HARRISON, N.J. (AP) 鈥 Sebastian Berhalter sprinted across the midfield in a red, white and blue jersey with the U.S. national team crest on it as the Americans prepped for next year’s World Cup with a friendly against South Korea. Jonathan Klinsmann was on the bench.
鈥淚t鈥檚 incredible. I think just to think about that, it鈥檚 probably never happened, right, in the history of soccer where you have two national team coaches’鈥 former national coaches’ sons in the same camp,鈥 Gregg Berhalter said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of crazy.鈥
The sons are trying to shine for the Americans.
Sebastian Berhalter, 24, while in his sixth season of Major League Soccer.
Jonathan Klinsmann, 28, got the callup during his second season with Cesena in Italy’s Serie B after three years as a backup with the LA Galaxy. He didn’t play in but gets another chance against Japan on Tuesday night in Columbus, Ohio.
鈥淒o whatever I can to make the best impression and see what comes next,鈥 he said. 鈥淚鈥檓 confident in making those impossible saves look a bit less impossible.”
Jurgen Klinsmann, a star German striker, and led the team to the . He was in the first two qualifiers for the 2018 tournament.
Gregg Berhalter was a U.S. defender at the 2002 and ‘06 World Cups and , also taking them to the . He to mid-2024, and then was .
鈥淲hen you grow up around the game and you鈥檙e around good people and you are around the game at a high level, it brings a lot,鈥 said retired midfielder Michael Bradley, whose 151 national team appearances are the third-most in American history and whose .
The sons are vying for roster spots when the Americans will host soccer’s premier event next year. decided to shake up his player pool after a .
鈥淚t was a big wake-up call,鈥 Pochettino said Monday.
Sebastian Berhalter has started seven of the last eight U.S. matches, advancing toward his father’s 44 caps. He was born in London in 2001, when his father was with Crystal Palace.
鈥淭he earliest thing I remember was when he played for Energie Cottbus,鈥 he said, thinking back to a German second-division match on May 14, 2006, against visiting 1860 Munich. 鈥淚t was the last day of the season, they needed a win to get up, and he scored a PK and they went up and everyone was on the field, and I just remember being on my dad鈥檚 shoulders, parading through the sea of people.鈥
He was in the youth academies of Sweden鈥檚 Hammarby and Columbus when his father coached those clubs, played in 2019 at North Carolina (his father鈥檚 old college) and made his pro debut for Columbus in 2020.
鈥淲e never said: You have to do this. It was really about him always wanting to play,鈥 Gregg Berhalter said.
The Berhalters have weekly soccer conversations.
鈥淧robably the biggest thing I鈥檝e learned that in any environment I go into I can kind of easily assimilate and just be myself, not shy away from that,鈥 Sebastian Berhalter said.
Jonathan Klinsmann’s only , when he trained but didn’t dress.
He was born in Munich when his father was with Bayern toward the end on an illustrious career that included 47 goals in 108 appearances for West Germany and Germany and titles at the 1990 World Cup and 1996 European Championship.
Jonathan Klinsmann spent much of his youth in Newport Beach, where his father and Californian wife Debbie settled. As a 9-year-old, the younger Klinsmann got to hang out with Germany’s national team as his father coached the host nation to a third-place finish at the 2006 World Cup.
鈥淎 lot of the fond memories were just being able to be around those players as a little kid and being able to look up to them,鈥 he said. 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 quite understand the ramifications of everything and the pressure.鈥
He then watched as his father coached the U.S. Like many fans at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, Jonathan Klinsmann and his family missed the Americans’ group-stage loss to Germany in Recife because of that prevented them from reaching the team hotel for the trip to Arena Pernambuco.
鈥淭hey told us that there was no way our bus was getting to the hotel, so we just had to swallow it and watch at the hotel,鈥 he said.
Jonathan Klinsmann played youth soccer in southern California, and then moved to Bayern’s youth academy after his father became first-team coach in 2008-09, switching from forward to goalkeeper. He caused controversy in 2014 when his father dropped U.S. great Landon Donovan from the World Cup roster and the He apologized to Donovan.
He played college soccer at the University of California Berkeley from 2015-16 and and joined Hertha Berlin, saving a penalty kick during his professional debut in a Europa League match on Dec. 7, 2017. He transferred to Switzerland’s St. Gallen in June 2019, appearing only in a pair of Swiss Cup games, then .
鈥淗e chose soccer at the end of the day, but he had a good chance to go also far with basketball,鈥 Jurgen Klinsmann said of his 6-foot-4 (1.93 meter) son.
Both of the sons realized from an early age the determination of professional athletes.
鈥淚t kind of rubbed off on me, not even him telling me to work hard,” Sebastian Berhalter said. 鈥淚f I really wanted it, I鈥檇 have to work harder than everyone else.鈥
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