Harrison, N.J.

Jurgen Klinsmann never talks about the days when he was a great striker in Europe. He does not bring up his 47 goals for the German national team or his 1990 World Cup title with West Germany.

“Never. Not once,” said Tim Ream, a defender with the United States national team, who was outmaneuvered for the only goal in a 1-0 loss to Ecuador in a friendly Tuesday evening. The superstar as coach. It’s an interesting concept. Ream knows he is being tutored by a world-class player who could tell him how Andreas Brehme defended against a crossing shot in 1990 in the World Cup final against Argentina. There are no big-time insinuations when Klinsmann speaks to his new players in the New World. Instead, Klinsmann gave Ream a positive feeling — not easy to do when the loss gave the American squad a record of one win, three losses and one draw in Klinsmann’s first five games.

Everybody knows who that man is in front of the United States bench. The sweetest moment Monday night at Red Bull Arena in the team’s open practice — another Klinsmann innovation — came when he was supervising a finishing drill in front of the goal.

A rebound came loose and Klinsmann could not help himself, drilling a hard shot into the net. A spontaneous round of applause came from the 500 die-hard fans who were getting to watch practice free. American fans, and American players and American front-office types, are now squarely in the Jurgen Klinsmann era.