BELGIUM v UNITED STATES: Klinsmann and Wilmots cross paths again in last-16 duel

Juergen Klinsmann will meet an old friend and adversary when his US side comes against Belgium under Marc Wilmots at the World Cup in Salvador Tuesday.

Klinsmann and Wilmots were both strikers who played for their countries at World Cups and now meet as coaches in a battle for a place in the quarter-finals in Brazil.

At club level, they both played in the German Bundesliga, although former Germany striker Klinsmann's club career was the more illustrious.

The 49-year-old US coach came up through Stuttgart Kickers and VfB Stuttgart to make big-money moves to Inter Milan, Monaco, Bayern Munich and Tottenham Hotspur.

Wilmots, reflecting the hard-working player he was, played for traditional working-class clubs Standard Liege and Schalke among others.

Their teams here can be considered dark horses for the title. Belgium, with an array of top talent in Europe's top leagues, have gone through their group games with maximum points; the United States have come out of a tough group with Germany, Portugal and Ghana - the latter pair having gone home early.

One will go out, with the other taking on either Argentina or Switzerland for a place in the semi-finals.

Wilmots, 45, has expressed his great respect for Klinsmann, who won the World Cup title with West Germany in 1990 and took Germany to the semi-finals as coach in 2006.

"He is a friend. We were in contact with each other when we both played in the Bundesliga," Wilmots said. "That won't count of course when we play on Tuesday."

Klinsmann and Wilmots have also been in contact since the German took over the US team in 2011. Two friendlies were arranged with Belgium, both of which the US lost, 1-0 and 4-2.

"We were both strikers and very attacking. Juergen loves football, that's his great strength," Wilmots said this week.

"Everything he does is for football. He thinks of every detail. I am looking forward to seeing him work."

Klinsmann has also been complimentary of Wilmots' work with Belgium since he took over in 2012, saying that "Marc has formed a strong team out of an array of outstanding talent."

At the 1994 World Cup in the United States, their paths also crossed as players. However Wilmots had to watch from the substitutes' bench in Chicago as Klinsmann scored Germany's second goal in a 3-2 victory in the last 16.

"I can hardly remember this game," Klinsmann said in Sao Paulo when asked about it by Belgian journalists. "But I hope it is something to build on (this) Tuesday."