Jürgen Klinsmann

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Klinsmann was part of the West German team that won the 1990 FIFA World Cup. In the round of 16 against the Netherlands, after Rudi Völler was sent off in the 22nd minute, Klinsmann was forced to play as a lone striker. His performance received considerable praise; German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung wrote that 'In the last decade, not a single forward of a DFB team has offered such a brilliant, almost perfect performance.' He became a world champion after beating Argentina 1–0 in the final. He also won the UEFA Euro 1996 with the unified German team. As a manager, he led Germany to a third-place finish at the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He was named in the FIFA 100 list of the '125 Greatest Living Footballers' in March 2004. In 2016, he became the fifth player to be named as honorary captain of Germany, preceded by Fritz Walter, Uwe Seeler, Franz Beckenbauer, and Lothar Matthäus.

In Their Own Story

On 26 July 2004, Klinsmann returned to Germany as the new head coach of the national team, succeeding former teammate and strike partner Rudi Völler. He embarked on an aggressive program to revamp the management of the team, bringing fellow German striker Oliver Bierhoff on board. He created a youth movement to breathe life into an aging squad on the heels of a disastrous showing at Euro 2004. 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. A particular subject of criticism was that Klinsmann commuted to Germany from the U.S., which was the target of a campaign by the tabloid Bild. Klinsmann previously eliminated some privileges Bild traditionally had with the national team. He announced a squad of young players for the 2006 World Cup, basing his selection policy on performance, not reputation. During the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup, he regularly rotated the squad.

Reader's Guide

Klinsmann's coaching career included managing the German national team to a third-place finish at the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He subsequently coached Bundesliga club Bayern Munich and the United States national team. The source does not provide specific details about his USMNT tenure, tactics, or matches. His player pedigree includes winning the 1990 FIFA World Cup with West Germany and the UEFA Euro 1996 with the unified German team. He scored in all six major international tournaments he participated in for Germany, from UEFA Euro 1988 to the 1998 FIFA World Cup. In 1995, he came in third in the FIFA World Player of the Year award.

Did You Know?

• He improved his 100 m dash from 11.7 to 11.0 seconds under sprint coach Horst Allman.
• He scored a legendary overhead kick against Bayern Munich in the 1987–88 season.
• Over 150,000 of his Tottenham Hotspur shirts were sold during the 1994–95 season.
• He set a UEFA Cup goalscoring record of 15 goals in 12 matches for Bayern Munich in 1995–96, a record that stood until 2011.