Jürgen Klinsmann
Encyclopedia
Jürgen Klinsmann is a German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 football manager
Coach (sport)
In sports, a coach is an individual involved in the direction, instruction and training of the operations of a sports team or of individual sportspeople.-Staff:...

 and former player who is currently the coach of the United States Men's National Team
United States men's national soccer team
The United States men's national soccer team represents the United States in international association football competitions. It is controlled by the United States Soccer Federation and competes in CONCACAF...

. As a player, Klinsmann played for several prominent clubs in Europe and was part of the West German team that won the 1990 FIFA World Cup
1990 FIFA World Cup
The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event twice. Teams representing 116 national football associations from all six populated...

 and the German one that won the 1996 UEFA European Championship. One of West Germany's/Germany's premier striker
Striker
Forwards, also known as strikers, are the players on a team in association football who play nearest to the opposing team's goal, and are therefore principally responsible for scoring goals...

s during the 90s, Klinsmann scored in all six major international tournaments he participated, from Euro 1988 to 1998 World Cup
1998 World Cup
1998 World Cup may refer to:*1998 IAAF World Cup*1998 Men's Hockey World Cup*1998 Women's Hockey World Cup*1998 FIFA World Cup*1998 Alpine Skiing World Cup...

. In 2006 he was voted into Pele's 125 greatest living footballers.

He managed the German national team to a third-place finish in the 2006 World Cup
2006 FIFA World Cup
The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which won the right to host the event in July 2000. Teams representing 198 national football associations from all six...

. On 12 July 2006, Klinsmann officially announced that he would step down as Germany's coach after two years in charge and be replaced by assistant coach Joachim Löw. He took over as coach of Bayern Munich in July 2008, when Ottmar Hitzfeld
Ottmar Hitzfeld
Ottmar Hitzfeld is a German former football player and manager, nicknamed der General ....

 stepped down to take over as the head coach of the Swiss National Team. On 27 April 2009 he was released early, even though he had won five of the previous seven league games and was only three points behind league leader VfL Wolfsburg
VfL Wolfsburg
VfL Wolfsburg is a professional German association football club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, who play in the Bundesliga football competition. Wolfsburg have won the Bundesliga once in their history, in the 2008–09 season, and were DFB-Pokal runners-up in 1995. The current head coach is Felix...

. In the jointly initiated reforms at Bayern it emerged there was a severe clash of opinions between coach and club management.

On 29 July 2011, after years of speculation and protracted negotiations with the US Soccer Federation, Klinsmann was named coach of the USMNT after coach Bob Bradley
Bob Bradley
Robert "Bob" Bradley is an American soccer coach and the current manager of the Egypt national football team, taking over in September 2011. He previously managed the United States men's national soccer team...

 was released.

1972 to 1981: Youth Career

Jürgen Klinsmann is one of four sons of master baker Siegfried Klinsmann († 2005) and his wife Martha. At the age of eight he started playing for TB Gingen, an amateur football club in Gingen an der Fils
Gingen an der Fils
Gingen an der Fils is a town in the district of Göppingen in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany....

.
Six months later he scored 16 goals in a single game for his new club. At the age of ten he moved to SC Geislingen
SC Geislingen
SC Geislingen is a German association football club from the city of Geislingen, Baden-Württemberg established 31 May 1900. The football department became independent on 1 July 1911 and later took on the name Fußballverein 1919 Geislingen...

. When Jürgen was 14 years old his father bought a bakery in Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....

. After the family relocated to the state capital Stuttgart, his son continued to play for SC Geislingen, even after he was spotted in a youth selection of Württemberg
Württemberg
Württemberg , formerly known as Wirtemberg or Wurtemberg, is an area and a former state in southwestern Germany, including parts of the regions Swabia and Franconia....

. At 16 Klinsmann signed a contract with Stuttgarter Kickers
Stuttgarter Kickers
Stuttgarter Kickers is a German association football club that plays in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, founded on 21 September 1899 as FC Stuttgarter Cickers...

, at which he would turn professional two years later. His parents decided that he would first finish his apprenticeship as a baker in their family business, which he completed in 1982.

1981 to 1989: Stuttgarter Kickers and VfB Stuttgart

Jürgen Klinsmann started his professional career in 1982 at the then second division side Stuttgarter Kickers, where he had been playing since 1978 as a youth player. By 1982–83 he was already a regular starter and by the end of the 1983/1984 season had scored a total of 19 goals for his club. Horst Buhtz
Horst Buhtz
Horst Buhtz is a retired German football player and manager.- Playing career :Buhtz began his playing career at Fortuna Magdeburg where he played for the senior team aged 16, after a special permit had been obtained...

, a former coach of Stuttgarter Kickers
Stuttgarter Kickers
Stuttgarter Kickers is a German association football club that plays in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, founded on 21 September 1899 as FC Stuttgarter Cickers...

 recalls that Klinsmann benefited from an intensive sprint-training from Horst Allman who was one of the best sprint coaches in Germany at that time. At the beginning of the new season, he managed to improve his 100 m dash from 11.7 to 11.0 seconds.

In 1984 he moved to first division rivals VfB Stuttgart
VfB Stuttgart
Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V., commonly known as VfB Stuttgart, is a German sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club is best known for its football team, which has participated in all but two Bundesliga seasons...

. In his first season at VfB Stuttgart, Klinsmann scored 15 goals and was the team's joint top scorer with Karl Allgöwer
Karl Allgöwer
Karl Allgöwer is a German former footballer.Growing up in Geislingen an der Steige, Allgöwer completed his youth years with SV Altenstadt and SC Geislingen before moving to Stuttgart to score 59 goals for 2nd Bundesliga team Stuttgarter Kickers from 1977 to 1980 as striker...

, who had scored 16 goals. Despite his goal scoring efforts, he couldn't prevent his new club from finishing tenth in the league. During both the 1985–86 and 1986–87 seasons he scored 16 goals respectively and reached the 1986 final of the German League Cup, which they lost against Bayern Munich 2–5, and Klinsmann scored the last goal of the game. In the season 1987–88 he scored 19 goals – including the legendary overhead kick against Bayern Munich – and was Bundesliga's top goalscorer. In 1987 he also got his first cap for the German National Team
Germany national football team
The Germany national football team is the football team that has represented Germany in international competition since 1908. It is governed by the German Football Association , which was founded in 1900....

 against Brazil, which ended in a 1–1 draw.

