"I don't know if you can compare it to anything," said Sigi Schmid, the German-born coach of the Columbus Crew. "When you look at American sports, there's not really a national team that carries the weight with it. It's maybe close to the Yankees with Steinbrenner on your case all the time.

"You're carrying the weight of the whole country," Schmid added. "The whole country is saying you've got to perform."

Things got so ugly that German chancellor Angela Merkel stepped in.

"He hurt a lot of people, he stepped on a lot of toes," Beckenbauer said Thursday. "But if you have new people taking over a job, you will have to accept that some changes are being made."

Regardless of how loudly people howled, Klinsmann refused to budge on his beliefs. Germany's team needed to change, and as long as he was coach, it would.

Now it's hard to see how anyone doubted him. Germany breezed through its qualifying group. It leads the tournament with 10 goals, along with Argentina and Brazil, and it needed only 12 minutes to score twice against Sweden in the second round. It has allowed only two goals, none in the last three games.

Germany plays Argentina on Friday in a game many are comparing to a final.

"What people are seeing here with the team, the things that they comment on, is a direct reflection of" Klinsmann, Verstegen said. "We embody what he stands for, and it's not easy because it's different. He has an optimistic outlook on everything that he does.

"He's a great role model for the German people," Verstegen added. "He's a great role model for everyone."