Jürgen Klinsmann participant in 1988 Summer Olympics
International career
Klinsmann made his first international appearance for West Germany in 1987 and ultimately collected 108 caps, making him the country's fourth-most capped player behind Lothar Matthäus, Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski. Klinsmann scored 47 goals for West Germany in top-level international matches, sharing the all-time fourth place with Rudi Völler, and only surpassed by Klose's record of 71 goals for the national team, Gerd Müller's 68 goals and Podolski's 49. Klinsmann scored 11 goals in the FIFA World Cup, ranking sixth all-time.
In 1987, Klinsmann made his debut for Germany against Brazil in a 1–1 draw. He participated in the 1988 Summer Olympics, winning a bronze medal; the 1988, 1992 and 1996 UEFA European Championships, reaching the final in 1992 and becoming champion in 1996. Klinsmann was the first player to score in three different European Championships. Five other players – Vladimír Šmicer, Thierry Henry, Zlatan Ibrahimović, Nuno Gomes and Cristiano Ronaldo – have since equalled this record.
Klinsmann was an important part of the West German team during the 1990 FIFA World Cup. After qualifying for the round of 16, Germany was to play the Netherlands, against whom they had lost two years earlier in Euro 88. 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." After further victories over Czechoslovakia (1–0) and England (1–1 after extra time, 4–3 on penalties), he became a world champion after beating Argentina 1–0 in the final. Klinsmann is remembered for being fouled by the Argentinian Pedro Monzón, who was subsequently sent off, reducing Argentina to ten men. Many critics called the incident a prime example of Klinsmann's diving, a claim he contradicted. In an interview in 2004, he noted that the foul left a 15 cm gash on his shin.Klinsmann also competed for the unified Germany team at the 1994 (five goals), and 1998 (three goals), World Cups. He became the first player to score at least three goals in three consecutive World Cups, later joined by Ronaldo of Brazil and compatriot Miroslav Klose. Klinsmann is currently the sixth-highest goalscorer at World Cups overall and the third-highest goalscorer for Germany in this competition, behind Klose (16 goals) and Gerd Müller (14).Honours
Player
Inter Milan
UEFA Cup: 1990–91Bayern Munich
Bundesliga: 1996–97
UEFA Cup: 1995–96West Germany and Germany
FIFA World Cup: 1990
UEFA European Championship: 1996; runner-up: 1992
Summer Olympic Games: 1988 Bronze medal
U.S. Cup: 1993Individual
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