Bruce Arena resigned Friday morning as the U.S. men’s soccer team’s head coach after the team failed to receive a World Cup bid this week.
“When I took the job last November, I knew there was a great challenge ahead, probably more than most people could appreciate,” Arena wrote in a statement published on U.S. Soccer’s website. “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.”
It’ll be a quite summer for soccer fans. The U.S. men’s national team missed its first World Cup since 1986 after getting embarrassed on the international stag. Trinidad and Tobago shockingly upset the Red, White and Blue 2-1 on Tuesday.
Arena was initially hired by the USSF in November 2016 as the replacement for Jurgen Klinsmann, who was shown the door following a five-year run that included a Round-of-16 appearance at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.