The U.S. men's national soccer team suffered an embarrassing 2-1 defeat against Trinidad and Tobago on Tuesday night, knocking them down to fifth place and eliminating their chances of playing in 2018, Russian-hosted World Cup. On Friday, only three days after the defeat, Bruce arena announced that he will be stepping down from his position as the manager of the U.S. men's national soccer team.

He explained the reason behind his decision in a public statement to U.S. Soccer, "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." He also could not hide his frustration over the crushing World Cup loss in an interview with ESPN, stating that the team, "should not be staying home for this World Cup." It came as no surprise when Arena announced that his second assignment as the national team's manager ended just shy of a year, despit the effort he poured into earning another trip to the semifinals; the U.S. men's team had endured an all-time low in the months leading up to their World Cup loss.

Unlike his most recent soccer season, Arena had more success as a coach during his first term with the USMNT. He led the men's team to a shocking appearance in the quarterfinals of the 2002 World Cup, giving fans their best performance in over 70 years, which included a 4th place, all-time, overall FIFA ranking.

By this point in Arenas' career, he had already attracted the attention of U.S. Soccer by earning the position of top collegiate coach and also by leading the U.S. U-23s to the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.

In a 2013 interview with U.S. Soccer, Arena talks about his stressful high-to-low experience during his first years as the team's Head Coach, "From 2002 to 2006, we positioned U.S.

Soccer to be the strongest team in CONCACAF. We grew greatly in world rankings, and by the time we got to the 2006 World Cup, we were a well-respected team around the world, and I believe the dominant team in CONCACAF."

Unfortunately, the success of the U.S. team, ended quicker than expected when they finished last place in the World Cup.

In 2006, Arena announced his resignation as the team's head coach. Despite his professional shortcomings, Arena is still considered to be one of America's most successful soccer coaches, and is the longest-running soccer coach that the U.S. team has had.

Gulati wasn't so quick to resign from his position

Ignoring the angry outcry from U.S. soccer fans, Sunil Gulati does not plan on resigning from his position as president of the U.S. Soccer Organization; in fact, he has confirmed that he plans on returning for another term. According to Yahoo! Sports, when asked if he were going to resign, Gulati defended his decision to remain on staff.

Fans are happy with Arena's decision, but they demand more from the USSF

Although fans are expressing their satisfaction of Arena's resignation via social media platforms, this does not seem to be enough to convince them that the U.S. men's national team will be adequately prepared for the next World Cup qualifier. They are persistently demanding that the USSF does more to improve the overall quality of the organization. Concerned fans are voicing their opinions on the U.S. Soccer Facebook page, claiming that the organization needs to become more competitive, so we can face our European counterparts in the 2026 World Cup with high chances of taking home a win. Hopefully, the USSF will not disappoint.
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED