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SAO PAULO –United States head coach Jurgen Klinsmann came to America in large part to avoid being recognized. In his early years in California, the quest for anonymity was taken to a hilarious extreme.

Klinsmann had been retired from professional soccer for five years and after moving to Huntington Beach, Calif., in 2003, he was getting the itch to take the field again, albeit in a far more low-key way than during his time as one of the most feared forwards in the game and a World Cup champion.

So to stretch his legs and get back into the soccer saddle he signed up with the Orange County Blue Star, a small and now defunct semi-pro team in the Premier Development League based in Irvine, Calif. What happened next has become an amusing part of Klinsmann folklore.

To avoid media attention, a club official listed Klinsmann on the team sheet as "Jay Goppingen." Cue much head-scratching and bewilderment from bemused opponents when they were suddenly faced with one of the greats of the sport.

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"It was never my idea to use the fake name," Klinsmann, whose U.S. side takes on his homeland, Germany, in Recife on Thursday in the Group G finale for both squads, told Yahoo Sports. "I think they took J for Jurgen and made it Jay, and then Goppingen is my hometown in Germany.

"I was just having fun and staying healthy and fit, and having a group of guys to kick the ball around with. It was for me after a long career, it was just enjoyable. It was a lot of fun and the name thing is funny."

The Blue Star team was a mix of veterans, former college players, thirty-somethings trying to turn back the clock and one wide-eyed youngster who would himself go on to a pro career.

Robbie Rogers was 14 years old when he played alongside Klinsmann for the team and remembers it with fondness. Later, when Klinsmann became U.S. coach in 2011 it was Rogers, now with the Los Angeles Galaxy, who scored the first goal of his tenure.

"It was pretty amazing to be a young kid and to be able to play and train with him," Rogers said, via telephone. "At first it was intimidating and then it became such a joy. The thing I remember is the enthusiasm he had and the positivity.

"At most we would have a couple of hundred people for our home games. A lot of people came to games and didn’t realize they were watching Jurgen Klinsmann. Soccer was different then; a lot of people in the States at that time wouldn’t even know who he was."

Klinsmann still lives in Huntington Beach lives with his wife, former model Debbie Chin, and his family, and occasionally plays picks games with delighted, if outmatched, locals.

Youth soccer coach Pete McNulty remembers playing pick-up with Klinsmann in an adult scrimmage at a junior soccer tournament in San Juan Capistrano, Calif., five years ago. Klinsmann was there watching his son, Jonathan, and did not hesitate to take part when a game started up.

"It was awesome," said McNulty, 50. "It was a lot of fun and there were moments of laughing and joking about, but Jurgen likes to win and there were definitely a few times when he got stuck in. Everyone loved it and you could see that’s why he loves California, the chance to do normal things like that."

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