Jurgen Klinsmann: “Porto look strong contenders for the title” | OneFootball

Jurgen Klinsmann, a prominent figure in German football, gave a long interview to this Wednesday's edition of the newspaper O Jogo, in which he anticipated a balanced clash between his Stuttgart (the club he represented from 1984 to 1989) and FC Porto, with a place in the Europa League quarter-finals at stake.

“I see that FC Porto is having a fantastic season, leading from the start, and they seem strong enough to win the title this season. These are praises that explain everything, but Stuttgart is full of ambition and eager for these games, currently having several German national team players who want to go to the World Cup,” he stated.

The former forward known as the Golden Bomber also highlighted Porto's European history, particularly recalling the 1987 European Cup final and Rabah Madjer's backheel goal, which helped turn the game around against the powerful Bayern Munich at the Praterstadion in Vienna.

“That game is in the memory of any fan, because of Rabah Madjer's incredible goal. There's no one who doesn't remember that goal. It was a team full of stars, like Futre, João Pinto, and Jaime Magalhães, knowing that the latter two played their entire lives at the club,” he added.

When asked about what distinguishes Stuttgart, he pointed out: “It’s a club that easily attracts special players, with more than 100,000 fans and a sold-out stadium every time they play at home. I maintain a strong connection and a special relationship with former colleagues, like Buchwald, who won the 1990 World Cup with me. He is one of the club's ambassadors, along with Hansi Muller and Sami Khedira.”

“I recall those goals against Benfica with a broad smile, as it was against a football giant”

Born in Goppingen, Klinsmann began his career at Stuttgart, where he started building a prolific path in goals and titles, later moving to clubs like Internazionale, AS Monaco, Tottenham, Bayern Munich, Sampdoria, and OC Blue Star, the club where he retired in 2003.

“I grew up in Stuttgart dreaming of playing for this great club. We always had Bayern Munich as our main rival, as we are cities in the south of Germany. It's a rivalry like that between FC Porto and Benfica. We had a very good team in the late 80s, and we played the UEFA Cup final in 1989 against Napoli, with Maradona. But, without a doubt, the games against Bayern Munich were the most exciting, the ones all Stuttgart fans looked forward to all year,” he recalled.

However, he admitted that there are matches that deeply marked him, such as the one on November 21, 1995, when he scored four goals against Benfica:

“Obviously, scoring four goals in a European match is very special, and even more special because we managed to win that UEFA Cup final.”

“I set a record of 15 goals in that campaign. I recall those goals against Benfica with a broad smile, as it was against a football giant. I was at my peak in 1996 and won the European Championship with Germany in England,” he concluded.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.