US Soccer National Team committee announced that Jurgen Klinsmann no longer heads soccer team. The decision was made barely a week after the U.S. lost a qualifying match for 2018 World Cup.
According to Sports Illustrated, the disappointing loss marks the first time that the US team gained no point in the final qualifying rounds since the current format was adopted in the CONCACAF region. Nevertheless, Klinsmann had a good run with the team since 2011 when he was finally named head coach after a few attempts to hire him in the previous years.
In a statement posted on ESPN, the U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati thanked Klinsmann's commitment and hard work in the five years that he led the team. He added that the former coach contributed to the growth of the organization through new ideas that will continue to be a benefit in the years to come. Meanwhile, there has been no replacement announced and is expected to be finalized and announced on Tuesday.
Throughout Klinsmann's career as the coach, he guided the team to snatching the Gold Cup in the 2013 CONCACAF and got them to the round of 16 in the FIFA World Cup 2014 before losing to Belgium. Other than that, the team also got to the semifinals of the Copa America Centenario in 2016 where they finished fourth.
On the other hand, the loss that made the possibility of the US missing the World Cup in 2018 proved to be the final straw in that ended his coaching career with U.S. Soccer. This news comes a bit of a surprise since, in earlier interviews, Klinsmann expressed a positive outlook on the future of the team and was not at all afraid of losing his job. Klinsmann has yet to comment on this in public but the general outlook for the national soccer team is still hopeful.
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