German coach Juergen Klinsmann, right, has taken plenty of criticism for continuing to live in California and implementing American training.

martin meissner / the associated press

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BERLIN — No matter where Juergen Klinsmann goes, he is always a bit of an outsider.

Even here in his own country, where they are finally embracing him after endlessly mocking his California lifestyle and the American training methods he imported to the German World Cup team.

Last week, before the quarterfinal against Argentina, Klinsmann brought the national archery coach to camp and had his players try their hand at bows and arrows. He wanted them to experience "100 percent concentration."

A few months ago, the German media would have vilified him for such a seemingly silly idea. But nobody's laughing at Klinsmann anymore, not with his team in the semifinals Tuesday against Italy in Dortmund and 900,000 fans expected to pack Berlin's Tiergarten Park for a watch party.

The "Blond Bomber," as he was called in his playing days, loves Germany dearly, embraces his country's tradition and discipline and is profoundly proud to be coaching his national team in this World Cup.

But he has always been a free thinker, a multilingual man who borrowed from other cultures on and off the field, and that sometimes does not mesh with the team or its followers. They are more comfortable with a predictable, traditional German soccer icon, someone like Franz Beckenbauer, the World Cup organizer.

Klinsmann's unorthodox ways always made him stand out.

As a player in Italy and England, he puttered around in a 1967 blue VW Beetle while his teammates zipped by in Porches and Ferraris. Rather than use an agent, he negotiated his own contracts. He had his choice of European women and could have lived like a rock star in Germany, but he married Chinese-American model Debbie Chin and moved to Huntington Beach, Calif., where they raise their two children in relative anonymity.

When it comes to soccer, Klinsmann, 42, has always looked outside the team circle for ways to get better. As a player, unbeknownst to his club coaches, he employed a private track and field coach to help him become a better sprinter.

When he was named German national coach in July 2004, one of his first decisions was to hire American fitness guru Mark Verstegen and his assistants, Craig Friedman and Shad Forsythe — a decision that was still being ridiculed in the press as of a few weeks ago.

Verstegen runs sports performance training centers in Tempe and Carson, Calif., where he met Klinsmann, who was hanging around the U.S. national soccer team, exchanging tips with his buddy, coach Bruce Arena. Brett Favre and Nomar Garciaparra were among Verstegen's clients, but the German soccer establishment was not impressed. Why on earth, they thought, would a three-time World Cup championship team seek training advice from an American?

They were not used to seeing their players with giant rubber bands around their ankles, throwing medicine balls, or having table tennis tournaments. Klinsmann shrugged off the criticism.

"I had the privilege to get to know Mark Verstegen, and it can't be overstated how unbelievably good his work is," Klinsmann said Monday.

Klinsmann was also slaughtered by the media for choosing to live in California during the World Cup buildup. He commuted to Germany twice a month, but did much of his coaching from 6,000 miles away, via phone, e-mail, and satellite TV. He also borrowed from American coaches of other sports he encountered.

"Many American coaches actually know far more than some European coaches because they're constantly studying and learning," he told London's Observer.

Though he loves July 4 in America, Klinsman would rather see fireworks over Dortmund on Tuesday night.

"If my family waves an American flag (today), it will have to be here in Germany. I'm very happy German flags will be flying today, not only here, but in California, Tokyo, Sydney, everywhere German fans live," he said.

"I'm proud we have made all of them happy and to see the mood we've put this country in," He added. "This is a new Germany. A new Germany, with an American touch."