Jurgen Klinsmann has gained international recognition for his work with the United States Men's National Team. After guiding the U.S. out of the Group of Death in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, Klinsmann has been nominated for FIFA World Coach of the Year.
The former Bayern Munich boss became the 35th head coach in the history of the USMNT on July 29, 2011 and succeeded Bob Bradley. Since joining the U.S., Klinsmann has compiled a 27-10-7 record and has set historic marks for the country. First, he finished 2012 with a 9-2-3 record, which was the best winning percentage to date for the men's national team (.750) in a single year until he bested that in 2013 with a .761 percentage. His 16 wins and 12-game winning streak in 2013 were also records for a year of international play.
But that's not all Klinsmann achieved as head coach of the United States. He has a 2-1-1 record against teams ranked top-10 in the world and led the U.S. to their first-ever victories against Italy and Germany as well as their first wins against Mexico and Jamaica in their countries. His latest achievement was leading the team to the Round of 16 in the 2014 World Cup before their eventual loss to Belgium. The U.S. escaped the Group of Death after defeating Ghana, tying Portugal and only losing to Germany 1-0.
Here's the list of other coaches nominated for the award:
Carlo Ancelotti (Italy/Real Madrid CF), Antonio Conte (Italy/Juventus FC/Italy national team), Pep Guardiola (Spain/FC Bayern Munich), Joachim Loew (Germany/Germany national team), Jose Mourinho (Portugal/Chelsea FC), Manuel Pellegrini (Chile/Manchester City FC), Alejandro Sabella (Argentina/Argentina national team), Diego Simeone (Argentina/Atletico Madrid), Louis van Gaal (Netherlands/Netherlands national team/Manchester United FC).
On December 1 FIFA will announce the three coaches who received the most votes, but the winner will not be revealed until January 12, 2015, during a televised show at the Zurich Kongresshaus. The FIFA Ballon d'Or (best soccer player of the year) will also be announced at the event in January. Captains and head coaches of the men's national teams across the world as well as international media representatives selected by France Football will vote to select the winners.
Here are the nominees for the FIFA Ballon d'Or:
Gareth Bale (Wales), Karim Benzema (France), Diego Costa (Spain), Thibaut Courtois (Belgium), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Angel Di Maria (Argentina), Mario Goetze (Germany), Eden Hazard (Belgium), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden), Andres Iniesta (Spain), Toni Kroos (Germany), Philipp Lahm (Germany), Javier Mascherano (Argentina), Lionel Messi (Argentina), Thomas Mueller (Germany), Manuel Neuer (Germany), Neymar (Brazil), Paul Pogba (France), Sergio Ramos (Spain), Arjen Robben (Netherlands), James Rodriguez (Colombia), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany), Yaya Toure (Côte d'Ivoire).