In 1988, the 24 year old Klinsmann was named German Footballer of the Year
German Footballer of the Year
The title Footballer of the Year has been awarded in Germany since 1960. In 1996 the title Women's Footballer of the Year was awarded for the first time. Both awards are determined by a poll of German football journalists from the Association of German Sports Journalists and the publication Kicker...

. After reaching the 1988–89 UEFA Cup Final with VfB Stuttgart (which eventually lost to Maradona's inspired SSC Napoli 1–2 and 3–3), Klinsmann moved to Italian club Inter Milan and joined the ranks of two other German internationals, Lothar Matthäus
Lothar Matthäus
Lothar Herbert Matthäus , is a German football manager and former player.In 1990, he was named European Footballer of the Year and World Soccer Player of the Year after captaining West Germany to victory in the 1990 World Cup...

 and Andreas Brehme
Andreas Brehme
Andreas "Andy" Brehme is a German football coach and former football defender. He is best known for scoring the winning goal for Germany in the 1990 FIFA World Cup Final against Argentina on a 85th minute penalty kick....

.

1989–1992: Three years with Inter and world champion in Italy

Klinsmann signed a three-year contract with Inter Milan. In spite of the heavily defensive orientated tactics of head coach Giovanni Trapattoni
Giovanni Trapattoni
Giovanni Trapattoni , sometimes known as "Trap" or "Il Trap", is an Italian football coach and former player, considered the most successful club coach in the history of Serie A. As a player he was part of Italy's squad at the 1962 FIFA World Cup....

, Klinsmann scored 13 goals in the most competitive league at the time. He was one of the most popular foreign players in Italy, mostly because he had learnt Italian and earned himself the respect of the fans with his appearance and language skills.

After finishing third in the Serie A
Serie A
Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...

, Klinsmann was called up for the 1990 World Cup in Italy. After qualifying for the round of 16 without any problems, Germany was to play the Netherlands, against which they lost 2 years earlier in the European Championship
European Championship
-List:Athletics* European Athletics ChampionshipsAustralian rules football* EU CupAuto racing* European Championship * European Formula Two Championship * European Touring Car Championship...

. It was to be Klinsmann's best international game. After Rudi Völler
Rudi Völler
Rudolf 'Rudi' Völler is a German former international football striker, and a former manager of the German national team...

 was sent off in the 22nd minute, Klinsmann was forced to play as a lone striker. He delivered a running and pressure performance with which he occupied the entire Dutch defence, scored the 1–0 opener and was a constant threat. The next day, the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung
Süddeutsche Zeitung
The Süddeutsche Zeitung , published in Munich, is the largest German national subscription daily newspaper.-Profile:The title literally translates as "South German Newspaper". It is read throughout Germany by 1.1 million readers daily and boasts a relatively high circulation abroad...

wrote the following about Klinsmann's performance: "In the last decade, not a single forward of a DFB team has offered such a brilliant, almost perfect performance." After further victories over Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia national football team
The Czechoslovakia national football team was the national association football team of Czechoslovakia from 1922 to 1993. At the dissolution of Czechoslovakia at the end of 1992, the team was participating in UEFA qualifying Group 4 for the 1994 World Cup; it completed this campaign under the name...

 (1–0) and England
England national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...

 (1–1 after extra time, 4–3 on penalties), he became world champion after beating Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

 1–0 in the final. Klinsmann is well remembered for being brutally fouled by the Argentinian Pedro Monzón
Pedro Monzón
Pedro Damián Monzón is an Argentine football coach and former footballer.-Biography:Moncho Monzón played in different clubs, but most importantly in Independiente, with which he obtained 4 titles, including the Intercontinental Cup in 1984.Monzón was famously the first player to be sent off in a...

, who was subsequently sent off, reducing Argentina to ten men.

During the next season, Klinsmann won the UEFA Cup
UEFA Cup
The UEFA Europa League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League...

 with Inter (2–1 on aggregate against AS Roma) and repeated his previous performance in the league with 14 goals. Klinsmann's contract was extended until 1994. But a disastrous 1991–92 season made all plans fall through. Inter Milan never managed to gain any momentum under coach Corrado Orrico
Corrado Orrico
Corrado Orrico is an Italian football coach, best known for coaching Inter Milan in 1991–92.-Career:Orrico started his coaching career by serving as head in a number of minor division clubs in his native Tuscany, and he gained popularity after guiding Lucchese to impressive results in the Italian...

 and finished eighth in the league, with Klinsmann only scoring seven goals and the team being divided and fragmented into groups. It was clear for Klinsmann that this would be his last season at Inter Milan. Because of the poor season at Inter Milan Klinsmann temporarily lost his position in the starting 11 in the German National Team to Karl-Heinz Riedle. Only due to an arm fracture of Rudi Völler
Rudi Völler
Rudolf 'Rudi' Völler is a German former international football striker, and a former manager of the German national team...

 did Klinsmann regain his starting place for Germany in the opening game of Euro 1992 against the CIS
CIS
CIS usually refers to the Commonwealth of Independent States, a modern political entity consisting of eleven former Soviet Union republics.The acronym CIS may also refer to:-Organizations:...

. His performances improved from game to game during the European Championship
European Championship
-List:Athletics* European Athletics ChampionshipsAustralian rules football* EU CupAuto racing* European Championship * European Formula Two Championship * European Touring Car Championship...

 and he was one of the best in the final against Denmark
Denmark national football team
The Denmark national football team represents Denmark in association football and is controlled by the Danish Football Association , the governing body for the football clubs which are organized under DBU...

, which Germany lost 0–2.

