Jürgen Klinsmann excelled in his career as a striker in Germany, Italy, France and England and won a World Cup and a European title with Germany. And now after leading the German national team as coach to third place at the 2006 World Cup, Klinsmann has taken on his first club coaching job at former club Bayern Munich.
Beginnings in Stuttgart
Born on July 30, 1964 in Göppingen, Klinsmann began to build up his career in nearby Stuttgart, entering the German Bundesliga in 1984 with VfB Stuttgart, which had won the league crown the season before. The striker scored 15, 16 and 16 goals in his first three seasons but the club had only reached the final of the 1986 German Cup.
He tallied 19 goals in 1987-88 to lead the league in scoring and in 1989, Klinsmann helped Stuttgart to the UEFA Cup final before transferring to Italy the following season.
Italy, France, England, Return Tour
Klinsmann spent the next three seasons in Italy, playing for and winning the 1991 UEFA Cup title with Inter Milan. He moved to France for two seasons with AS Monaco before a one-year stint with English side Tottenham Hotspur in 1994-95. Klinsmann returned to Germany to play two seasons with record champion Bayern Munich, with whom he won the 1996 UEFA Cup and the 1997 Bundesliga title. The following season he split between Sampdoria Genua in Italy and Tottenham Hotspur.
World and European Champion
Klinsmann's successful international career began in 1987 and the absolute highlight came in 1990 when he helped Germany to the World Cup title with a 1-0 victory over Argentina in the final. He also won the bronze medal at the 1988 Olympics and played at the Euro1992 and 1994 World Cup.
Two years later Klinsmann captained Germany to the title at Euro1996 and he retired from soccer after the 1998 World Cup having scored 47 goals in 108 caps. His 11 World Cup goals is second on the list of Germany all-time scorers behind Gerd Müller.
German National Team Coach
After living in obscurity in Huntington Beach, near Los Angeles in the United States since 1998, Klinsmann was selected as new German national team coach on July 26, 2004. And he faced massive criticism for observing players in Germany while continuing to live in the U.S. as well as training methods which some found questionable. The Klinsmann-led Germany finished third at the2005 Confederations Cup and then took third place at the 2006 World Cup in his native Germany.
Bayern Brings Klinsmann Back
Klinsmann stepped down and was then a serious candidate for the open post as U.S. national team coach. But he pulled out of talks in December 2006. And on July 1, 2008 Klinsmann took over as head coach at his former club Bayern Munich.
