From the archive
©TM/IMAGO
At the end of the year, we’re taking some of our interview highlights from 2024 out of the archive. We published the three-part conversation with Jürgen Klinsmann in April of this year.
World Cup title in 1990 in Rome, European champion in 1996 in Wembley, innovator of German football before the summer fairy tale of 2006, wild adventures at Bayern Munich, Hertha BSC and more: Jürgen Klinsmann has experienced pretty much everything in his footballing life. As his 60th birthday approaches, Transfermarkt took a detailed look at the important chapters of his career with the well-disposed ex-professional and former national coach.
In the first part of the big TM interview, Klinsmann talks about his beginnings as a player, lessons in Italy, his miraculous healing at the 1996 European Championships, short temper, the famous barrel kick under Giovanni Trapattoni and further training after the end of his career.
Transfer market: Mr. Klinsmann, you will be around 60 years old on July 30th. At this point, are you preparing a new club for the season, are you responsible for a national team – or are you doing none of these things?
Jürgen Klinsmann: If I knew… A lot of things happened in my life overnight. And there are still a few more nights until then. (laughs) I’ve always been surprised by the next steps, especially after my active career. It was still running in an orderly manner, so to speak. I didn’t think I would become a coach either. Many things were improvised or happened that way. I am grateful for every experience I have had because over the decades I have met many interesting people and had great experiences at my individual stations on different continents. Ultimately, we spend our entire lives searching for knowledge and experience. It goes on and on, in whatever form. Football with all its facets is far too fascinating for that.
Transfer market: You were never bored…
Klinsman: That’s what drives me. I’m always a little restless and need that energy in life. I find it hard to tolerate sitting at home all day, it’s just not possible. The term retirement will not exist for me. (smiles)
Stuttgart, Tottenham & Co.: Jürgen Klinsmann’s playing career
Baker’s apprentice Klinsmann: The path to professional football and teaching in Italy
Transfer market: You were born in Göppingen and were an apprentice baker. When did it become clear that – instead of continuing your baking career – you would try to get into professional football via the Stuttgarter Kickers?
Klinsman: Relatively early. When I moved from the U16 to the U18, many people were aware that there might be a special talent there. The coach of the second division team, Slobodan Cendic, always watched me back then and invited me to training quite early on, even though I wasn’t that physically developed yet. I should get a taste of what it’s like with the professionals. So I made my debut in the first team when I was 17. I can remember that in the first season I was only used for home games; the older Dieter Dollmann was used for away games; he downplayed them with all his experience. Initially I was a midfielder under Cendic, although I was used as a striker in the A youth team.
Transfer market: They were under contract with Kickers, VfB, Inter, Monaco, Tottenham, Bayern and Sampdoria and were world and European champions. Which chapter influenced you the most?
VfB, Inter, FCB & Co.
Klinsmann’s playing career in numbers
This way!
Klinsman: Every chapter and every day of my life has shaped me. Football was like an external school of life for me and opened many doors for me and created many encounters. In terms of personality curve, the move to Italy was probably the most important in my life. The most important lesson was: If I go somewhere else and want to get along – not just in terms of football – I have to learn to be open and take people as they are and make the best of it for all sides. That’s sometimes not so easy for us Germans, and for me as a Swabian boy with clear ideas, it wasn’t easy at all. I thought I would go to Italy, score my goals and everything would run on time and professionally, as I was used to in Germany. But things are still different in Italy today. (laughs)
Transfer market: What did this teaching mean for your subsequent steps?
Klinsman: My time in Italy made a lot of things easier for me. After I understood this lesson, I no longer had any problems going to France and England. And if things don’t fit, which is completely normal in life when you have to deal with people professionally or privately, it’s about respectfully parting ways and wishing each other the best. Because sometimes it’s just better to break up without any malice and let things be.
The national team was always a second home for me; I really enjoyed playing in the big tournaments.
Transfer market: What did you enjoy more: the games in the club or with the national team?
Klinsman: For every national player it’s like this and sometimes like that. The national team was always a second home for me; I really enjoyed playing in the big tournaments. When things weren’t going well at the club, I looked forward to it. And if I scored there, maybe things would go better for me at the club. But it also happened to me the other way around. This complemented each other perfectly emotionally and football-wise. As a coach, the tournaments were also highlights and huge experiences for me. This lasts a long time.
TM quiz: 10 questions about Jürgen Klinsmann
The development up to the German European Championship title in England in 1996
Transfer market: What was the difference between the German winning team at the 1996 European Championship and the 1990 World Cup winning team?
Klinsman: There has always been a fundamental DNA in German football. As a 1990 team, we were a bit of a picture of reunification and togetherness. This team has grown from the emotion and joy that reigned across the country. So we traveled to Italy. In terms of quality, we had an incredibly good team that had already been very close in 1986 and had been renewed a little by Franz Beckenbauer – including me. In addition, our self-confidence was enormous, so we saw ourselves as favorites for the title. We expected ourselves to become world champions.
We probably thought that Bulgaria was a stopover and only thought about Brazil – and we were badly surprised and fired from the tournament.
Transfer market: Before the European Championships in 1996, the conditions were different.
Klinsman: We had a completely different team, which also emerged from the disappointment at the 1994 World Cup. Back then, everyone attacked Berti Vogts, but he couldn’t help it that we had performed so poorly. This was our fault because we were arrogant and arrogant. We probably thought that Bulgaria was a stopover and only thought about Brazil – and we were badly surprised and fired from the tournament. In terms of quality, we were actually even stronger than in 1990 with players like Matthias Sammer and Stefan Effenberg, but we were no longer a team. The cohesion and enormous will were missing. Maybe it was normal not to be as hungry anymore after winning the World Cup. And so we had the tournament in the USA over the wall.
Transfer market: How was the European Championship approached afterwards?
Klinsman: Berti decided to change things up and rely on the boys who were willing to give their last shirt for Germany in England. The team had to struggle with a lot of problems and bad luck with injuries at this tournament. In the end we only had 16 players available. That was absolute madness. But we had incredible will. We knew that other teams – Netherlands, Italy, France or even England – were probably one step ahead of us in terms of quality. But we compensated for that with our fighting heart and our mentality, which is still a bit of our own today. People around the world had great respect for us. So we somehow managed it. (laughs) Oliver Bierhoff’s golden goal was a very special moment.
Oliver Bierhoff scored the first golden goal in football history at the 1996 European Championships, helping Germany win the title