeps him at the Schuco Arena until 2009.

"We don't want to just equal our record of five consecutive years in the Bundesliga with Middendorp - we want to break it," said club president Hans-Hermann Schwick when announcing the deal earlier in the week.

Meanwhile, rumours of a British club, reported to be Midddlesbrough of the English Premiership, hijacking Rowen Fernandez’s move to Bielefeld have died down and the former Amakhosi ‘keeper appears set to join up with Middendorp ahead of the 2007/08 season in Europe.

The German club have also announced that they will be increasing the size of their stadium, as they have been given the green light to extend one of their terraces to increase the capacity from 26 600 to 28 800.