German coach Jurgen Klinsmann has revealed that he remains very proud of his achievements in American soccer.
The German coach spoke at the National Soccer Coaches Association of America in Los Angeles recently despite agreeing to it before he was sacked from his job as manager of the men’s senior team.
Klinsmann supervised the losses in the first two World Cup qualifiers hence his sack but insists that he is happy to have developed American football.
“The results will tell in the future if it helped Bruce [current US team coach] to achieve the goals that are set. But I think whenever you have the chance to put your stamp on a programme, you do it with everything you have, and that’s what I tried to do,” he said.
He claimed that he and his team “achieved a lot within the system of US soccer, connecting a lot of dots – even though there are so many out there that are disconnected.”
The German was at the helm of affairs in the United States for five and half years until he lost his job late last year when the team lost to Costa Rica and fell at home to Mexico.
Before his dismissal Klinsmann’s rating dropped very much. He reached the Copa America semifinals last year when they were knocked out by South American giant Argentina. In his first year in charge, he led the team to win the 2013 CONCACAF title and finish in the Round of 16 at the 2014 World Cup but his low approval ratings encouraged fear that the US might not play in Russia 2018. His much publicised clashes with veterans like London Donovan didn’t help either.
Arena who was the coach from 1998 to 2006 was quickly recalled to lead the team out of its current mess.
Klinsmann’s concluding remarks were that of pride, saying: “a lot has been done in the last five years which I’ve been really proud of.”