United States

US Men's Soccer Coach Bruce Arena Resigns World Cup Qualifier Catastrophe

"We didn't get the job done, and I accept responsibility," Arena said

Bruce Arena resigned as coach of the United States men's national soccer team Friday in the wake of a shock loss to tiny Trinidad and Tobago that left the team outside of contention for next year's World Cup in Russia.

Arena coached the team in the 2002 and 2006 world cups, and was hired in November as the American campaign to qualify for 2018 stuttered. A 4-0 victory over Panama had put the U.S. in position to qualify going into Tuesday's game, for which the U.S. were heavy favorites.

The loss, combined with other results, meant the U.S. wouldn't qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 1986.

"Everyone involved in the program gave everything they had for the last 11 months and, in the end, we came up short. No excuses. We didn't get the job done, and I accept responsibility," Arena said in a statement Friday.

Arena took the team to its best World Cup finish, the quarterfinals, in the 2002 tournament in Korea and Japan.

As a Major League Soccer coach, he has won the MLS Cup five times, most recently for the LA Galaxy in 2014.

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