Jürgen Klinsmann

Jürgen Klinsmann

Studio Analyst, 2010 FIFA World Cup

Jürgen Klinsmann, a 1990 FIFA World Cup winner with Germany, will serve as a studio analyst for ESPN’s unprecedented coverage of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.  He will appear on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3.com and ABC from South Africa during the month-long tournament.

Klinsmann is recognized as one of the world’s top strikers during his 16 seasons of top-tier professional soccer in Germany, Italy, France and England.  He played in three FIFA World Cups (1990, 1994 and 1998) and was the first player to score at least three goals in three World Cup tournaments and remains Germany’s second all-time World Cup goal scorer with 11.

One of Germany’s all-time greatest soccer players, Klinsmann started his professional career at the age of seventeen at Stuttgarter Kickers, a second division club at the time.  In 1984 he joined VFB Stuttgart of the German first division. Klinsmann also played for Inter Milan (1989-1992) in the Italian Serie A, AS Monaco (1992-94) in France, Barclays Premier League’s Tottenham Hotspur (1994-95, 1997-98), and Germany’s Bayern Munich (1995-97).

In July 2004, Klinsmann returned to Germany as the coach of the national team.  He aggressively revamped the squad, establishing a youth movement by replacing aging players with younger ones and instituting a national team selection policy that was solely based on performance.

Leading up to the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Klinsmann’s coaching was widely panned by critics who questioned his personnel moves, coaching tactics and his decision to commute to Germany from his home in the United States, where he still lives with his family.  Once the event began, the host nation’s performance silenced the critics.  The team’s spirit, creative and attacking style of play and eventual third-place finish renewed national pride and restored Germany's reputation as a top soccer nation.

Due to his team’s performance in the FIFA World Cup, Klinsmann was awarded the Bundesverdienstkreuz (Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany), and has been called “Kaiser” (German for “Emperor”), a term reserved for the nation’s elite group of soccer minds/players.  He has also served as a consultant with the Los Angeles Galaxy of the MLS.

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