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U.S. U-20 goalkeeper Jonathan Klinsmann training with Stuttgart

In his young career, Jonathan Klinsmann has followed a vastly different path than his superstar father. However, the goalkeeper is set to take a step towards his father’s historic past by temporarily joining up with a familiar club.

VfB Stuttgart revealed on Tuesday that Klinsmann has joined the team for training as he looks to earn a spot on the U.S. Under-20 World Cup team this summer. The California goalkeeper’s stop in Stuttgart sees him temporarily train with a club where his father, former U.S. Men’s National Team coach Jurgen Klinsmann, forged his reputation with 79 goals in 156 games.

The club, which is currently in the 2. Bundesliga, is also home to U.S. Men’s National Team midfielder Julian Green.

“A good workout under the best conditions can never hurt,” Jurgen Klinsmann told Stuttgart’s official site. “That is why he is training with the U-23 of VfB for some time. I am very grateful to VfB that they made handled this so uncomplicated and quickly. In addition, Jonathan has a very good relationship with the team.

“I keep myself completely out. He is a keeper – and others can judge this better. When I see him after the training, he’d had a very good impression. ”

The University of California goalkeeper was a vital piece for the U.S. U-20s during the recent CONCACAF Championship. Klinsmann started five matched for the U.S. while earning recognition as the tournament’s best goalkeeper with the Golden Gloves award.

“This is an exciting phase,” Jurgen Klinsmann added. “He was awarded as the best goalkeeper at the U-20 CONCACAF Championship, the counterpart of the European Championship. Since calls come from clubs. But there is no stress. We will see.”

Comments

    • He is good, but it is U20, and a lot of guys who excel at that level end up just being OK pros not stars on their national teams. The best thing is to test him against pros not college level or senior youth team players.

      On a side note, I am ok with goalies going to college because development is much longer and they peak at a later age, but if you can hang at a higher level, hang there. Field players are different, but still if you have ability to get into schools like Stanford, Duke, UVa etc, and you don’t have the cash to pay for it on your own, it will be hard for a kid to give up $50K a year of post-tax scholarship for $50K pretax

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    • Old School: I haven’t either TBH, my assumption was based on the fact that he started all 5 games and that he won the Golden Gloves.

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      • Nice, didn’t know that. I usually don’t dedicate too many time to watching the lower ranks of the US pool. I think the last wave of players I watched in the youth levels involved Altidore, McCarty, etc.

    • The US U20 was deep in the GK spot. so starting and winning the u20 GG was a good achievement. GK get better as they age and at the U20 level you never know, but he is good right now.

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  1. Seems odd that all the quotes come from Jurgen, not the player himself… But this is good news for the USMNT set up if he is currently considered the best keeper in his age group.

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    • Hes a good young keeper. He’s obviously very well-trained. He will bulk up and get quicker as he moves into his twenties. Hes an excellent prospect, no doubt.

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