US sports fans, please take a minute out of your busy NFL preseason preparations and take a look at what is happening in US soccer, more precisely: the U.S. Men’s National Soccer team. There ere way too many empty seats at their free and fun public practice session last week in Carson, California.

I know you don’t have a lot of time while you cast your votes for the office pool, put beer in the fridge, pick the players for your NFL fantasy team and warm up your favorite spot on the couch. But if you are not watching what is happening in soccer right now, you are missing out on something really exciting: the new men’s soccer coach, Jürgen Klinsmann from Germany is in the process of creating a US team that will be tough, internationally competitive, diverse and best of all: fun to watch. Klinsmann is a living German soccer legend. As a player he won a World Cup, national and European championships. As a coach he invigorated the German team leading it to 3rd place in the World Cup 2006 with his positive energy, motivational skills, knowledge and love of the game. Just a hint for female sports fans: he has a very nice smile and sparkling blue eyes too.

Jürgen played soccer on the highest level in four European countries and lives in California with his family now for more than 13 years. So he is used to bringing different cultures together and that is exactly what he intends to do with the US soccer team. To join experienced veterans of the game like Tim Howard, Landon Donovan and Carlos Bocanegra, Jürgen called young US-players from all over the world to play for the friendlies that have been scheduled this year.

It seems like Jürgen’s team has a lot of fun practicing and playing together. Unfortunately they could not translate that into a win in their first two games. Of course ultimately the new coach has to be judged by the results on the field. So Jürgen needs to step it up! And he will! He will also give young players a few more chances to learn from mistakes and gain confidence. He promises that by the time the qualifiers for the World Cup in Brasil start next June he and his fellow coaches will have created a team that will be fun to watch and make the United States proud.

You might want use commercial breaks during the NFL games to learn more about it. One  more thing: Germans call Jürgen affectionately Klinsi. So practice with me cheering him and his team on by shouting  Kleeeeeeeensee!