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| Reuters |
Sundhage, a native of Sweden, said she’ll be looking for a coaching/managing position in her homeland.
While in charge, Sundhage led the American women to a pair of Olympic gold medals as well as a runner-up position at the 2011 Women’s World Cup. She announced her retirement from the team just as it was to start its victory tour to celebrate this summer’s triumph at the London Olympics.
Sunil Gulati, the president of US Soccer, said that he had discussions with Sundhage following the Olympics and it was clear to him that she wanted to return home to continue here soccer career. He added that it wasn’t an easy decision to come to for both the coach and the organization.
Gulati paid tribute to her by saying that Sundhage deserves all the credit in the world for helping the American team get to where it is today and for all of the success it has achieved over the last five years. He added that U.S. Soccer appreciates everything Sundhage has done for the team and the country and wishes her nothing but the best in her future endeavours.
US Soccer will start the search for a new head coach, but they haven’t set a date for having a new person in place. The 52-year-old coach said it was a complete honor to coach the American women for the past five seasons and she enjoyed every minute of it and also learned a lot during her time with the team.
Her coaching record with the team up to Sept. 1 is 88-6-10 and the team made it to the final of each one of the three major soccer tournaments it was involved in since she took over in 2007. Sundhage thanked all of the players and her coaching staff for their efforts and said they all made her a better coach.
She said that before she took the coaching job she always admired the character and spirit that the US team displayed. Sundhage said that to be a part of it and experience it for herself everywhere from training sessions to gold-medal games was truly special to her and something she’ll never forget.
Even though she’s stepping down, Sundhage will remain with the team for at least two more games. The team will be playing against Australia in Carson, California on Sept. 16 and then takes them on again three days later in Commerce City, Colorado. They also have games scheduled for Oct. 20 and 23 when they meet Germany in Bridgeview, Illinois and in East Hartford, Connecticut.
Sundhage took over the women’s team after former coach Greg Ryan was let go following a 4-0 loss to Brazil in a World Cup semi final game in china in 2007. Ryan sealed his own fate when he decided to sit goalkeeper Hope Solo on the bench even though she had a 300-minute shutout streak going at the time.
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