When the U.S. men's Under-20 national team failed to qualify for the U-20 World Cup for the first time in seven tries, and with one of the best collections of talent in recent memory, head coach Thomas Rongen was at the top of those facing blame for the failure.
That failure has cost Rongen his job. After 10 years at the helm of the Under-20 team, Rongen has been relieved of his duties, U.S. Soccer confirmed to FOX Soccer on Thursday.
There is no timetable on finding a replacement, but former U.S. national team star Tab Ramos is handling head coaching duties on a U.S. Under-20 team trip to France later this month. Ramos is not the interim head coach, though he could conceivably be considered a candidate to replace Rongen.
The United States lost to Guatemala in the CONCACAF Under-20 quarterfinals in March, thus ending a streak of seven straight World Cup appearances. That shocking loss made it unlikely that Rongen would be kept around much longer, though he is still under contract with U.S. Soccer and could still work for the federation in another capacity.
The current U.S. Under-20 team had been praised for having a strong collection of talent, with forwards such as Conor Doyle, Omar Salgado and Bobby Wood, as well as promising midfielders like Joseph Gyau and Sebastian Lletget, but the fact that this current team had more players who were already professional players than any previous U-20 team, the squad still fell short in qualifying.
Rongen enjoyed both success and disappointment during his time as Under-20 head coach. He helped guide the 2007 Under-20 team to the World Cup quarterfinals, but then also watched the 2009 team fail to advance past the group stage.
The dismissal seemed inevitable given the disappointing result in March and the reality is Rongen never truly established himself as a manager who could be counted on to deliver good results in international competition. His ability to find new talent and work with players has often been praised, but his game and tournament management skills have proven to be a weakness.
Rongen's ability to find prospects in Europe with American ties should not be overlooked, and his knowledge of and connections in Europe should be utilized by U.S. Soccer, but in another capacity.
Who will U.S. Soccer turn to as the next head coach? Akron University head coach Caleb Porter is a popular name but Porter just signed a long-term deal with Akron and has long expressed his happiness with his current position and the ability it gives him to work with and develop young players on a regular basis. While the Under-20 national team coaching position is an important one, the reality is that a U-20 head coach doesn't spend that much time with the players he has to work with.
Truth be told, it could be tough for U.S. Soccer to lure any of the top college coaches given the job security and lucrative contracts many of the top coaches in college soccer enjoy.
Ramos has worked with the U-20 team, but doesn't really have head coaching experience of any kind, so he seems like a long shot. Claudio Reyna is currently serving as U.S. Soccer's Youth Technical Director and could also be seen as a potential candidate, though like Ramos, he lacks coaching experience.
Ives Galarcep is a senior writer for FoxSoccer.com covering Major League Soccer and the U.S. national team.
