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Jürgen Klinsmann (born July 30, 1964 in Göppingen) 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 affectionaly referred to as the "baker's son."
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Club career
Klinsmann 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 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. During his second stint Tottenham, Klinsmann decided to retire from playing professional football in the summer of 1998 after the World Cup.
International career
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 1992 and 1996 European Championships, reaching the final in 1992 and becoming champion in 1996; and the 1990, 1994 and 1998 World Cups, winning the World Cup in 1990. He retired from the national team after the World Cup 1998.
Management and Coaching
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 the 2004 European Football Championship. The end goal of his current position is the World Cup 2006 in Germany and as of 2005 he is fully engaged in preparing his team.
External links
- Official site (http://www.klinsmann.us/)
- Fan site (http://www.geocities.com/chowwing/)