United States manager Bruce Arena announced his resignation from the post Friday following the team’s failure to qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
A few days after the US Men’s National Team dominated Panama at Orlando City Stadium, the American team lost its final CONCACAF Hexagonal match at Trinidad and Tobago Tuesday. That lost resulted in a fifth place finish, after both Panama’s and Honduras’ victories the same day.
“We didn’t get the job done, and I accept responsibility.”
“Everyone involved in the program gave everything they had for the last 11 months and, in the end, we came up short. No excuses,” Arena wrote in a statement.
Arena returned to the US team in November of 2016 as the successor to Jurgen Klinsmann, following losses in the first two qualifying matches to Mexico and Costa Rica.
Arena leaves as the winningest manager in U.S. national team history with 81 wins, 25 draws, and 32 losses. In his first stint, he took the American side to its best World Cup placement in 2002, reaching the quarter final stage, and also won three CONCACAF Gold Cups in 2002, 2005, and 2017.
