World Cup 2010 Blog: “Klinsmann Explains Why He Didn’t Take US National Team Job” plus 1 more

---

Klinsmann Explains Why He Didn’t Take US National Team Job Posted: 20 Sep 2010 03:00 PM PDT Seems Jurgen Klinsmann was thisclose to being named the new USA head coach not once, but twice in the last four years. The California based ex-Germany manager was favourite to succeed Bruce Arena after the 2006 World Cup, until Bob Bradley was announced as interim and then perma-coach. Same thing just last month, with what appeared to be a majority of fans and media expecting Klinsmann to succeed Bob Bradley. But then US Soccer announced that Bradley’s successor was in fact… Bob Bradley, and we were left wondering exactly what had happened with Jürgen Klinsmann and US Soccer. Well, now we know what happened. Or at least what Jürgen Klinsmann says happened. Because he recently recounted his talks with US Soccer during (of all places) a Kansas City Wizards pre-game show: "We had conversations, maybe about three or four weeks period of time, and very positive conversations. But we didn't get it to a positive ending because we couldn't put into writing what we agreed to verbally," Klinsmann said during an interview broadcast Sunday on the Kansas City Wizards' pregame show. "It's obviously always about authority. When you have conversations with a club team or a national team, it's who has the last word in what issues, and that's where we couldn't get into the written terms," Klinsmann said. "Verbally we agreed on that the technical side is my side, and I should have a 100 percent control of it. Written terms, they couldn't commit to it. At that point I said, `Well then, I can't get the job done because I have to have the last say as a head coach for my entire staff, for all the players issues, for everything that happens with the team.' Unfortunately they couldn't commit to that, and that was basically the end of our talks, and then they agreed then to continue with Bob as the head coach, and that's totally fine." Klinsmann also held talks with USSF president Sunil Gulati in 2006 but ended them when he wasn't guaranteed access to top Major League Soccer players for both the CONCACAF Gold Cup and Copa America the following year. (See video of Klinsmann’s interview on the KC Wizards website.) If I were asked to précis Klinsmann’s version of events, I’d say Klinsmann wanted total control of the national team, but US Soccer weren’t willing to give it up, and so Bob Bradley kept his job. World War II veterans might feel differently, but I suspect there are plenty of US fans out there who would have been happy for US Soccer to surrender total control of the national team to the national team coach.

The England Blind Football Team Documentary Posted: 20 Sep 2010 09:11 AM PDT As it’s Monday morning, you probably spent to weekend watching some of the world’s best athletes doing what they do best. Yet there’s a little bit of slacked jaw in this documentary about the England Blind World Cup team and their ability to do what is often the same, but lacking that one gift. Particularly #9, who might just get a call from Fabio shortly. The BWC actually took place last month in England, and though there are glaring fundamental differences in the sport, some things just never change when it comes to football: Brazil won, beating Spain and nullifying their attempt at a monopoly in both sighted and non-sighted football, and England went out in the quarters.

You are subscribed to email updates from World Cup Soccer - South Africa 2010 To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610