Klinsmann: 'I Had To Change My Own Ways'

Jürgen Klinsmann speaks to DW about soccer in the US, his search for identity and his German roots. The former German star has recently been nominated as German Football Ambassador.

DW: When you first came to the USA, what was your first impression of the state of soccer?



Jürgen Klinsmann: I was 19 when I came here for the first time, with the German football team, Stuttgarter Kickers. It was more of a post-season vacation trip. We played two friendlies, but soccer was bascially invisible. I later had some vacations in the US, and at some point I met an American woman - and I've been living here for over 17 years now. And watching how soccer has progressed over those 30 years is like a little fairytale.



The 2014 World Cup was great for US soccer, some 25 million people watched the game between Portugal and the US. Even Barack Obama showed his support. What was the biggest moment for you?



The crucial thing was Americans understanding how emotional soccer can be. Seeing all those people partying together at fan-zones or in a sportsbar or in the stadium itself - including the ups and downs - helps to connect people. And 2014 saw that emotional breakthrough among the American people. They realised that this really is an awesome sport. Up until that point, that had never happened before. After the tournament we said "soccer has arrived in the USA" - and that was right.



Let's go back to the 2006 World Cup, the "summer fairytale" as it was called, when Germany came third hosting the tournament at home. Dortmund's coach Jürgen Klopp said to us once that the "best thing about it, was that we fell in love with our country." As Germany's coach back then, did you know the effect that tournament would have?



We didn't know it would become that important, but our goal from the start was to use the tournament to show the world a new picture of Germany. I think that afterwards this love of our country developed, a positive patriotism if you will, where people finally said "I really feel good to be German." As someone who has lived overseas for so long, I am regularly spoken to by people about how much they enjoyed the 2006 World Cup. They compliment me on how liberal, international and multi-lingual Germany was. I often say in reply: "It doesn't matter if we came third or first - and I would have definitely liked to come first - that World Cup was about more than just sport." I think that football, or sport generally, can bring people together and allow us to show ourselves in a different light. Since then, I think, us Germans have been thought of highly in the world.



How do you manage to exude such confidence, when showing a more positive side to Germany?



I don't walk around all day, thinking about giving off a positive image of Germany. But I'm really happy to be German, and I feel good in my own skin. But I think that simply over a long period of time we have just learnt to realize that we have to accept people how they are. We can go overseas and be honest about our identities. But still - whether we are in Italy, France, England or the USA - we can also give people a feeling that we are happy to assimilate too.



You have to be tolerant - I think you learn that when you are overseas for a long period of time. That doesn't just help you when you are working with people, it also helps you understand yourself. When I first came overseas I thought, we have to do certain things a certain way. But actually, it's not like that. The people are different here. I had to change my own ways. After all, millions of people certainly weren't going to change just because of me.



That's why I like it here, because I have learnt to assimilate but I haven't lost my German values. That's a win-win situation. California has made me more casual, and that might be due to the weather. But at the same time, I hope that I have managed to maintain my characteristics that have driven me ever since I was a little boy and which are related to my roots as a German. Hopefully, they help me to develop football here, to move up to the next level.



When will the USA truly become a soccer country?



I think the US is already a soccer country! Millions of people here play the game. It's not yet as big as it is in Germany, Spain or Brazil, but it has to share that interest with the big sports here like baseball, American Football, basketball and ice hockey. It's going to keep on catching up, and I think it already has a solid base. So now it's all about going those next few steps and winning increasing international respect.



Former German international Jürgen Klinsmann is one of three coaches to be nominated for the German Football Ambassador award in 2015, which is due to be presented on June 2, in Berlin. For more information on the project to honor German footballers overseas head to http://www.fussballbotschafter.de/en/home/

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