US coach Klinsmann to face native Germany

The United States and Germany are facing off in a critical game that could decide whether the US team advances to the next stage of the tournament. The match features additional drama because American coach Jürgen Klinsmann is one of the most celebrated footballers in German history and coached the German team from 2004 to 2006. How are Germans reacting to seeing their former hero now on the other sideline? Ira Spitzer reports from Berlin

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Germany against the United States - a big game for both sides at the World Cup, but a particularly special moment for US coach Jürgen Klinsmann.

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"It’s something that doesn’t happen every year and probably not any more in a lifetime."

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Klinsmann rose from humble beginnings to become one of the best German players of his era and coached the team to a third place finish in the 2006 World Cup. Now he faces his biggest challenge yet in his third year as the US coach, needing a draw or a win to advance.

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“It obviously gives it a little more tension because both are not through to the knockout stage.”

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Most Germans still hold Klinsmann in high regard. But this is the World Cup and loyalty means nothing according to one Berliner.

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"Of course he was one of the most famous football players when I was a kid, so seeing this game reminds me of my youth, but yeah I think the better team is about to win."

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Still, as another Berliner acknowledges, whether through Klinsmann’s influence or just steady improvement, the US team seems to have transformed into a worthy opponent.

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While Klinsmann will probably be considered a success if the US can make it to the next round, the same can’t be said for his German counterpart and former protege Joachim Löw who has yet to reach the World Cup Finals. Sports journalist Dominik Bardow at the Berlin newspaper the Tageszeitung explains the long shadow that Klinsmann still casts over the German national team.

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“When Klinsmann was coach, nobody expected much of the team because it was an old team and he brought in younger players and over the years, Löw brought on more younger players, talented players who play now for the best teams in the world.”

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And many Germans feel that this year’s team is up to the challenge.

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"They’re expected to deliver, they played beautiful football but now it’s time for some results. If they don’t bring it this time, if they don’t reach semifinals, I think it can be a very unpleasant situation for Löw.”

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Klinsmann ruffled some feathers in the US before the tournament by saying that a World Cup title would be ‘unrealistic’. But after a strong showing so far, and with American interest in soccer at an all-time high, he could become a hero a second time around if he’s able to fend off his homeland and make a run in this year’s
tournament. This is Ira Spitzer in Berlin.