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NEW YORK -- In a sign of just how much American soccer has grown up, U.S. national team coach Jurgen Klinsmann was fired after a pair of losses in the final round World Cup qualifying.Six days after a 4-0 loss at Costa Rica dropped the Americans to 0-2, Klinsmann was terminated after nearly 5 1/2 years during a meeting Monday at a Los Angeles hotel with U.S. Soccer Federation President Sunil Gulati and Secretary General Dan Flynn.Los Angeles Galaxy coach Bruce Arena is the favorite to succeed Klinsmann, and his hiring could be announced as early as Tuesday. Arena coached the national team from 1998 to 2006.Gone are the days when U.S. coaches were immune to the win-now mentality that permeates soccer. Qualifying resumes when the U.S. hosts Honduras on March 24 and plays four days later at Panama, and the USSF is expecting a quick turnaround.While we remain confident that we have quality players to help us advance to Russia 2018, the form and growth of the team up to this point left us convinced that we need to go in a different direction, Gulati said in a statement. With the next qualifying match in late March, we have several months to refocus the group and determine the best way forward to ensure a successful journey to qualify for our eighth consecutive World Cup.A former star forward for Germany who has lived mostly in Orange County with his American wife since his retirement as a player in 1998, Klinsmann replaced Bob Bradley in July 2011. He led the team to the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup title and the second round of the 2014 World Cup, where the Americans lost to Belgium in extra time.The USSF announced in December 2013 a four-year contract extension through 2018, but the successful World Cup was followed by poor performances. The U.S. was knocked out by Jamaica in last years Gold Cup semifinals and lost to Mexico in a playoff for a Confederations Cup berth. The team rebounded to reach this years Copa America semifinals before losing to Argentina 4-0.But this month Mexico beat the Americans 2-1 at Columbus, Ohio, in the first home qualifying loss for the U.S. since 2001.And last week in Costa Rica, the Americans were stunned by their largest margin of defeat in qualifying since 1980. They dropped to 0-2 for the first time in the hexagonal, as the final round of qualifying in North and Central America and the Caribbean is known.While there is time to recover, given the top three teams qualify for the 2018 tournament in Russia and the fourth-place finisher advances to a playoff against Asias No. 5 team, players seemed confused by Klinsmanns tactics, such as a 3-4-1-2 formation used at the start against the Mexicans.Today we made the difficult decision of parting ways with Jurgen Klinsmann, Gulati said. There were considerable achievements along the way ... but there were also lesser publicized efforts behind the scenes. He challenged everyone in the U.S. Soccer community to think about things in new ways, and thanks to his efforts we have grown as an organization and expect there will be benefits from his work for years to come.Gulati planned a Tuesday telephone news conference to discuss the switch. The U.S. had not changed coaches in the middle of qualifying since the USSF made the position a full-time job and hired Bob Gansler in 1989 to replace Lothar Osiander, who also at the time was a waiter at a San Francisco restaurant.Klinsmann made controversial decisions, such as dropping Landon Donovan from the 2014 World Cup roster while taking along relatively inexperienced players such as John Brooks, Julian Green and DeAndre Yedlin. Brooks and Green were among five German-Americans on the 23-man U.S. World Cup roster, which drew criticism from some in the American soccer community.He went 55-27-16, including a U.S.-record 12-game winning streak and victories in exhibitions at Italy, Germany and the Netherlands. He has worked in the past year to integrate more young players into the lineup, such as teen midfield sensation Christian Pulisic, Bobby Wood and Jordan Morris.Arena, a 65-year-old wisecracking Brooklynite known for blunt talk and sarcasm, was inducted into the U.S. National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2010. He coached the University of Virginia from 1978-95, then coached D.C. United to titles in Major League Soccers first two seasons before losing in the 1998 final. As U.S. coach, he led the Americans to the 2002 World Cup quarterfinals in the teams best finish since 1930.He was let go after the teams first-round elimination in 2006. Gulati unsuccessfully courted Klinsmann, who won the 1990 World Cup with West Germany and the 1996 European Championship with Germany, then coached his nation to the 2006 World Cup semifinals.When Gulati and Klinsmann couldnt reach an agreement, the USSF hired Bradley, who coached the team to the second round of the 2010 World Cup. A year later, the Americans stumbled in the Gold Cup, and Klinsmann replaced Bradley.Arena coached the New York Red Bulls of MLS from July 2006 to November 2007, then was hired the following August by the Galaxy. He led the team to MLS titles in 2011, `12 and `14. Wholesale Custom Royals Shirts . Francis told several hundred members of the European Olympic Committees that when sport "is considered only in economic terms and consequently for victory at every cost . Royals Jerseys China . President of baseball operations Larry Beinfest was fired Friday after 12 years with the Marlins. The move came as the team neared the end of its third consecutive last-place season in the NL East. http://www.customroyalsjersey.com/ .ca looks back at the stories and moments that made the year memorable. Custom Royals Jerseys . On Mar. 16, coming off a "fight of the year" performance at UFC 154 the previous November, St-Pierre faced Nick Diaz