BERLIN: USA head coach Jurgen Klinsmann is considering taking American citizenship despite having played in West Germany’s 1990 World Cup-winning team and later coaching the German national side, he has admitted.
The 48-year-old, who has trained the US team since July 2011, lives with his family in Huntington Beach, California, and says he enjoys life Stateside.
“It is quite possible that in the future I will take American citizenship,” he told German daily Bild. “I need to have plenty of time for it, it’s a lengthy process.” But Klinsmann, coach of the Germany side, which finished third in the 2006 World Cup, said his true home was still Stuttgart.
His USA team will host the German national team in Washington DC next June 2 as part of Germany’s two-match tour.
“I’m really looking forward to that, I’ll be able to see everyone again,” he said.
“And we can show Germany what we have achieved with football in the USA.” Klinsmann made 108 appearances for Germany, scoring 48 goals in the process, between 1987 and 1998.
“Football here may have caught up with other sports, but it is not the top sport here and I can still live here relatively anonymously,” he said.
Germany’s Klinsmann ponders US citizenship
Updated 25 November 2012