Jonathan Lee Klinsmann (born April 8, 1997) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting ...

for

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Cana ...

club

LA Galaxy LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began pla ...

. He is the son of German former player

Jürgen Klinsmann Jürgen Klinsmann (, born 30 July 1964) is a German professional football manager and former player. Klinsmann played for several prominent clubs in Europe including VfB Stuttgart, Inter Milan, Monaco, Tottenham Hotspur, and Bayern Munich. ...

. He holds both German and American citizenship.

Early life

Jonathan Klinsmann was born in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

, Germany, on April 8, 1997. His father is former

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

player and manager

, and his mother is former American model Debbie Chin, who was born in San Jose, California to Chinese immigrants. From 1998 to 2008, Jonathan lived with his parents in

Newport Beach Newport Beach is a coastal city in South Orange County, California. Newport Beach is known for swimming and sandy beaches. Newport Harbor once supported maritime industries however today, it is used mostly for recreation. Balboa Island draws v ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

. He then moved back to

in 2008 until the end of 2009, while his father was manager of Bayern Munich. Klinsmann graduated in 2015 from Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, California, and from 2015 to 2017 attended the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

. He has both American and

citizenship. In addition to soccer, Klinsmann also played

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

in his time at the Mater Dei High School.

Youth soccer

Jonathan spent most of his youth playing as a striker at FC Blades 96 and the Irvine Lasers. Only with his move to the Bayern Munich youth academy did he transition to

. Upon his return to California, he became part of the

U.S. Soccer Development Academy The U.S. Soccer Development Academy (DA) was an American soccer league. Formed in 2007, the league features youth academies and youth clubs from various organizations, including Major League Soccer and the United Soccer League. The DA's mission ...

, and henceforth played for Pateadores FC and then at Irvine Strikers FC. In parallel, he played from 2011 to 2014 for his high school team MDHS Varsity Soccer. In the 2014 season, he completed 33 games for the Strikers in the Development Academy and reached the finals of the National Championship. From 2015 to 2017, Klinsmann played for the

California Golden Bears The California Golden Bears are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Berkeley. Referred to in athletic competition as ''California'' or ''Cal'', the university fields 30 varsity athletic programs and various club team ...

, where he made 22 appearances.

Club career

Hertha BSC

After having spent most of his school holidays between 2014 and 2017 with the youth teams of his father's home club

VfB Stuttgart Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V., commonly known as VfB Stuttgart (), is a German sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club's football team is currently part of Germany's first division, the Bundesliga. Vf ...

, Klinsmann completed part of his preparation for the

2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 21st edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, the biennial international men's youth football championship contested by the under-20 national teams of the member associations of FIFA, since its inception in 1977 ...

VfB Stuttgart II VfB Stuttgart II is a German football team located in Stuttgart, currently playing in the Regionalliga Südwest. From 2008 to 2016 the team played in the 3. Liga. They are the reserve team of VfB Stuttgart. Until 2005 the team played under the n ...

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium ...

, and Everton. After initial interest from

Eintracht Braunschweig Braunschweiger Turn- und Sportverein Eintracht von 1895 e.V., commonly known as Eintracht Braunschweig () or BTSV (), is a German association football, football and sports club based in Braunschweig, Lower Saxony. The club was one of the founding ...

, Klinsmann completed a ten-day trial from July 3, 2017 with

Hertha BSC Hertha, Berliner Sport-Club e. V., commonly known as Hertha BSC (), and sometimes referred to as Hertha Berlin, Hertha BSC Berlin, or simply Hertha, is a German professional football club based in the locality of Westend of the borough of Charl ...

. Even before the ten-day trial was over, Klinsmann signed professionally on July 11, with the contract lasting until June 30, 2019. Klinsmann made his professional debut for Hertha BSC in the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

on December 7, 2017, in which he saved a penalty in a 1–1 home draw against

Östersunds FK Östersunds Fotbollsklubb, commonly known simply as Östersunds FK, Östersund () or (especially locally) ÖFK, is a Swedish professional football club located in Östersund, Sweden and since 2022 play in the Swedish second tier, Superettan. T ...

Los Angeles Galaxy

On 20 August 2020, Klinsmann signed a three-year contract with

(MLS).

International career

Klinsmann has been active for the youth teams of the United States since 2014. From 2014 to 2015, he was a member of the under-18 team. In 2017, Klinsmann was included in the squad for the under-20 national team at the

2017 CONCACAF U-20 Championship The 2017 CONCACAF Under-20 Championship was the 5th edition of the CONCACAF Under-20 Championship (26th edition if all eras included), the men's under-20 international football tournament organized by CONCACAF. It was hosted in Costa Rica betwe ...

. He played in all but one of the six tournament matches. The United States were crowned under-20 champions of CONCACAF following a 5–3 win on penalties in the final against Honduras. Klinsmann was awarded the golden glove as the best goalkeeper of the tournament, and included in the team of the tournament. In addition, the United States qualified for the

in South Korea, where Klinsmann started in all five matches. The United States were eliminated from the tournament following a 1–2 defeat after extra time in the quarter-finals against eventual losing finalists

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in ...

. On November 12, 2018, Klinsmann was called up for the first time to the

United States men's national soccer team The United States men's national soccer team (USMNT) represents the United States in men's international soccer competitions. The team is controlled by the United States Soccer Federation and is a member of FIFA and CONCACAF. The U.S. team ...

for friendlies against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

as an injury replacement for

Zack Steffen Zackary Thomas Steffen (born April 2, 1995) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for EFL Championship club Middlesbrough, on loan from Premier League club Manchester City, and the United States national team. St ...

Career statistics

Club

Honors

United States U20 * CONCACAF Under-20 Championship:

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

Individual * CONCACAF Under-20 Championship Golden Glove:

* CONCACAF Under-20 Championship Best XI:

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Klinsmann, Jonathan 1997 births Living people Footballers from Munich American soccer players American sportspeople of Chinese descent American people of German descent German people of American descent Sportspeople of American descent German people of Chinese descent American expatriate soccer players in Germany United States men's youth international soccer players United States men's under-20 international soccer players Association football goalkeepers California Golden Bears men's soccer players Hertha BSC II players Hertha BSC players Regionalliga players United States men's under-23 international soccer players LA Galaxy players Major League Soccer players LA Galaxy II players USL Championship players American expatriate soccer players