On 9 July 2006, the day of the final, more than half a million people gave the Nationalmannschaft a triumphant welcome at the Brandenburg Gate. Banners and chanted slogans urged the manager to continue in his role. “Give me a few days!” he replied.
Two days later, he turned down the federation’s offer. In a recent podcast, he admits that his decision had already been made in Berlin. “When I saw the huge crowed, I told myself I needed to step back. I didn’t have a burnout, but I was drained and I wanted to go back to California, to breathe. As a family, we realised we had to stop.”
In an online forum set up by the SPIEGEL on the same day, the overwhelming majority of comments expressed regret, understanding and gratitude.
In hindsight, they were right. The cultural shift that Klinsmann had envisioned, designed and then implemented was not only unexpected but also proved surprisingly enduring.
To start with, the key members of the management staff he had recruited remained in place for a long time: Joachim Löw and Urs Siegenthaler until 2021, Oliver Bierhoff until 2022, and the psychologist Hermann until 2024. It is true that their effectiveness and success have waned over time, following a golden period between 2006 and 2016. And the Nationalmannschaft’s elimination in the first round of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups served as a reminder that even for successful change managers it is essential to know how to reinvent oneself.
But that’s not the point. Independently from the aleatory nature of competition, the long-term legacy of the Klinsmann revolution is twofold.
On the one hand, he set a precedent that ultimately achieved unanimous acceptance through the force of the overwhelming events in 2006: he proved that with competence, credibility and determination, reforms are possible, even if they involve a disruptive cultural shift within an organisation whose rituals and self-perception are rooted in a past that is certainly glorious, but definitively over.
The German federation, always prone to criticism for its presumed inertia, has evolved considerably. As evidence, we can cite the very intelligently revolutionised ‘youth training philosophy’ which was put into place 2023/2024, drawing inspiration from its Belgian, Dutch and French neighbours, against numerous conservative voices. This open-mindedness now seems firmly established and integrated into the organisational culture.
What’s even more impressive is the undisputable fact that Klinsmann has achieved an aesthetic revolution. He has done away with the so-called ‘German virtues’ by putting an end to the old pragmatic dogma that only results matter. Since 2006, German football has been identified as an attacking, attractive style of play, not always successful, but often exciting and sometimes even elegant. For any football fan who grew up in the 1970s or 1980s, this is nothing short of a miracle.
