Jürgen Klinsmann

Forward Jürgen Klinsmann was on the West German football team that won the third-place match against Italy 3-0, and took the bronze medal at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Therefore, the team and all players were awarded the Silver Bay Leaf, Germany’s highest sports award. Klinsmann won 108 full international caps, scoring 47 goals, and played with the Olympic team 14 times, scoring eight goals. With the German national team, he won the FIFA World Cup in 1990, and also played in the 1994 and the 1998 tournaments. Additionally, he won the UEFA European Championship in 1996, and was also runner-up in 1992, having first played in the tournament four years earlier.

Domestically, Klinsmann played with Stuttgarter Kickers (1981-84), VfB Stuttgart (1984-89), and FC Bayern München (1995-97). In between, he played in Italy with Inter Milano (1989-92) and Sampdoria Genoa (1997-98), in France with AS Monaco (1992-94), and in England with Tottenham Hotspur (1994-95). In total, Klinsmann played 221 Bundesliga matches and scored 110 goals. He also played 103 matches in Italy (36 goals), 65 matches in France (29 goals) and 41 matches in England (20 goals). After retiring, he made a comeback with the Orange County Blue Stars in the United States under the pseudonym Jay Goppingen. He scored five goals in eight matches for them.

In 1991 and 1996 Klinsmann won the UEFA Cup with Inter Milano and Bayern München, was German Champion with München in 1997, and won the Italian Cup in 1986 with Milano. Personally, he was Bundesliga top scorer in 1988, world top scorer in 1995, Germany’s Soccer Player of the Year in 1988 and 1994, and England’s FWA Player of the Year in 1995, and was seven times scorer of the Goal of the Month (awarded by ARD Sportschau). In 1987, he also scored the Goal of the Year.

After his playing career, Klinsmann became coach with the German national team from 2004-06, leading the team at the 2006 FIFA World Cup (at the so-called Summer’s Tale). Although Germany lost in the semi-final to Italy, they beat Portugal in win the third-place match. Klinsmann was subsequently named Coach of the Year. He then coached FC Bayern München from 2008-09 but was fired within a season. From 2011-16, he coached the US national team and helped them qualify for the 2014 World Cup. The previous year they won the CONCACAF Gold Cup. In 2019, Klinsmann had a brief stint with Hertha BSC Berlin, but again, was fired within one season. In 2023, he took over the position as chief national coach of South Korea.

Klinsmann trained as a baker in his parent’s bakery, but later worked as a sports manager interrupted by his coaching stints. He married American model Debbie Chin in 1995 and moved with his family to Los Angeles in 1998. Their son Jonathan became a goalkeeper with Hertha BSC Berlin and FC St. Gallen in Switzerland, before moving to LA Galaxy. He has represented the United States at under-23 level.