1992 to 1994: AS Monaco

After Euro 1992 Klinsmann moved to AS Monaco and catapulted the club to a second place finish in Ligue 1
Ligue 1
Ligue 1 , is the French professional league for association football clubs. It is the country's primary football competition and serves as the top division of the French football league system. Ligue 1 is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Professionnel, the other being Ligue 2....

 in his first season. After the bribery scandal by Olympique Marseille and their subsequent disqualification as league winners, AS Monaco were to replace them in the Champions League
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...

 the following year. AS Monaco reached the semi-final before finally losing to eventual winners AC Milan. The following season AS Monaco only managed a 9th place finish in the league and Klinsmann, who had missed two months due to a torn ligament, was mostly deployed as a lone-striker and started criticizing the attitude of his teammates. In 1994 he left the club early, with one more year remaining on his contract. Despite being knocked out of World Cup 94 against Bulgaria in the quarter-finals, it was nevertheless a successful tournament for Klinsmann who had scored a total of five goals and won Germany's Footballer of the Year award for the second time.

1994 to 1995: Tottenham Hotspur

Somewhat surprisingly, for the 1994–95 season Klinsmann moved to Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League, where the fans and media were very critical of the German, partly because he played in the 1990 Germany team that knocked England out of the World Cup
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body...

, and partly because of his reputation as a diver
Diving (football)
In association football, diving is an attempt by a player to gain an unfair advantage by diving to the ground and possibly feigning an injury, to appear as if a foul has been committed. Dives are often used to exaggerate the amount of contact present in a challenge...

. He was signed by Spurs in July 1994 from AS Monaco of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 for £2million. On his debut against Sheffield Wednesday he scored a header and immediately celebrated his goal by humorously diving across the pitch. One Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...

 journalist, who had written an article called "Why I Hate Jürgen Klinsmann", wrote another two months later called "Why I Love Jürgen Klinsmann". Klinsmann went on to win the 1995 Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year
Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year
The Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year is an annual award given to the player who is adjudged to have been the best of the season in English football...

.

Because of his humour, but also because of his athletic achievements and his combative playing style, he quickly became extremely popular in England. Over 150,000 Klinsmann shirts were sold. Klinsmann now holds legendary status at Spurs and was inducted into Madame Tussauds Wax Museum.

1995 to 1998: Later career

He then had a successful spell at FC Bayern Munich
FC Bayern Munich
FC Bayern Munich , is a German sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional football team, which is the most successful football club in Germany, having won 22 national titles and 15 cups....

 during the 1995–96 and 1996–97 season. During both seasons he was the top goalscorer at his club, won the 1995–96 UEFA Cup and set a new goalscoring record of 15 goals in 12 games during the competition (a record that stood until 2011). A year later, he also became German champion as he won the Bundesliga
Fußball-Bundesliga
The Fußball-Bundesliga is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of Germany's football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. It is contested by 18 teams and operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the 2. Bundesliga...

. Klinsmann then briefly moved to Italy for Sampdoria, but left the team again in the winter and returned to Tottenham Hotspur. During his second stint at Tottenham in the 1997–98 season, Klinsmann's goals saved the club from relegation, particularly the four goals he scored in a 6–2 win at Wimbledon F.C.
Wimbledon F.C.
Wimbledon Football Club was an English professional association football club from Wimbledon, south-west London. Founded in 1889 as Wimbledon Old Central Football Club, the club spent most of its history in amateur and semi-professional non-League football before being elected to the Football...

 He was to play the last game of his club career in 1998 on the final day of the Premier League against Southampton.

He decided to retire from playing professional football in the summer of 1998 after the World Cup but is still a fan-favorite at White Hart Lane. He relocated to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 and under the pseudonym Jay Goppingen (taken from the town of Göppingen
Göppingen
Göppingen is a town in southern Germany, part of the Stuttgart Region of Baden-Württemberg. It is the capital of the district Göppingen. It is situated at the bottom of the Hohenstaufen mountain, in the valley of the river Fils....

, where he was born) Klinsmann made a comeback as a player in 2003 for Orange County Blue Star
Orange County Blue Star
Orange County Blue Star is an American soccer team based in Irvine, California, United States. Founded in 1997, the team plays in the USL Premier Development League , the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the Southwest Division of the Western Conference.The team plays its home games at...

 in the United Soccer Leagues
United Soccer Leagues
The United Soccer Leagues is the organizer of several soccer leagues with teams in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. It includes men's and women's leagues, both professional and amateur. Leagues currently organized are the USL Pro, the USL Premier Development League, the W-League, and...

' Premier Development League, the fourth tier of American men's soccer. The 39-year-old was able to score five goals in eight appearances, helping his team to reach the playoffs.

International career

Klinsmann had a fruitful international career, seeing his first West Germany duty in 1987 and ultimately collecting 108 caps, which makes him third most capped player behind Lothar Matthäus
Lothar Matthäus
Lothar Herbert Matthäus , is a German football manager and former player.In 1990, he was named European Footballer of the Year and World Soccer Player of the Year after captaining West Germany to victory in the 1990 World Cup...

 and Miroslav Klose
Miroslav Klose
Miroslav Josef Klose is a German footballer who plays as a striker for Lazio in the Serie A. Since bursting onto the international stage at the 2002 World Cup, he has become well known for his knack of scoring headers, front-flip goal celebrations, and decisive short passing.Klose holds German...

. Klinsmann scored 47 goals for West Germany/Germany in top-level international matches, sharing the all-time third place with Rudi Völler
Rudi Völler
Rudolf 'Rudi' Völler is a German former international football striker, and a former manager of the German national team...

, and only surpassed by Gerd Müller
Gerd Müller
Gerhard "Gerd" Müller is a former German football player and one of the most prolific goalscorers of all time.With national records of 68 goals in 62 international appearances, 365 goals in 427 Bundesliga games and the international record of 66 goals in 74 European Club games, he was one of the...

's record of 68 goals for the national team and by Miroslav Klose
Miroslav Klose
Miroslav Josef Klose is a German footballer who plays as a striker for Lazio in the Serie A. Since bursting onto the international stage at the 2002 World Cup, he has become well known for his knack of scoring headers, front-flip goal celebrations, and decisive short passing.Klose holds German...

's 62 goals.

He participated in the 1988 Summer Olympics
1988 Summer Olympics
The 1988 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad, were an all international multi-sport events celebrated from September 17 to October 2, 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. They were the second summer Olympic Games to be held in Asia and the first since the 1964 Summer Olympics...

