Toronto FC hire Klinsmann as consultant
Reuters - Wednesday 03 November 2010, 17:23
BERLIN - Former Germany coach Jurgen
Klinsmann will advise Major League Soccer (MLS) club Toronto FC
as they seek to become more competitive in the U.S. soccer
league, the club said on Wednesday.
"Toronto FC announced... that they have retained the
consulting services of former footballer and manager, Jurgen
Klinsmann, and his consulting company, SoccerSolutions, as
advisors to Toronto FC as the club reorganises its soccer
infrastructure," the Canadian club said in a statement.
"We're honoured to work with a football icon like Jurgen
and have access to his wealth of experience and expertise to
evaluate our current operations and support our team's
development," said Tom Anselmi, chief operating officer for
Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, the club's owners.
This is the first appointment for Klinsmann after an unhappy
spell at Bayern Munich in 2008/09 that started with great
expectations but ended before the season was over when the club
sacked him with only a handful of matches left to play.
"Jurgen's knowledge of the game and track record of
international success... will allow us to objectively look at
everything from players to people to processes and to conduct a
comprehensive search for new leadership," Anselmi said.
Klinsmann, who won the World Cup with Germany in 1990 and
steered the national team as coach to third-place in 2006, has
been living in the United States for several years.
The German said he had a verbal agreement to take over from
Bob Bradley as the U.S. national team coach after the World Cup
in South Africa in July but the deal eventually fell through.
After retiring, Klinsmann, who played club football in
England, Italy, France and Germany, was appointed Germany coach
and took his national side to the World Cup semi-finals on home
soil four years ago before his unhappy spell at Bayern.
At this year's World Cup he was an analyst with ESPN
television.
Toronto finished fifth in the MLS Eastern Conference in the
2010 season.