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Arena sounds off on USMNT in ESPN interview

Bruce Arena

Photo by ISIPhotos.com

By DAN KARELL

Jurgen Klinsmann’s tenure as U.S. Men’s National Team manager was never going to be easy, but he’s hit some rocky slopes recently as his team train in Denver ahead of a crucial World Cup Qualifying match against Costa Rica on Friday.

First, the Sporting News reported about internal strife in the U.S. camp, with certain players sharing their displeasure at the current state of affairs. And now, in an interview that will appear in the April 1 edition of ESPN The Magazine, Former U.S. coach Bruce Arena has made his feelings known (note: subscription necessary) on what he considers someone who should play for the national team.

“Players on the national team should be — and this is my own feeling — they should be Americans,” Arena told ESPN the Magazine’s Doug McIntyre. “If they’re all born in other countries, I don’t think we can say we are making progress.”

One of the controversial quotes from the Sporting News article was about the perceived divide in the locker room, between the foreign-born players, specifically from Germany and those that grew up in the United States. This quote from Arena reaffirms that those issues do exist in one form or another within the American soccer community.

What do you think of this news? Do you believe Arena chose his words correctly?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. So is Klinsmann half American or not?? Is one of his parents an American? If not, then he should NOT be coaching the USA team. If he doesn’t have American citizenship, this is what ruins the American economy, outsourcing a job to a non-American. Of course, my dad suffered under Nazi occupation during World War II so I still carry a grudge against Nazis. Of course, none of this matters, since Holland will win it all in 2014. And if you compare American football (what you call soccer) to football anywhere else in the world, there is no comparison. I can’t STAND to watch it played by the USA team. There is no finesse or style. It’s too clumsy and ugly. Only the Dutch really know how to play the game.

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  2. I look forward to the day when any player in the world can play for any country they choose. And if the best teams are from the countries that are willing to spend the most money for the best players, then we could win the World Cup! Because that is what is most important. Winning. I wouldn’t even care if the players didn’t know the National Anthem, or even didn’t care, or even hated America. Just so long as they win. You know, kind of like the Champions League, only we pretend like it’s the World Cup.

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  3. I wonder what some of the anti-xenophobe posters here think of FIFA’s rules that only allow an individual to play for one country and only if the individual meets certain genetic requirements. Is that kind of discrimination ok?

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  4. Man, I’ll read an article and comment on a thing or two, but holy hell, How do you guys have time to get in philosophical debates about this stuff? I’m assuming at least 50% of you are at work? To all you patriots out there, get back to work. We just got out of a recession.

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