, winning a bronze medal; the 1988, 1992 and 1996 European Championships
UEFA European Football Championship
The UEFA European Football Championship is the main football competition of the men's national football teams governed by UEFA . Held every four years since 1960, in the even-numbered year between World Cup tournaments, it was originally called the UEFA European Nations Cup, changing to the current...

, reaching the final in 1992 and becoming champion in 1996. Klinsmann was the first player ever to score in three different UEFA European Championships. He did it at the 1988, 1992, and 1996 tournaments. Three other players – Vladimir Smicer
Vladimír Šmicer
Vladimír Šmicer is a former Czech football midfielder and forward player. Šmicer was a devout player of Slavia Prague, the only Czech club he ever played for. He also played notably for Lens in France, with whom he won the Ligue 1 title. In 1999, Šmicer moved to England, where he played several...

, Thierry Henry
Thierry Henry
Thierry Daniel Henry is a French professional footballer who plays for the New York Red Bulls in Major League Soccer.Henry was born in Les Ulis, Essonne where he played for an array of local sides as a youngster and showed great promise as a goal-scorer. He was spotted by AS Monaco in 1990 and...

, and Nuno Gomes
Nuno Gomes
Nuno Miguel Soares Pereira Ribeiro , commonly known as Nuno Gomes, is a Portuguese footballer who plays for S.C. Braga as a striker.He was given the nickname Gomes during childhood after F.C...

 – have equalled this record since.

He was also an important part of the West German team at the World Cup finals of 1990 (in which he scored three goals), 1994 (five goals), and 1998 (three goals), winning the World Cup in 1990. He is currently the sixth highest goalscorer at World Cups overall and the third highest goalscorer for Germany in this competition behind Miroslav Klose
Miroslav Klose
Miroslav Josef Klose is a German footballer who plays as a striker for Lazio in the Serie A. Since bursting onto the international stage at the 2002 World Cup, he has become well known for his knack of scoring headers, front-flip goal celebrations, and decisive short passing.Klose holds German...

 and Gerd Müller
Gerd Müller
Gerhard "Gerd" Müller is a former German football player and one of the most prolific goalscorers of all time.With national records of 68 goals in 62 international appearances, 365 goals in 427 Bundesliga games and the international record of 66 goals in 74 European Club games, he was one of the...

 who both have 14.

Stats


Coaching career

Upon retiring from active play, Klinsmann started his commercial career. He became the vice-president of a sports marketing consultancy based in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 and was involved in Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer is a professional soccer league based in the United States and sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation . The league is composed of 19 teams — 16 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada...

 as part of the Los Angeles Galaxy
Los Angeles Galaxy
The Los Angeles Galaxy are an American professional soccer team, based in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson, California, which competes in Major League Soccer , the top professional soccer league in the United States and Canada. It is one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, and the league's second...

 team.

German national team

On 26 July 2004, he returned to Germany as the new coach of the national team
Germany national football team
The Germany national football team is the football team that has represented Germany in international competition since 1908. It is governed by the German Football Association , which was founded in 1900....

, succeeding former teammate and strike partner Rudi Völler
Rudi Völler
Rudolf 'Rudi' Völler is a German former international football striker, and a former manager of the German national team...

. Klinsmann subsequently embarked on an aggressive program to revamp the management of the team. Bringing fellow German striker Oliver Bierhoff
Oliver Bierhoff
Oliver Bierhoff is a retired German former football striker, who scored the first golden goal in the history of major international football, for Germany in the Euro 96 final...

 on board helped diffuse public relations
Public relations
Public relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....

 duties of the previous combined post away from the actual coaching aspect of the position. Furthermore, he created a youth movement to breathe life into an aging squad on the heels of a disastrous showing at Euro 2004
2004 UEFA European Football Championship
The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, better known as Euro 2004, was the 12th European Football Championship, a quadrennial football tournament for European national teams. It was hosted in Portugal, for the first time, between 12 June and 4 July 2004, following its selection by UEFA, in...

. In the run up to the 2006 World Cup, Klinsmann attracted criticism from German fans and the media following poor results, such as the 4–1 loss to Italy
Italy national football team
The Italy National Football Team , represents Italy in association football and is controlled by the Italian Football Federation , the governing body for football in Italy. Italy is the second most successful national team in the history of the World Cup having won four titles , just one fewer than...

. A particular subject of criticism was that Klinsmann commuted to Germany from the United States, which was the target of a campaign by the "Bild" tabloid. It should be noted that Klinsmann had previously eliminated some privileges Bild traditionally had with the national team, such as receiving the team lineup the day before a match, and 24/7
24/7
24/7 is an abbreviation which stands for "24 hours a day, 7 days a week", usually referring to a business or service available at all times without interruption...

 exclusive access to the team. His largely offensive
Offense (sports)
In sports, offense or offence , also known as attack, is the action of attacking or engaging an opposing team with the objective of scoring points or goals...

 tactics have irritated some, who complain that he ignores defensive
Defense (sport)
In many team sports, defense or defence is the action of preventing an opponent from scoring. The term may also refer to the tactics involved in defense, or a sub-team whose primary responsibility is defense...

 football. He announced a squad of young players for the 2006 World Cup, basing his selection policy on performance, not reputation.

During the 2005 Confederations Cup, he regularly rotated his goalkeepers regardless of their performances, which drew the ire of Bayern Munich's Oliver Kahn
Oliver Kahn
Oliver Rolf Kahn is a former German football goalkeeper. He started his career in the Karlsruher SC Junior team. He had his debut game in the professional squad in 1987...

. On 7 April 2006, Klinsmann finally decided to relegate Kahn to the bench and designated Arsenal
Arsenal F.C.
Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...

's Jens Lehmann
Jens Lehmann
Jens Gerhard Lehmann is a German former football goalkeeper. He was voted UEFA Club Goalkeeper of the Year for the 1996–97 and 2005–06 seasons, and he has been selected for three World Cup squads. He was a member of Arsenal's Invincibles, playing every match of their famous unbeaten title winning...

 as his first choice goalkeeper. This choice followed Lehmann's performances in the 2006 Champions League in which his Arsenal team bowed out in the final against Barcelona.

