After Misstep, Arena Weighs Next Move

HAMBURG, June 23 -- In the aftermath of the U.S. national soccer team's early exit from the World Cup, Coach Bruce Arena spent an hour Friday afternoon discussing his squad's failures and his own mistakes. He continued to harp on the officiating in the tournament, how Group E was disproportionately more difficult than most, if not all, the other first-round quartets and how injuries had taken a toll.

But after dissecting the winless performance and analyzing where things went wrong, Arena said it came down to this simple explanation: "We weren't good enough throughout the tournament."

"We were punished for our mistakes and didn't get the job done. With all the circumstances, you still have to be a good enough team to overcome calls, mistakes, and at the end of the day, that's what it is about," he said after returning from Nuremberg, where a 2-1 loss to Ghana on Thursday extinguished the team's hopes of advancing.

The Americans began the tournament poorly, allowing a goal to the Czech Republic after just five minutes en route to a 3-0 loss, and never fully recovered. They improved their outlook with a courageous short-handed effort against Italy in the second match to earn a 1-1 tie, but then faltered on several critical fronts in the loss to Ghana and finished with just two goals and four shots on goal in 270 minutes.

As the players packed their bags and began heading their separate ways, Arena addressed questions about his uncertain future -- as well as the program's -- and made suggestions about how American soccer can position itself to put up a stronger fight on the international stage.

Both Arena and U.S. Soccer Federation President Sunil Gulati confirmed they discussed the coaching situation briefly after the Ghana match, but a final decision is not expected for several weeks.

"We'll make a decision that's in the best interest of everybody," Arena said. "I'm not losing any sleep over it, to be honest. I've had a great time in eight years at U.S. Soccer. If there's no more after that, that's fine as well. I can walk away with no regrets."

Arena said that he recently turned down an opportunity to coach a European club because of the uncertainly surrounding his U.S. job and that he had been approached about a television commentary job.

His agent, Richard Motzkin, said Arena has received "expressions of interest from clubs domestically and internationally," but declined to provide specifics. Arena coached D.C. United from 1996 until 1998, leading the club to two MLS titles, and would become a top candidate if any MLS job became available this year.

Arena, the longest-serving coach in U.S. history with a tenure of 7 1/2 years, has an estimated base salary of $600,000. His contract will expire on Dec. 31.

"I need a little bit of time to get away and decide," he said, adding that he plans to head home to Fairfax on Saturday, "watch [the World Cup] on television and be like everyone else and just criticize the players and coaches, read those crappy stories in the papers [and] lose a bunch of golf balls, just have a good old time."

If he does return, he hopes a greater emphasis will be placed on getting young American players to Europe.

"We need them in a year-round soccer environment, we need them playing in more intense games to help them mentally as well as soccer-wise," he said. Although the national team has benefited from MLS's emergence -- there is a deeper player pool and a domestic professional setting for hundreds of young players -- the league still cannot match Europe's level of competition and intensity.

This year's U.S. World Cup roster had 12 players from European clubs and 11 from MLS teams.

"There's competition within your team, there's pressure to win games, there's promotion, relegation. It's the real thing, and in the end, the cream rises and you see the top players prevail," Arena said of the European leagues. "And it positions you to be much more successful at the international level."

He said Landon Donovan, the MLS forward-midfielder who did not meet expectations in the World Cup, should consider Europe again after two aborted stays in Germany. "But that's a decision he has to make," Arena added.

Team captain Claudio Reyna, who has played in Europe for 12 years, agreed with Arena's overall assessment.

"It's an individual decision, but it's made me a better player," said Reyna, who on Friday formally announced his retirement from the national team. "The foundation the players are getting from MLS is great, but eventually our best talent needs to go over for four, five, six, seven years and really develop in Europe."

Along those lines, Arena said youth development needs to become a priority.

"We're developing our game from the top down instead of from the bottom up," he said. "We've got to do a better job in trying to develop our elite players early, getting them in better soccer environments, demanding that [MLS] plays an important role in developing our young players and not just waiting for them to arrive after college.

"We've got to look at models that work and eventually establish our own. It's not going to happen in the next four years either; it's going to take a long time, but we'll get there one day."

U.S. Notes: Midfielder Pablo Mastroeni was given a three-game suspension for the red card he received against Italy last Saturday. He is likely to serve the suspension during the Gold Cup next summer. . . . Reyna said he expects to be sidelined about three weeks after straining a knee ligament vs. Ghana. . . .

Commenting on Reyna's decision to leave the national team after 12 years, Arena said, "When we look down the road, the day we do win a World Cup, Claudio is going to be remembered as one of the greats and one of the pioneers."