Wednesday, August 10, 2011

The Jürgen Klinsmann-era begins for US Soccer

The US Men's National Team takes on Mexico at 9pm EDT this evening in Philadelphia. The match is significant for at least two reasons: first, it is a rematch of this years' Gold Cup final, where Mexico rallied back to defeat the United States 4-2; and second, it marks the debut of new US coach Jürgen Klinsmann, who took over for former coach Bob Bradley some weeks ago.

Many see the task of rejuvenating a stagnant men's team as a tall order in the short term, but the hiring of Klinsmann on 29 July was met with healthy approval by commentators and fans alike. It is widely known that the US Soccer Federation pursued Klinsmann years ago, but failed to come to terms with the former German international, hiring Bradley instead. Now the Federation "has their man," and hopes he can turn around a program that has proved streaky and unconvincing in several of their recent matches. While the hire is barely two weeks old, many hope the turnaround begins tonight with a positive result against Mexico.

We shall see :)

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