In the 2006 World Cup, the performances of Klinsmann's team silenced his critics. The team recorded three straight wins against Costa Rica, Poland and Ecuador in the first round, earning Germany first place in Group A. The first game of the knock out stage was a 2–0 victory over Sweden, and in the quarter-finals, Klinsmann's team defeated Argentina, winning 4–2 on penalties. The teams drew 1–1 after 120 minutes after an equalising goal from Miroslav Klose
Miroslav Klose
Miroslav Josef Klose is a German footballer who plays as a striker for Lazio in the Serie A. Since bursting onto the international stage at the 2002 World Cup, he has become well known for his knack of scoring headers, front-flip goal celebrations, and decisive short passing.Klose holds German...

 in the 80th minute.

In the semi-final on 4 July, Germany lost a close match with Italy
Italy national football team
The Italy National Football Team , represents Italy in association football and is controlled by the Italian Football Federation , the governing body for football in Italy. Italy is the second most successful national team in the history of the World Cup having won four titles , just one fewer than...

 2–0 after goals in the final minutes of extra time from Fabio Grosso
Fabio Grosso
Fabio Grosso, Ufficiale OMRI is an Italian World Cup-winning footballer who currently plays for Serie A club Juventus. Grosso is primarily a left wingback, but can also play as left back. He is also a free kick, penalty kick and corner kick specialist...

 and Alessandro Del Piero
Alessandro Del Piero
Alessandro Del Piero Ufficiale OMRI is an Italian World Cup-winning footballer who plays for Serie A club Juventus, of which he is also club captain....

. After the match, Klinsmann praised the performance of his young team. They beat Portugal 3–1 in the third place play-off, where he played Kahn instead of Jens Lehmann. The victory triggered a massive Berlin parade the following day where Klinsmann and the team were honoured by the public.

Afterward, Franz Beckenbauer
Franz Beckenbauer
Franz Anton Beckenbauer is a German football coach, manager, and former player, nicknamed Der Kaiser because of his elegant style, his leadership, his first name "Franz" , and his dominance on the football pitch...

, previously a strident critic of Klinsmann's, declared his desire to see Klinsmann continue as coach. There was also widespread public support for Klinsmann due to his team's spirit and attacking style of play. The team's strong performance is thought by some to have renewed national pride and restored Germany's reputation as a top footballing nation. Due to his success coaching the national team, Klinsmann was awarded the Bundesverdienstkreuz
Bundesverdienstkreuz
The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany is the only general state decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has existed since 7 September 1951, and between 3,000 and 5,200 awards are given every year across all classes...

. He was even referred to as "Kaiser", a term meaning "emperor" in German, usually reserved for German footballing greats, e.g. Franz Beckenbauer.

Despite the highly acclaimed performance at the World Cup and the praise earned, Klinsmann declined to renew his contract, informing the DFB of his decision on 11 July 2006. The decision was officially announced by the DFB on the 12 July 2006. Klinsmann's assistant Joachim Löw was appointed as the new head trainer at the same press conference. Klinsmann said "My big wish is to go back to my family, to go back to leading a normal life with them ... After two years of putting in a lot of energy, I feel I lack the power and the strength to continue in the same way."

Post-Germany

After leaving the Germany job, Klinsmann was linked with many coaching roles. He was linked repeatedly with the vacant United States national team
United States men's national soccer team
The United States men's national soccer team represents the United States in international association football competitions. It is controlled by the United States Soccer Federation and competes in CONCACAF...

 coaching job after the decision not to renew the contract of Bruce Arena
Bruce Arena
Bruce Arena is a former coach of the United States men's national soccer team as well as a former professional soccer and lacrosse player...

 after the 2006 World Cup. However, Klinsmann could not come to an agreement with the U.S. Soccer Federation
United States Soccer Federation
The United States Soccer Federation is the official governing body of the sport of soccer in the United States. Its headquarters are located in Chicago, Illinois. It is a member of FIFA and is responsible for governing amateur and professional soccer, including the men's, women's, youth, futsal...

 over control of the national team structure, and the job eventually went to Bob Bradley
Bob Bradley
Robert "Bob" Bradley is an American soccer coach and the current manager of the Egypt national football team, taking over in September 2011. He previously managed the United States men's national soccer team...

. He was again linked with the head coaching role of the United States after the 2010 World Cup, however no agreement could be made again. The United States Soccer Federation
United States Soccer Federation
The United States Soccer Federation is the official governing body of the sport of soccer in the United States. Its headquarters are located in Chicago, Illinois. It is a member of FIFA and is responsible for governing amateur and professional soccer, including the men's, women's, youth, futsal...

 decided to renew the contract of Bob Bradley for another 4 years.

In April 2007, the English newspaper The Sun
The Sun (newspaper)
The Sun is a daily national tabloid newspaper published in the United Kingdom and owned by News Corporation. Sister editions are published in Glasgow and Dublin...

reported that Roman Abramovich
Roman Abramovich
Roman Arkadyevich Abramovich is a Russian businessman and the main owner of the private investment company Millhouse LLC.In 2003, Abramovich was named Person of the Year by Expert, a Russian business magazine. He shared this title with Mikhail Khodorkovsky...

 wanted Klinsmann to coach his team Chelsea
Chelsea F.C.
Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...

. Klinsmann reportedly rejected the offer. Klinsmann was also linked with managerial roles with Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur F.C.
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club , commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English Premier League football club based in Tottenham, north London. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane....

 and Los Angeles Galaxy
Los Angeles Galaxy
The Los Angeles Galaxy are an American professional soccer team, based in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson, California, which competes in Major League Soccer , the top professional soccer league in the United States and Canada. It is one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, and the league's second...

, but the jobs went to Juande Ramos and Ruud Gullit
Ruud Gullit
OON is a Dutch football manager and former football player, who played professionally in the 1980s and 1990s. He was the captain of the Netherlands national team that was victorious at Euro 88 and was also a member of the squad for the 1990 World Cup. He was named the European Footballer of the...

 respectively. Klinsmann was also linked to the Liverpool job as speculation mounted over Rafael Benítez
Rafael Benítez
Rafael "Rafa" Benítez Maudes is a football manager, and former player. He is currently unemployed, after leaving as manager of Internazionale in December 2010....

