Jürgen Klinsmann (born July 30, 1964 in Göppingen) is a German football manager and former football player. He held the position of striker and his blond hair and scoring ability earned him the nickname "Golden Bomber".
Club career
Klinsmann was first introduced to football at the age of eight. He played every position including goalkeeper at this period. He started his professional career at the age of seventeen at Stuttgarter Kickers which was a second division club. In 1984, he joined VfB Stuttgart which was a first division club.
Besides playing for VfB Stuttgart and Bayern Munich in Germany, Klinsmann played in many countries around Europe - at AS Monaco in France, Internazionale and Sampdoria in Italy, and twice at Tottenham Hotspur in England. Klinsmann decided to retire from professional football while he was playing for Tottenham Hotspur in the summer of 1998 after the World Cup.
International career
Klinsmann had a fruitful international career. He was first called up for Germany in 1987. 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.
Retirement
After retirement, Klinsmann picked up learning and started his commercial career. He became the vice-president of a sports marketing consultancy based in the United States.
On 26 July 2004, he left his sports marketing firm in California to return to Germany as the new manager of the national team, replacing Rudi Völler. As of 2005, he is preparing his team for the World Cup 2006 in Germany.
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