Jürgen Klinsmann

Who is Jürgen Klinsmann?

Jürgen Klinsmann is a German football manager and former player who is currently the head coach of the United States national team. 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 and the unified German team that won the 1996 UEFA European Championship. One of Germany's premier strikers during the 1990s, Klinsmann scored in all six major international tournaments he participated in, from Euro 1988 to 1998 World Cup. In 1995 Klinsmann came third in the FIFA World Player of the Year award, and in 2004 he was named in the FIFA 100 list of the "125 Greatest Living Footballers".

He managed the German national team to a third-place finish in the 2006 World Cup. 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 Bundesliga club Bayern Munich in July 2008 when Ottmar Hitzfeld stepped down. 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. 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, the US Soccer Federation, named Klinsmann the coach of the United States men's national team. In 2013 he won the CONCACAF Gold Cup with the United States. Outside of his professional football life he earned a diploma as a baker in 1984, runs a Children Charity foundation in four countries and is a certified Helicopter Pilot.