's future. Tom Hicks admitted in a statement that Liverpool 'sounded out' Klinsmann about the job at Anfield if Rafael Benitez was to leave for either Real Madrid or Internazionale. Franz Beckenbauer
Franz Beckenbauer
Franz Anton Beckenbauer is a German football coach, manager, and former player, nicknamed Der Kaiser because of his elegant style, his leadership, his first name "Franz" , and his dominance on the football pitch...

 claimed that Klinsmann would be "ideal" as the new coach of the England national team
England national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...

 after Steve McClaren
Steve McClaren
Stephen "Steve" McClaren is an English football manager and former player.McClaren was previously manager of VfL Wolfsburg in Germany between May 2010 and February 2011, having left his post at Dutch side FC Twente, with whom he won the club's first Eredivisie championship in the 2009–10 season...

 was sacked in November 2007, prior to the eventual appointment of the Englishman's replacement, Fabio Capello
Fabio Capello
Fabio Capello is an Italian football manager and former player. He is the manager of the England national football team.Capello has the distinction of winning the domestic league title with every club he has coached throughout his career...

.

Bayern Munich

In July 2008 Klinsmann took over as coach of Bayern Munich, succeeding Ottmar Hitzfeld
Ottmar Hitzfeld
Ottmar Hitzfeld is a German former football player and manager, nicknamed der General ....

. This was Klinsmann's first managerial position at club level. Expected to introduce changes into training and style of play, Klinsmann was allowed to appoint several new staff member such as assistants Martin Vasquez
Martin Vasquez
Martin Vasquez is a Mexican-born American former professional soccer player. He was most recently the head coach of C.D. Chivas USA in Major League Soccer....

 and Nick Theslof
Nick Theslof
Nick Theslof is an American soccer manager and coach, who was midfield coach and international scout to Jürgen Klinsmann at FC Bayern Munich...

, goalkeeping coach Walter Junghans
Walter Junghans
Walter Junghans was a German football player who played goalkeeper.-Career:Junghans started his professional career with Bayern Munich in 1977, where he was the back up for legendary Sepp Maier. In 1979, Maier had to end his career after a car accident...

, fitness coaches Oliver Schmidtlein, Thomas Wilhelmi, Marcelo Martins, and Darcy Norman, and sports psychologist Philipp Laux
Philipp Laux
Philipp Laux is a German former footballer, now Sports psychologist of FC Bayern Munich.-Playing career:...

. Klinsmann helped design a new player development and performance center for Bayern and then launched into molding the team for the Bundesliga
Fußball-Bundesliga
The Fußball-Bundesliga is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of Germany's football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. It is contested by 18 teams and operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the 2. Bundesliga...

 and UEFA Champions League
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...

 campaigns. Under his guidance, Bayern reached the quarter final of the Champions League, losing to eventual champion FC Barcelona
FC Barcelona
Futbol Club Barcelona , also known as Barcelona and familiarly as Barça, is a professional football club, based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain....

.

Bayern’s record during the 2008/2009 UEFA Champions League was 6 wins, 3 draws, and 1 loss (to Barcelona). In the Bundesliga, Bayern was only 3 points out of first place, with 5 matches to play, when Klinsmann was replaced as head coach due to a difference of opinion with the club’s Board of Directors. Bayern’s record under Klinsmann during the 2008/2009 Bundesliga season was 16 wins, 6 draws, and 7 losses.

Reviewing his coaching at Bayern, current Germany
Germany national football team
The Germany national football team is the football team that has represented Germany in international competition since 1908. It is governed by the German Football Association , which was founded in 1900....

 captain Philipp Lahm
Philipp Lahm
Philipp Lahm is a German footballer who plays for Bayern Munich and Germany. Lahm is also the captain for both the national team and Bayern....

, criticized Klinsmann in his book "Der feine Unterschied". Lahm stated how Klinsmann wasn't interested in strategy and too focused on fitness: "Tactical issues were given short shrift. We players had to get together on our own before matches to discuss how we wanted to play." Lahm subsequently had to apologize publicly for his candor.

United States

On 29 July 2011, Klinsmann was named head coach of the United States
United States men's national soccer team
The United States men's national soccer team represents the United States in international association football competitions. It is controlled by the United States Soccer Federation and competes in CONCACAF...

.

Playing stats

|-
|1981–82||rowspan="3"|Stuttgarter Kickers
Stuttgarter Kickers
Stuttgarter Kickers is a German association football club that plays in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, founded on 21 September 1899 as FC Stuttgarter Cickers...

||rowspan="3"|2. Bundesliga
2. Fußball-Bundesliga
- Changes in division set-up :* Number of clubs: currently 18. From 1974 to 1981 there were two conferences, each of 20 teams. In 1981–91 it had 20...

||6||1||||||||||||||||
|-
|1982–83||20||2||||||||||||||||
|-
|1983–84||35||19||||||||||||||||
|-
|1984–85||rowspan="5"|Stuttgart
VfB Stuttgart
Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V., commonly known as VfB Stuttgart, is a German sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club is best known for its football team, which has participated in all but two Bundesliga seasons...

||rowspan="5"|Bundesliga
Fußball-Bundesliga
The Fußball-Bundesliga is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of Germany's football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. It is contested by 18 teams and operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the 2. Bundesliga...

||32||15||||||||||2||0||||
|-
|1985–86||33||16||||||||||||||||
|-
|1986–87||32||16||||||||||4||1||||
|-
|1987–88||34||19||||||||||||||||
|-
|1988–89||25||13||||||||||8||4||||

|-
|1989–90||rowspan="3"|Internazionale Milano
F.C. Internazionale Milano
Football Club Internazionale Milano, often referred to as Internazionale or simply Inter, is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Italy. Outside Italy, the club is often called Inter Milan. They are the reigning FIFA Club World champions and Coppa Italia holders.Inter have always...

||rowspan="3"|Serie A
Serie A
Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...

