Jonathan Klinsmann called up for United States friendlies

Jonathan Klinsmann has been called up to the United States squad, his club Hertha Berlin have said.

Hertha Berlin goalkeeper Jonathan Klinsmann has been called up to the United States squad for the forthcoming friendlies against England and Italy after goalkeeper Zack Steffen and midfielder Darlington Nagbe withdrew from the team with injuries.

Klinsmann, the son of former U.S. head coach and Germany captain Jurgen Klinsmann, holds both German and American citizenship.

🇺🇸 ROSTER UPDATE: @darlingtonnagbe & @zackstef_23 withdraw due to injuries, and GK Jonathan Klinsmann will join the squad for upcoming friendlies.

More » https://t.co/H2F6j0uo9H pic.twitter.com/S5L3BNz08x

— U.S. Soccer MNT (@ussoccer_mnt) November 12, 2018

The 21-year-old had been invited to take part in a Germany goalkeeper training camp in September, but was not included in U.S. caretaker coach Dave Sarachan’s original squad for the prestige friendlies in London and Genk, Belgium respectively. 

However, Columbus Crew SC keeper Steffen was ruled out with a hamstring injury suffered in his side’s Eastern Conference semifinal second-leg loss to New York Red Bulls on Sunday, which opened the door for the former California-Berkeley man to get his first senior-level call up. 

To celebrate the occasion, Jurgen Klinsmann congratulated his son via Twitter, advising the younger Klinsmann to “have fun!”

Congrats Jonathan !! Have fun !!
Glückwunsch Jonathan !! Viel Spass !! https://t.co/IK5bJWa8Mr

— Jürgen Klinsmann (@J_Klinsmann) November 12, 2018

Jonathan Klinsmann would still be eligible to play for Germany if he was to make his debut for the United States in one of the friendlies. FIFA rules allow a player to switch allegiances until their first competitive match for a country.

He played every minute of the U.S.’s run to the 2017 Under-20 World Cup quarterfinals in South Korea and earlier that year was named the best goalkeeper at the 2017 CONCACAF U20 championship in Costa Rica.

Having joined Hertha last year, Klinsmann has played in a Europa League match for the senior team but has largely featured for the under-23s in the regional fourth division.

He has been part of the senior squad for one Bundesliga and one DFB Pokal match this season.

Jurgen Klinsmann was a member of the 1990 German World Cup winning team as a player and led them to the semifinals as coach in 2006.

He was sacked as head coach of the U.S. in 2016 following consecutive losses during the qualifying campaign for the 2018 World Cup.

Information from Reuters was used in this report.