MILAN – Former Nerazzurri striker Jürgen Klinsmann, who netted 40 goals in 123 games at Inter, winning the Italian Super Cup and UEFA Cup, will be up against his own country tonight. As the USA's head coach, he is tasked with getting a result against his homeland Germany, the very team whose reins he handed to his assistant Joachim Löw back in 2006 when he felt his time at the helm had run its course.
Jürgen has always done things his own way. He resigned in a world where most people prefer to make their employers fire them so they can receive a nice pay-off. And he's never considered himself a star, but a citizen of the world.
He was part of Inter's highly successful German trio, along with Matthäus and Brehme, and has never forgotten his time with the Nerazzurri. A while ago he said: "There's an Interista Jürgen in my heart. I think it's impossible to spend time at Inter and then just forget about it. The black and blue sticks to you. You see those colours every time you go back to Lake Como, when you meet up with old friends and team-mates in Italy, or when the San Siro appears on TV. I think it's wonderful that people in Italy still recognise me. Inter's centenary celebrations in 2008, when the crowd gave us that long applause, were amazing. When you look back, it's often the goals that you remember – I remember the one I scored at the San Siro against Aston Villa which kick-started our turnaround in the UEFA Cup – but it's the people you cherish most."
