Jurgen Klinsmann

Jürgen Klinsmann is a German soccer player and coach who helped West Germany win the 1990 World Cup and was twice named his country’s Player of the Year. He also transitioned into a successful managerial career, leading national and club teams in major competitions.

A prolific goal scorer from a young age, Klinsmann joined the youth side of the lower-division Stuttgarter Kickers club at age 14 and made his debut on the club’s professional side at 17. He joined the Bundesliga club VfB Stuttgart in 1984, becoming the Bundesliga’s leading scorer during the 1987–88 season, and was named the 1988 West German Footballer of the Year. After helping Stuttgart reach the 1989 Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Cup final, he left Germany to play club football for Italy’s Inter Milan. With Inter, Klinsmann won the Italian Super Cup in 1989 and the UEFA Cup in 1991, before moving to AS Monaco of the French Ligue 1 in 1992. His performance, including five goals at the 1994 World Cup, earned him German Player of the Year honors again. After seasons with Tottenham and Bayern Munich, where he contributed to another UEFA Cup win (1996) and a Bundesliga title (1996-97), he concluded his club career with stints at Sampdoria and Tottenham (1997–98).

Klinsmann made 108 international appearances for West Germany, scoring 47 goals. He captained the reunified German national team starting in 1994, leading to quarterfinal finishes in the 1994 and 1998 World Cup competitions, and victory in the 1996 European Championship. He retired from international football after the 1998 World Cup.

After retiring, Klinsmann moved to the United States, engaging in sports marketing and advising Major League Soccer's Los Angeles Galaxy. Returning to Germany in 2004, he managed the national team to a third-place finish in the 2006 World Cup. He managed Bayern Munich during the 2008–09 season, and later the US men's national team (USMNT) from 2011 to 2016, achieving a national-record 12-game winning streak and winning the CONCACAF Gold Cup in 2013. Despite a strong showing at the 2014 World Cup, he was dismissed following early losses in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers. Klinsmann briefly managed Hertha Berlin in 2019 before resigning.

Apart from his football career, Klinsmann co-founded Agapedia, a charity focused on supporting children, in 1995. He has also built a reputation as a broadcaster, providing analysis for ESPN and the BBC. In recognition of his contributions to football, Klinsmann was named in the FIFA 100 list of '125 Greatest Living Footballers' in 2004 and became an honorary captain of Germany in 2016.