U.S. Soccer and head coach Jurgen Klinsmann announced a four-year contract extension on Thursday, ensuring the former World Cup champion will guide the USMNT through at least 2018, USSoccer.com reported.
He’ll also become the Technical Director for U.S. Soccer, entailing that he’ll continue to integrate the US’s youth developmental programs with the national team.
Typically coaches are evaluated following a program’s World Cup run, however U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati said that he’s been pleased with the program’s development the past two years under Klinsmann’s watch.
“One of the reasons we hired Jurgen as our head coach was to advance the program forward, and we’ve seen the initial stages of that happening on the field and also off the field in various areas,” Gulati said. “In the past two years, he has built a strong foundation from the senior team down to the youth teams.”
In his two-plus years leading the national team, Klinsmann’s squad has a record of 27-10-7, including a Gold Cup title this past summer. But for casual soccer fans in the US, success is usually only measured by a team’s World Cup showing. The USMNT finished first in CONCACAF qualifying for next year’s World Cup in Brazil.
Last week the team was drawn into a markedly difficult group with Germany, Portugal and Ghana. While the odds aren’t in favor of the US advancing, Group G offers the national team a chance to compare itself to a few of the world’s elite programs.
“I am very fortunate to continue the work we started more than two and a half years ago,” Klinsmann said. “It’s exciting to see the progress we have made, and we continue to make improvements on all fronts.”
