"I was lucky. It could have been much, much worse," the son of Germany's 1990 World Cup winner Jürgen Klinsmann told the New York Times: "Never playing football again, never being able to walk again."
During AC Cesena's Serie B match at US Palermo (0-2) on 18 April, he collided with an opposing player. Klinsmann, 29, suffered a fracture of the first cervical vertebra but stayed on the pitch for the closing minutes. His centre-backs then simply passed the ball between themselves so he no longer had to get involved.
Initially, Klinsmann said he thought it was concussion or whiplash. "But then my neck muscles went crazy to protect me from something." Had he made another save, Klinsmann said, "I don't know whether I would have got away with it". On the advice of his father, he also underwent a complicated and "very high-risk" operation in Heidelberg. It was successful.
Within a few days, Jonathan Klinsmann was already able to walk again. However, there is "no timetable" for when he might be back in goal, he said. The vertebra first has to heal completely, then screws will be removed. A return for the 2027/28 season is considered realistic. Without the injury, Klinsmann would have been part of the US team at the home World Cup.