Bradley fired as U.S. coach

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U.S. Soccer finally listened to its fans and today fired increasingly isolated U.S. Men’s National Team Coach Bob Bradley, a Manhattan Beach resident, after a meeting at Home Depot Center and in the wake of a poor Gold Cup showing.

Here’s the full press release from U.S. Soccer:

U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati announced today that Bob Bradley has been relieved of his duties as the head coach of the U.S. Men’s National Team.

“We want to thank Bob Bradley for his service and dedication to U.S. Soccer during the past five years,” said Gulati. “During his time as the head coach of our Men’s National Team he led the team to a number of accomplishments, but we felt now was the right time for us to make a change. It is always hard to make these decisions, especially when it involves someone we respect as much as Bob. We wish him the best in his future endeavors.”

This announcement comes after a meeting at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., between Gulati, Bradley and U.S. Soccer CEO Dan Flynn.

Bradley was named the head coach of the U.S. MNT in January of 2007 and during his five-year tenure compiled a 43-25-12 record. He led the team to a number of accomplishments, including winning the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup, finishing second in the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup, winning their World Cup qualifying group and advancing to the Round of 16 of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

U.S. Soccer will have a further announcement on Friday.

Slightly curious timing given the games the U.S. has scheduled this summer. The U.S. faces Mexico Aug. 10 in Philadelphia, Costa Rica Sept. 2 in Carson and Belgium Sept. 6 in Brussels.

And will an interim or permanent coach be announced Friday?

Let the speculation begin.

What do you think of this move?

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