Jürgen Klinsmann

• 1. The Baker's Son From Botnang

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  Jürgen Klinsmann was born on the 30th of July 1964 in Göppingen, Germany. His family moved to Stuttgart when he was a teenager. The Klinsmanns operated a bakery in the Botnang district of that city. He is sometimes affectionately referred to as the baker's son from Botnang. Klinsmann served an apprenticeship and became a journeyman baker before focusing entirely on football. At age eight, he began playing for TB Gingen, an amateur club in Gingen an der Fils. Six months later, he scored 16 goals in a single match for his new club. When he was 14 years old, his father bought a bakery in Stuttgart. After the family relocated there, Klinsmann continued to play for SC Geislingen. In 1978, aged 14, he signed a contract with Stuttgarter Kickers. His parents decided he should first finish his apprenticeship as a baker in their family business, which he completed in 1982.

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• 2. A European Journey Through Clubs

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  Klinsmann began his professional career in 1982 at the then-second division side Stuttgarter Kickers. By 1983, 84, he had scored 19 goals for the club. Horst Buhtz, a former coach, recalls Klinsmann benefited from intensive training from Horst Allman. At the beginning of the new season, he managed to improve his 100 m dash from 11.7 to 11.0 seconds. In 1984, Klinsmann moved to first division rivals VfB Stuttgart. In his first season at the club, he scored 15 goals and was the team's joint top scorer with Karl Allgöwer. During each of the 1985, 86 and 1986, 87 seasons, he scored 16 goals. He reached the 1986 final of the DFB-Pokal, losing against Bayern Munich 2, 5, but scoring the last goal of the match. In the 1987, 88 season, he scored 19 goals and was the Bundesliga's top goalscorer. In 1988, the 24-year-old Klinsmann was named German Footballer of the Year.

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• 3. The Italian And English Chapters

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  In 1988, Klinsmann moved to Italian club Inter Milan on a three-year contract. Despite heavily defensive tactics by head coach Giovanni Trapattoni, Klinsmann scored 13 goals as the Nerazzurri finished third in Serie A. He became one of the most popular foreign players in Italy because he had learnt Italian. During the next season, Klinsmann won the UEFA Cup with Inter 2, 1 on aggregate against Roma. A disastrous 1991, 92 season caused all plans to fall through. Inter never managed to gain any momentum under coach Corrado Orrico and finished eighth in the league. In 1992, Klinsmann moved to Monaco and catapulted the club to a second-place finish in the league in his first season. After the bribery scandal by Marseille, Monaco replaced them in the 1993, 94 UEFA Champions League. Klinsmann left the club early in 1994 with one more year remaining on his contract.

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• 4. London's Love For The Diver

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  Klinsmann moved to Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League for the 1994, 95 season. Fans and media were very critical of the German because of his reputation as a diver. He was signed by Spurs in July 1994 from Monaco for £2 million. On his debut against Sheffield Wednesday, he scored the winning header and immediately won over fans with his goal celebration by self-deprecatingly diving to the ground. A Guardian journalist who had written an article called Why I Hate Jürgen Klinsmann wrote another two months later called Why I Love Jürgen Klinsmann. Klinsmann went on to win the 1995 Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year. Over 150,000 of his shirts were sold. He now holds legendary status at Spurs and was inducted into Madame Tussauds Wax Museum. Klinsmann scored 21 goals in the 1994, 95 season for Spurs and a total of 30 in all competitions.

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• 5. The World Cup And National Pride

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  On the 12th of December 1987, Klinsmann debuted for the West German senior squad in a 1, 1 friendly draw against Brazil. He was an important part of the West German team that won the 1990 FIFA World Cup. After Rudi Völler was sent off in the 22nd minute, Klinsmann was forced to play as a lone striker. He scored the 1, 0 opener and his performance received considerable praise. German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung wrote that In the last decade, not a single forward of a DFB team has offered such a brilliant, almost perfect performance. He became a world champion after beating Argentina 1, 0 in the final. Many critics called the incident a prime example of Klinsmann's diving, a claim he contradicted. His last international tournament with Germany was the 1998 FIFA World Cup, in which they were eliminated in the quarter-finals by surprising debutants Croatia. He scored in all six major international tournaments he participated in for Germany from the UEFA Euro 1988 to the 1998 FIFA World Cup.

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