U.S. soccer coach sees urgency in first World Cup match

TAMPA --

During his days as a superstar soccer player for Germany and some of Europe's biggest clubs, J?rgen Klinsmann would often vacation on the California coast to escape the paparazzi and autograph hunters.

Even when the United States won the bid to host the 1994 World Cup, Klinsmann was quoted as saying, ''I wouldn't go to America to watch soccer, I'd go to get away from it.''

Some 18 years later, Klinsmann can still roam this county in relative anonymity. In fact, where he now lives in Southern California with his American wife and their two children, the 47-year-old Klinsmann is just another fit-looking, blond-haired guy with a nice home.

But as the new head coach of a U.S. men's national soccer team that begins the long road toward World Cup qualifying tonight at Raymond James Stadium, Klinsmann can no longer hide from the game in America. There are fervent fans here who gather not only in the stands to paint their faces, bang drums and even light flares, but also online to dissect every move a U.S. coach makes ? or fails to make.

Now, Klinsmann says, he's "in the middle of it'' when it comes to U.S. soccer.

''It was a different time when I first came here more than 25 years ago,'' Klinsmann says with a laugh. "I had the privilege not being recognized at all here. But you connect to a place the longer you are in a place and it becomes more and more a part of your life.

"Now, I feel privileged to have this opportunity to bring my knowledge and experiences I gathered over many years, mainly in Europe but also around the world. And at the end of the day, my work is going to be measured on results and that's the reality of it."

Klinsmann knows those measurements start tonight when the Americans take on the east Caribbean nation of Antigua & Barbuda in their opening match of qualifying for the 2014 World Cup. Too many slip-ups in these early qualifiers could be disastrous, not just for Klinsmann's coaching career but also for soccer in his adopted country.

''We have no other choice than to have that sense of urgency in every single game,'' he said. ''We cannot relax for not even one game in World Cup qualifiers. You don't fool around with that.''

Klinsmann took over the U.S. squad from Bob Bradley last summer after the Americans were defeated, 4-2, by Mexico in the finals of the Gold Cup. Fair or not, Bradley, who was at the helm nearly five years, took the fall. Five weeks later, U.S. soccer president Sunil Gulati introduced the guy he had been courting as coach for several years, Klinsmann.

For the U.S. national team and Klinsmann, the timing was good. After a brilliant playing career, he retired in 1998. He had done just about everything you can as a player: World Cup and European titles, player of the year awards in multiple nations and 17 seasons in four big European leagues.

But Klinsmann's first managerial job didn't come until 2004, when he took the reigns of the German national team. Two years later, he guided the Germans to third place in the World Cup on their home soil.

Then, in 2008, Klinsmann got his first job at the club level with Bayern Munich, a team he once played for. Although his results there were hardly poor, Klinsmann was unable to lead Bayern to the type showings its supporters are used to. With five games to play in the season and only three points out of first place, club owners replaced Klinsmann in 2009.

Now 13 games into his stint as U.S. manager, Klinsmann has experienced his share of mixed results, too. But considering he is trying to install a specific style of play to a pool of athletes he's still getting acquainted with, that's fairly predictable. It's more an issue of how we wants to see his team play ? building possession from the back, attacking and playing with confidence ? than it is a question of formations.

"I would describe his style as trying to instill a certain mentality in us as players,'' said veteran U.S. defender Steve Cherundolo, who has played the last decade in Germany for Hannover 96 and in the last two World Cups for the U.S. ''He wants us to be more proactive and to believe in ourselves and our skills, which are probably better than what we give ourselves credit for.''

Klinsmann got out of the blocks with a shaky start. The Americans were 1-4-1 in their first six games under the German icon. But after that, they had five straight wins. Among those were their first victory against Italy and a 5-1 thumping of Scotland.

That, however, was followed with a 4-1 setback to Brazil last month and a lackluster 0-0 draw with Canada last Sunday.

After about 10 months of experimenting, Klinsmann seems to have good handle on his players' strengths and weaknesses. Whether that ultimately leads to any better World Cup results than those produced by Bradley or his predecessor, Bruce Arena, remains to be seen.

"I definitely enjoy every moment of (coaching), it's what I love to do,'' Klinsmann said. ''You never know what to expect beforehand but I'm looking forward to those games in Central America, they're different from what I experienced in Europe. But at the end of the day, you want to get to a World Cup. That's where you really measure yourself. It's going to be tricky but we have to get the job done.''

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