USA not okay

Team USA gets rolled in the semis at the Women's World Cup. Bummer... I guess this is what happens when you decide to change your goalkeeper at the last second for no apparent reason. Seriously, that might be the most direct way to shatter a team's confidence. Take away your star stopper because you fear the opponent. That's really what it came down to. The brain trust figured that Hope Solo's lack of experience, despite her strong play, would be to much to overcome against a quality side like Brazil. The result: A team left questioning it's own ability mere hours before a semifinal against a rival power. That'll always end badly. 4-0 qualifies as "badly." Shame. I was actually hoping to watch them in the final. Our status as the elite power in women's soccer isn't nearly as clear as it was seven or eight years ago. Germany and Brazil, evidently, have closed the gap considerably. That Marta is a hell of a player, to be sure.

He's no Jurgen Klinsmann

That much about Bob Bradley, we can agree upon. After Jurgen made it official yesterday that he wants no part of the US national team job (at least for now), Bradley was awarded the dubious "interim" label as new head coach of US Men's Soccer.

He's not Klinsmann (as mentioned), he's not Jose Peckerman, he's not Carlos Quieroz, he's not the coach with international experience and clout that nearly everyone thought necessary to move this program in a positive direction. It is thought that American coaches who are American-based (be they in the college ranks or MLS) are not enough, these days, if the US is to see definitive improvement by 2010. So what does Bradley bring to the table?

* MLS credentials. The reigning MLS coach of the year (and if you followed what he did with Chivas, this season, you'd be in awe, too), he led the then-expansion Chicago Fire to an MLS Cup championship in their first season of existence back in '98. His is "a career that has included three trophies won at Chicago, two MLS Coach of the Year honors and the most wins in MLS history."

* Familiar with American talent. This is the big one. Not only is Bradley familiar with the next generation of American soccer, he's immersed in it -- something that no one on US Federation president Sunil Gulati's international wish list can claim. So while developing talent is crucial, Bradley has the jump in readily being able to assemble the right team -- make the right selections -- before molding them together into a unit.

As the linked editorial by Ives Galarcep makes abundantly clear, Bradley is no clown, no "Bruce Arena Light." Still, the issue remains of whether Bradley has the foresight to bring the US to the next level internationally. And it's easy not to have a lot of faith. It seems that even Gulati, himself, is holding out for a bigger hire. Bradley's ultimate fate as US national coach will likely be decided after next summer's Gold Cup and Confederations Cup in June. Until then, "interim" inspires no one.