Football
Doug McIntyre, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

Jurgen Klinsmann's job still safe, says U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati

CHESTER, Pa. -- Despite the national team's disappointing fourth-place finish at the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup, U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati isn't considering firing coach Jurgen Klinsmann.

It's been four years since Gualti dismissed Bob Bradley, Klinsmann's predecessor, after the U.S. lost to Mexico in the final of the 2011 tournament. But Gulati rejected the obvious similarity out of hand.

"We don't make judgments based on one game," he said on Saturday evening, after Klinsmann's team dropped the third-place game to Panama on penalty kicks. "There's no parallels."

Gulati was asked if his views on Klinsmann's job security might change should the Americans also lose the Confederations Cup playoff on Oct. 9 against the winner of Sunday's Gold Cup final between Jamaica and Mexico.

The U.S. qualified for that one-off game -- which will be played at a venue to be announced in the United States, multiple sources told ESPN FC -- by winning the 2013 Gold Cup.

"No," Gulati said. "Let's get past today. I'm not going to speculate on stuff that's three or four months away and we're not sure who we're playing or where we're playing."

Gulati also spoke about this year's Gold Cup, which has been plagued by controversy. After Mexico beat both Costa Rica and Panama on questionable late penalty calls in the quarterfinals and semis, respectively, both of those countries federations lodged formal complaints with CONCACAF. On Friday, PFF president went a step further, accusing the regional governing body of fixing his team's match against El Tri.

CONCACAF president Alfredo Hawit acknowledged that "officiating errors had been made" by American referee Mark Geiger, in a statement released on Saturday morning.

Hours later, Gulati backed Geiger.

"He's an excellent referee who has refereed at the top level," Gulati said of Geiger, who in 2014 became the first American in eight years to work a World Cup match.

"He accepted the fact that he made some mistake that impacted the game. Those happen."

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