Stuttgarter Kickers (Germany), VfB Stuttgart (Germany), Bayern
Munich (Germany), AS Monaco (France), Inter Milan (Italy),
Sampdoria (Italy), Tottenham Hotspur (England)
Honours
1988 Olympic Bronze medal in
Seoul 1988 German Footballer of the year 1988 Bundesliga Top-Goalscorer (19 goals) 1990 World Cup Winner with "Germany" 1991 UEFA-Cup Winner with "Internazionale FC" 1994 German Footballer of the year 1995 England's Footballer of the year 1996 European Champion with "Germany" 1996 UEFA-Cup Winner with "Bayern Munich" 1997 Bundesliga Champion with "Bayern Munich"
Biography
Jürgen Klinsmann (born July 30, 1964) is a German football
manager (coach) and former football player. He played as a
striker and his blond hair and scoring ability earned him the
nickname "Golden Bomber". Klinsmann's family operates a bakery
in the Stuttgart suburb of Botnang and consequently he is
sometimes affectionally referred to as the "baker's son from
Botnang". Klinsman is in fact a trained baker.
Klinsmann was born in Göppingen, Baden-Württemberg. He was first
introduced to football at the age of eight, playing every
position in his youth, including goalkeeper. He started his
professional career at the age of seventeen at Stuttgarter
Kickers, which at the time was a second division club. In 1984
he joined the more prestigious Stuttgart club VfB Stuttgart, a
perennial first division member.
Besides playing for German clubs VfB Stuttgart and Bayern
Munich, Klinsmann played in many countries around Europe - at AS
Monaco in France, Internazionale and Sampdoria in Italy, and
twice at Tottenham Hotspur in England. Whilst at Spurs he
responded to claims about diving when challenged, by creating a
goal celebration of "diving" onto the pitch on his front. This
goal celebration is known in England as "doing a Klinsmann".
During his second stint at Spurs, Klinsmann decided to retire
from playing professional football in the summer of 1998 after
the World Cup.
Klinsmann had a fruitful international career, seeing his first
Germany duty in 1987 and in the end collecting 108 caps along
with 47 international goals. He participated in the 1988 Summer
Olympics, winning a bronze medal; the 1988, 1992 and 1996
European Championships, reaching the final in 1992 and becoming
champion in 1996; and the 1990, 1994 and 1998 World Cup, winning
the World Cup in 1990. He retired from the national team after
the 1998 World Cup.
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 and was involved in Major
League Soccer as part of the Los Angeles Galaxy team.
On 26 July 2004, he returned to Germany as the new coach of the
national team, succeeding Rudi Völler. Klinsmann has embarked on
an aggressive program to revamp the management of the team and
bringing fellow German striker Oliver Bierhoff on board has
helped diffuse public relations duties of the previous combined
post away from the actual coaching aspect of the position.
Furthermore, he has created a youth movement to breathe life
into an aging squad on the heels of a disastrous showing at Euro
2004. The end goal of his current position is the 2006 World Cup
in Germany and as of 2005 he is fully engaged in preparing his
team.
