Klinsmann fired as US football team coach

German Jürgen Klinsmann has been dismissed as the head coach of the United States men's football team after a poor start to the 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign.

The 52-year-old was under the gun after the team lost two World Cup qualifiers in the space of five days to leave the side in the CONCACAF cellar with eight qualifying rounds to play, reports Efe.

After losing 1-2 to arch-rivals Mexico in a November 11 match in Columbus, Ohio, the US men went on to suffer a 0-4 away drubbing at the hands of Costa Rica just four days later.

US Soccer President Sunil Gulati said in a statement on Monday: "Today we made the difficult decision of parting ways with Jürgen Klinsmann, our head coach of the US men's national team and technical director."

"We want to thank Jürgen for his hard work and commitment during these last five years. He took pride in having the responsibility of steering the programme, and there were considerable achievements along the way," Gulati added.

The US are not in a hurry to name a replacement as they play their next qualifying match in late March.

"While we remain confident that we have quality players to help us advance to Russia 2018, the form and growth of the team up to this point left us convinced that we need to go in a different direction," Gulati said.

The squad posted a record of 55 wins, 27 draws and 16 defeats under the former German star striker, who was named coach in July 2011.

They also won a record 12 consecutive matches in 2013 under Klinsmann, who coached Germany to a third-place finish on home soil at the 2006 World Cup.

In the 2014 World Cup, the squad emerged from the Group of Death to claim a spot in the Round of 16, where they lost to Belgium in extra time.

The US, which hosted the 2016 Copa America Centenario, reached the semi-finals of that competition before falling to Argentina.

--IANS

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