||31||13||4||2||||||2||0||37||15
|-
|1990–91||33||14||4||0||||||12||3||49||17
|-
|1991–92||31||7||5||1||||||1||0||37||8

|-
|1992–93||rowspan="2"|Monaco
AS Monaco FC
Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club are a French football club based in Fontvieille, Monaco. The club was founded in 1924 and currently play in Ligue 2, the second tier of French football. The team plays its home matches at the Stade Louis II located within Fontvieille...

||rowspan="2"|Division 1
Ligue 1
Ligue 1 , is the French professional league for association football clubs. It is the country's primary football competition and serves as the top division of the French football league system. Ligue 1 is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Professionnel, the other being Ligue 2....

||35||19||||||||||||||||
|-
|1993–94||30||10||||||||||||||||

|-
|1994–95||Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur F.C.
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club , commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English Premier League football club based in Tottenham, north London. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane....

||Premier League||41||21||6||5||3||4||||||50||30

|-
|1995–96||rowspan="2"|Bayern Munich
FC Bayern Munich
FC Bayern Munich , is a German sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional football team, which is the most successful football club in Germany, having won 22 national titles and 15 cups....

||rowspan="2"|Bundesliga
Fußball-Bundesliga
The Fußball-Bundesliga is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of Germany's football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. It is contested by 18 teams and operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the 2. Bundesliga...

||32||16||1||0||-||-||12||15||45||31
|-
|1996–97||33||15||4||2||-||-||2||0||39||17

|-
|1997–98||Sampdoria
U.C. Sampdoria
Unione Calcio Sampdoria is an Italian association football club based in Genoa. The club was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the 1890s, Sampierdarenese and Andrea Doria...

||Serie A
Serie A
Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...

||8||2||||||||||||||||

|-
|1997–98||Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur F.C.
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club , commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English Premier League football club based in Tottenham, north London. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane....

||Premier League||15||9||||||||||||||||
282||132||||||||||||||||
103||36||||||||||||||||
65||29||||||||||||||||
56||30||||||||||||||||
506||227||||||||||||||||
|-
|1987||2||0
|-
|1988||8||2
|-
|1989||4||1
|-
|1990||15||6
|-
|1991||4||0
|-
|1992||13||2
|-
|1993||10||6
|-
|1994||14||11
|-
|1995||9||6
|-
|1996||14||7
|-
|1997||7||2
|-
|1998||8||4
|-
!Total||108||47
|}

Coaching stats

eam rom o ompetition Record
G W D L Win %
Germany
Germany national football team
The Germany national football team is the football team that has represented Germany in international competition since 1908. It is governed by the German Football Association , which was founded in 1900....

2004 2006
Friendlies 22 12 6 4 54.55%
International competition 12 8 2 2 66.67%
Total 34 20 8 6 58.82%
Bayern Munich 2008 2009
Bundesliga 29 16 6 7 55.17%
DFB Cup 4 3 0 1 75.00%
Europe 10 6 3 1 60.00%
Total 43 25 9 9 58.14%
United States
United States men's national soccer team
The United States men's national soccer team represents the United States in international association football competitions. It is controlled by the United States Soccer Federation and competes in CONCACAF...

2011 Present
Friendlies 7 2 1 4 28.57%
International competition 0 0 0 0 0%
Total 7 2 1 4 28.57%
Total Career 84 47 18 19 55.95%

Club

Internazionale
  • Supercoppa Italiana
    Supercoppa Italiana
    The Supercoppa Italiana is a pre-season football competition held the week before the season begins in Italy every year. It is contested by the winners of the Serie A and the Coppa Italia in the previous season, as a curtain raiser to the new season. It is usually played at the home of the Serie A...

    :
    1989
    1989 Supercoppa Italiana
    The 1989 Supercoppa Italiana was a match played by the 1988–89 Serie A winners Internazionale and 1988–89 Coppa Italia winners Sampdoria. It took place on 29 September 1989 at the San Siro in Milan, Italy...

  • UEFA Cup
    UEFA Cup
    The UEFA Europa League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League...

    :
    1991
    1991 UEFA Cup Final
    The 1991 UEFA Cup Final was an all-Italian football tie played on 8 May 1991 and 22 May 1991 between Internazionale and Roma. Inter won 2–1 on aggregate after winning the first leg 2–0 but losing the second 1–0.-First leg:-Second leg:...


Bayern Munich
  • UEFA Cup
    UEFA Cup
    The UEFA Europa League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League...

    :
    1996
    1996 UEFA Cup Final
    The 1996 UEFA Cup Final was played on May 1, 1996 and May 15, 1996 between Bayern Munich of Germany and FC Girondins de Bordeaux of France. Bayern Munich won the two matches 5–1 on aggregate.-First leg:-Second leg:...

  • Bundesliga
    Fußball-Bundesliga
    The Fußball-Bundesliga is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of Germany's football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. It is contested by 18 teams and operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the 2. Bundesliga...

    :
    1996–97

International

Germany
Germany national football team
The Germany national football team is the football team that has represented Germany in international competition since 1908. It is governed by the German Football Association , which was founded in 1900....

  • FIFA World Cup
    FIFA World Cup
    The FIFA World Cup, often simply the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body...

    :
    1990
    1990 FIFA World Cup Final
    The 1990 FIFA World Cup Final was a football match played between West Germany and Argentina that took place on 8 July 1990 at the Stadio Olimpico, Rome to determine the winner of the 1990 FIFA World Cup...

  • European Championship
    UEFA European Football Championship
    The UEFA European Football Championship is the main football competition of the men's national football teams governed by UEFA . Held every four years since 1960, in the even-numbered year between World Cup tournaments, it was originally called the UEFA European Nations Cup, changing to the current...

    :
    1996
    UEFA Euro 1996 Final
    The UEFA Euro 1996 Final was a football match played on 30 June 1996 at Wembley Stadium in London, England, to determine the winner of UEFA Euro 1996. The match featured tournament favourites, Germany, who knocked out hosts England in the previous round and Czech Republic, playing in only their...

  • U.S. Cup: 1993
    1993 U.S. Cup
    The 1993 U.S. Cup was a United States Soccer Federation organized round robin tournament held in June 1993. The U.S. hosted Brazil, England and Germany. All three of those countries were playing in their only U.S. Cup. The U.S. Cup began as a four-team invitational tournament in 1992 and would...


