5 World Cup winners who finished their careers at unexpected clubs

Jurgen Klinsmann (West Germany) - Orange County Blue Star

Klinsmann was one of the most prolific strikers in the world during his prime.

The coach who just saw his USA team lose to Argentina in the Copa America semi-finals is also one of Germany’s most successful players and amongst their most prolific forwards. Klinsmann won the World Cup with West Germany in 1990 and also the 1996 European Championships with the Germans. He played in several different leagues and turned out for clubs like Inter Milan, Tottenham, Monaco and Bayern Munich, always maintaining a great goal-scoring ratio wherever he went.

Klinsmann played his last season at Tottenham on loan from Sampdoria in the 1997-98 season and was out of the game for 5 years before he decided to play a season for Orange County Blue Star, a fourth division team in the United States. Not many teams have the privilege of having the legendary German striker play for them, so imagine how thrilled the Americans must have been.

Carlos Marchena (Spain) – Kerala Blasters

Carlos Marchena was one of the most underrated players in the Spanish squad.

Carlos Marchena is a Valencia legend, having turned out for the club 319 times in all competitions in his 9 years at the Mestalla. He was a mainstay in the center of defense and racked up 69 caps for the national team as well. Marchena was a solid, robust defender, an expert in breaking up play early and could also play in the middle of the park.

He won the World Cup with Spain in 2010, although he didn’t play as prominent a role as he would have liked but he would go on to be useful for teams like Villareal and Deportivo before he accepted an offer from the Kerala Blasters in 2015 to be their marquee player. Indian Super League fans will have fond memories of watching a player with such pedigree in the country, though his adventure was cut short because of personal reasons and he had to leave. He announced his retirement in January 2016.