Jurgen Klinsmann is no longer the coach of the U.S. men’s national team, the federation announced Monday in a news release that reverberated around the soccer world.
The decision, to borrow from the phrase I used to describe the ouster of longtime Sounders coach Sigi Schmid back in July, is both predictable and unfathomable.
As recently as two weeks ago, before the home loss to Mexico that opened this stage of World Cup qualifying, Klinsmann seemed untouchable. He has long been Sunil Gulati’s pet project, after all, and the USSF president said prior to the Mexico match that he expected Klinsmann to see out this World Cup cycle.