Personal

  • West German Footballer of the Year
    German Footballer of the Year
    The title Footballer of the Year has been awarded in Germany since 1960. In 1996 the title Women's Footballer of the Year was awarded for the first time. Both awards are determined by a poll of German football journalists from the Association of German Sports Journalists and the publication Kicker...

    : 1988
  • German Footballer of the Year
    German Footballer of the Year
    The title Footballer of the Year has been awarded in Germany since 1960. In 1996 the title Women's Footballer of the Year was awarded for the first time. Both awards are determined by a poll of German football journalists from the Association of German Sports Journalists and the publication Kicker...

    : 1994
  • FWA Footballer of the Year: 1995 (Tottenham Hotspur)

Caps

  • 108 caps for West Germany/Germany (47 goals)
  • 14 Olympic caps (8 goals)
  • 8 Under-21 caps (3 goals)
  • 3 Under-16 caps

  • Statistics refer to League games/goals only (except for international games).

Broadcasting career

Klinsmann was a studio analyst alongside former players Ruud Gullit
Ruud Gullit
OON is a Dutch football manager and former football player, who played professionally in the 1980s and 1990s. He was the captain of the Netherlands national team that was victorious at Euro 88 and was also a member of the squad for the 1990 World Cup. He was named the European Footballer of the...

, Steve McManaman
Steve McManaman
Steven McManaman is a retired English footballer who played as a midfielder, winger and playmaker. Having spent his playing career at two of European football's most successful clubs of the 20th century, Liverpool and Real Madrid, as well as a spell at Manchester City, McManaman is the most...

, and Alexi Lalas
Alexi Lalas
Panayotis Alexander Lalas is a retired American soccer player who played mostly as a defender for the United States national team in the 1994 FIFA World Cup...

, as well as commentator Martin Tyler
Martin Tyler
Martin Tyler is an English football commentator who was voted as the FA Premier League Commentator of The Decade...

 for the English-language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

 coverage of the 2010 FIFA World Cup
2010 FIFA World Cup
The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national association football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010...

 on the ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....

 family of network
Television network
A television network is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, whereby a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay TV providers. Until the mid-1980s, television programming in most countries of the world was dominated by a small...

s. He also worked as co-commentator for the German TV station RTL
RTL Television
Rtl.de' redirects here. For other uses, see RTL.RTL Television , or simply RTL, is a German commercial television station distributed via cable and satellite along with DVB-T , in larger population centres...

 during their broadcasts of nine World Cup matches in 2010.

Charity work and Social engagements

In 1995 Klinsmann and some of his close friends founded the children charity foundation “Agapedia” which stems from the Greek language and translates to “Love for Children”. As of today Agapedia runs four projects in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...

, Moldova
Moldova
Moldova , officially the Republic of Moldova is a landlocked state in Eastern Europe, located between Romania to the West and Ukraine to the North, East and South. It declared itself an independent state with the same boundaries as the preceding Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1991, as part...

 and Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

. In 1997 Klinsmann, acting as the captain of the German National Team
Germany national football team
The Germany national football team is the football team that has represented Germany in international competition since 1908. It is governed by the German Football Association , which was founded in 1900....

, visited the Holocaust memorial place Yad Vashem in Israel alongside his coach Berti Vogts
Berti Vogts
Hans-Hubert "Berti" Vogts is a German former footballer. He played for Borussia Mönchengladbach and won the World Cup with West Germany in 1974. He later managed Germany , Scotland and Nigeria...

. This visit was televised around the globe and drew worldwide attention. Klinsmann is also a board member of the German Initiative “Für die Zukunft lernen” which means “Learning for the future” and supports the education of young people about the holocaust. In May 1999, Klinsmann donated all the proceeds from his farewell game (more than $1 million) to different children charity organizations. The game was a sell-out with 54,000 fans in Stuttgart’s Mercedes-Benz Arena. Famous personalities such as Bryan Adams
Bryan Adams
Bryan Adams, is a Canadian rock singer-songwriter, guitarist, bassist, producer, actor and photographer. Adams has won dozens of awards and nominations, including 20 Juno Awards among 56 nominations. He has also received 15 Grammy Award nominations including a win for Best Song Written...

, Boris Becker
Boris Becker
Boris Franz Becker is a former World No. 1 professional tennis player from Germany. He is a six-time Grand Slam singles champion, an Olympic gold medalist, and the youngest-ever winner of the men's singles title at Wimbledon at the age of 17...

 and many others contributed to this event.

Personal life

Klinsmann's family operates a bakery
Bakery
A bakery is an establishment which produces and sells flour-based food baked in an oven such as bread, cakes, pastries and pies. Some retail bakeries are also cafés, serving coffee and tea to customers who wish to consume the baked goods on the premises.-See also:*Baker*Cake...

 in Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....

's Botnang
Botnang
Botnang is a district of the City of Stuttgart and lies between Feuerbach, Stuttgart-West and Vaihingen.-Geography:Botnang is almost entirely surrounded by woodland and lies in the hills to the west of Stuttgart. The centre of Botnang lies 316 metres above sea level...

 district and consequently he is sometimes affectionately referred to as the "baker's son from Botnang". Klinsmann is in fact a journeyman baker
Journeyman
A journeyman is someone who completed an apprenticeship and was fully educated in a trade or craft, but not yet a master. To become a master, a journeyman had to submit a master work piece to a guild for evaluation and be admitted to the guild as a master....

, having served an apprenticeship
Apprenticeship
Apprenticeship is a system of training a new generation of practitioners of a skill. Apprentices or protégés build their careers from apprenticeships...

. He is married to Chinese-American Debbie Chin, a former model
Model (person)
A model , sometimes called a mannequin, is a person who is employed to display, advertise and promote commercial products or to serve as a subject of works of art....

 and lives in Huntington Beach, California
Huntington Beach, California
Huntington Beach is a seaside city in Orange County in Southern California. According to the 2010 census, the city population was 189,992; making it the largest beach city in Orange County in terms of population...

. The couple have two children, Jonathan (born 1997) and Laila (born 2001).

External links

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