Real Football

Yes, the NFL lockout is over, but the real football news is even more exciting:

Juergen Klinsmann is now the coach of the U.S. men's national soccer team. Here's the story.

Klinsmann is a former German star who coached the German national team to 3rd place at the 2006 World Cup and he was both a World Cup and European Cup champion as a player. He knows the game and has most likely been given a wide berth to choose personnel and tactics as a condition for taking the US job. He won't have much immediate impact on the first game, a friendly (if there is such a thing) against Mexico on August 10. After that game, he will begin remaking the team according to his vision and has plenty of time before the next World Cup in 2014 to put his mark on the US program.

Bob Bradley, the coach who was dismissed, did an excellent job with the men's team during his tenure, but a loss to Ghana at last year's World Cup and a loss to Mexico last month after being ahead 2-0 sealed his fate.

I hope that Klinsmann can continue the upward trajectory of soccer in the United States and show budding stars that there is a future for the game in this country.