Saturday morning. Birds are chirping. The streets are quiet. And I’m pulling up to Tom’s Watch Bar in DTLA, about to take in Der Klassiker with a couple hundred soccer fans… and Jürgen Klinsmann.
Bundesliga Haus, the pop-up fan experience organized by Bundesliga Americas, has come to Los Angeles for the first time. Now in its second year, the travelling watch party is on a mission to grow the Bundesliga with American audiences. And looking around the bar, it would appear they are succeeding.
Flooded with the yellow and red of Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich, respectively, it’s barely 8:30am and the place is buzzing. ESPN coverage and a smattering of soccer personalities add to the excitement. But none more so than Klinsmann.
A World Cup winner with Germany in 1990, the long-time SoCal resident is a legend of the game. Player, manager, consultant, commentator, Jürgen Klinsmann has held just about every job one can hold in the world of soccer. And yet, watching a smile creep across his face as Der Klassiker gets underway, he suddenly seems - more than anything - a fan.
“Oh, I’m definitely a fan above anything else” he tells me. “No matter what level, what league. I have my teams and I’m more for Bayern than Dortmund because of my little history there [former player and manager]. But in general I just enjoy matches when there is something on the line.”
And today, there was. With Bayern eight points clear of Dortmund at the top of the Bundesliga table, a victory would all but secure them the title. But as expected from the biggest match in German football, Dortmund wasn’t going to make it easy.
Taking an unexpected 1-0 lead in the 26th minute, the match was already serving as the perfect advertisement for American fans. For American players, however, there is no advertising necessary.
“The Bundesliga has always been a great place for American players to give it a shot and break through,” Klinsmann says. “We like to give people chances. Especially younger kids.” He’s not lying.
Historically, the Bundesliga has proven the most accommodating league for Americans abroad, with more USMNT players having played there than any other league in Europe. Currently, at least 3-4 players plying their trade in the Bundesliga are hoping to impress USMNT manager, Mauricio Pochettino, and get called up for the World Cup squad this summer.
But what would impress Klinsmann? As former USMNT manager himself, he succeeded in getting the US out of the group stage in Brazil, before losing to Belgium in the round of 16. Now, with the expanded format and the World Cup on home soil, would the round of 32 suffice?
“No, that’s not good enough,” he says. “Definitely the minimum is the round of 16. Then it depends on the opponent, obviously, that you get. But it’s absolutely doable. To go further and surprise the world. The players are capable. They have the quality.”
Do they? As we watched Harry Kane equalize for Bayern in the 54th minute - then double his tally with a penalty in the 70th - a different kind of quality was on display. The difference that separates the good from the very best, and a quality that all of the World Cup favorites have in spades.
Talent isn’t everything, however. And as Dortmund equalize in the 83rd minute, the surge of 25,000 fans that make up their ‘Yellow Wall’ reminds us of the advantage playing at home offers.
Still, any atmosphere that might favor the USMNT this summer simply won’t compare. Culture aside, FIFA has adopted an entirely different approach to ticketing from that of Dortmund and the Bundesliga. One which prioritizes profit and risks pricing out the most passionate fans from the World Cup entirely.
“For a lot of people outside this continent, it is very difficult to understand,” Klinsmann says, when I ask about FIFA’s dynamic pricing model. “Because for us [Europeans] going to soccer games was always affordable. I don’t know if people can afford the trips here.”
It’s a legitimate concern. Like Klinsmann says, “soccer brings people together” and accessible events are essential to making the World Cup feel like “a huge festival.”
And yet, achieving that atmosphere may prove difficult. Unlike this Bundesliga Haus, FIFA is charging (for the first time ever) to even attend their official watch parties this summer. “It makes me worried,” says Klinsmann.
And understandably so.
Because as we watch Joshua Kimmich reclaim the lead (and secure Bayern a 2-3 win) with a sublime volley in the 87th minute, I see that smile return to the German icon’s face. And I’m reminded that all of us - even Jürgen Klinsmann - are, first and foremost, fans.