at UFC 158 in what would be his eighth defence of the welterweight title. Using his superior athleticism, St-Pierre cruised to a five round, unanimous decision victory setting up a much-anticipated title defence against number one contender Johny Hendricks. Cheap Royals Jerseys . After a lengthy wait, persistent rain finally forced the postponement of the Nationals game against the Miami Marlins on Saturday night. The teams, and a few thousand fans, waited nearly four hours from the 7:05 scheduled start time before an announcement was made shortly before 11 p.Winger Tim Visser says Sir Clive Woodwards comments about second division Scotland will put fire in the bellies of his team-mates for the rest of the Six Nations. In his Daily Mail column this week, Woodward said England have dealt very well with the Second Division of the Six Nations but its First Division all the way from this point onwards.His comments were not warmly welcomed by Scotland, and Harlequins star Visser believes Woodwards view will only serve to inspire the Scots. Speaking on Rugby Club Agenda, Visser said: It will put a bit of fire in the bellies I think. The Scots obviously dont get on too well with the English anyway, but stuff like that and whatever he means by it… I dont actually know what he means by that, its pretty insincere as far as I can see. If you look at the quality of the players at the club and the talent within the squad it deserves to have a coach of that standing. He would be someone who could lead us on and take us even higher than we have been. Tim Visser on Wayne Smith Visser, who has not played a part in this years Six Nations so far due to injury, says Vern Cotters side need no motivation to win after suffering the heartbreak of opening their campaign with slender losses to England and Wales.Theyre obviously going to be disappointed. Ive spoken to one or two of the players and its hard to take defeats like that when theyre that narrow, Visser added.Theyre obviously going to try and stay positive. Theres a whole Six Nations to still play, so not letting their heads go down is massively important.Going to Italy away well have to dig deep and get a victory there, something we obviously didnt do last year which was the turning point in the Six Nations for us.We need to go out there and get a win and that can give you that positive encouragement to go into France for another victory. Tim Visser scores for Scotland against USA in the 2015 World Cup In the 2015 World Cup, Scotland managed to sneak into the knock-out stage after pool wins over Samoa, USA and Japan, before providing one of the performances of the tournament in a 35-34 quarter-final loss to Australia and the former Edinburgh winger is confident that Cotter can once again turn things around for Scotland.Hes a very positive coach, he likes to play rugby. He wants to see us score tries which is really good, especially for someone like myself on the wing, said Visser. Tim Visser in action for Scotland The way he coaches is quite interesting because even though hes a big, burly guy he tends to talk quite softly so that you actually have to pay attention.Hell obviously tell the boys to keep their heads up and keep playing rugby and believing in what we do. Belief is something wevee been talking about for the last year.ddddddddddddThe talent is obviously within the squad, but its important that we keep believing in ourselves because the tide will turn at some point, and we have shown that we can turn it like we did at the World Cup. Conor OShea will leave Harlequins at the end of the season Visser is currently working under is Quins boss Conor OShea, though the Irishman has announced he will leave the club at the end of the season. Since the announcement, Harlequins have slipped to three consecutive Premiership defeats, but Visser refuses to blame OSheas departure for the lack of form.Conor is a great coach. The boys love him and they love playing for him, more importantly, but were professional rugby players - coaches leave, players leave. I dont think it will influence the players and the way we play, I think its more been about the timing. Sky Live: Glasgow v Munster Glasgow v Munster: Guinness PRO12 preview It was just before the Six Nations and we had a bit of talent lost to England and I think thats been a major factor.Also if you look at some of the results, the Northampton game we had practically won but we failed to get the ball off the pitch with no time left so that was particularly disappointing for us, that was four points weve left.We went away to Newcastle and didnt pick up the points there. Newcastle actually are on a bit of a resurgence at the moment, theyre doing well so youve got to give them some credit, but looking at the table its disappointing for us as a top 4 club not to go over there and pick up points. That will come back to haunt us I think.One of the coaches believed to be in line to take over from OShea is two-time World Cup winner Wayne Smith, who Visser believes could take Harlequins to new heights. Wayne Smith is believed to have been in talks with Harlequins That would be great, the club deserves to have a coach like that.Conor has done wonderfully well over the years hes been here, hes picked up a lot of trophies and the club has been successful overall and I think to continue a trend like that you have to invest in coaches like that. Theyre enormously important. If you look at the quality of the players at the club and the talent within the squad it deserves to have a coach of that standing.He would be someone who could lead us on and take us even higher than we have been.Can Scotland win their three remaining games in the Six Nations? Share your comments below or Tweet us @SkySportsRugby Also See: Brown ready for Europes best Jones warning for Cipriani Payne signs new IRFU deal Harlequins v Leicester preview ' ' '