Klinsmann to be crowned US King

Updated here.

Fox Soccer is reporting that
Jürgen Klinsmann will be named the new US men's coach within the next two weeks.

They report that the two main problems have been solved:

There were two sticking points in signing Klinsmann: The first was Klinsmann's long relationship with adidas. The U.S. national soccer team is heavily underwritten by Nike, and sources at the shoewear companies said talk of the appointment initially caused some concern. According to a person connected with the shoe company today, Klinsmann has left adidas, solving the issue in one fell swoop.

The second issue looks to be more contentious. Speaking on condition of anonymity granted because they were not given permission to speak about the appointment, two sources confirmed that the issue of power-sharing was a major bone of contention. Former coach Bruce Arena had carved out a wide swath for himself during his tenure, and Klinsmann has reportedly demanded that he too be essentially the sole decision-maker on national team matters.

Could it finally be true? Will the US at long last have a coach? I hope for many reasons this is true. Although I do not think the hiring will automatically make the team into one of the best in the world, it will allow them to finally get back together.

On a cultural note, it will be interesting to see if ESPN picks up on this report and gives it some life. One of the extra bonuses of hiring Klinsmann was the media coverage many of us thought it would bring. It looks like we will soon find out if this is true.

Now let's play some soccer.