One week since a New York Times article quoted United States Men’s National Team coach Jurgen Klinsmann saying that his squad can’t win the 2014 World Cup, Klinsmann reiterated his stance on Wednesday saying it’s “not realistic.”
“You have to be realistic. Every year we are getting stronger,” Klinsmann told ESPN. “We don’t look at ourselves as underdogs. We are not. We are going to take the game to Ghana and they will take it to us and it will be an exciting game and then we go from there.
“For us now talking about winning a World Cup, it is just not realistic. If it is American or not, you can correct me,” he said, repeating the comments he made to the Times last December.
The basis of Klinsmann’s views on the Yanks’ chances in Brazil – the expectations of top teams in the world are completely different.
“The whole country (Brazil) will now be in the stadiums to watch their Selecao. They expect the title,” he said. “If you coach Germany they expect a title. There is not discussion how far you can go, your goals.”
When Klinsmann’s comments from December were first released last week they triggered backlash from a number of leading media personnel, including Pardon The Interruption‘s Michael Wilbon, who said Klinsmann should “get out of America.”
“I’ve known Kobe Bryant,” Wilbon said. “And you, Mr. Klinsmann, are no damn Kobe Bryant. I mean seriously, Mr. Klinsmann now wants to tell all of American sports how to work. Get the hell out. Get out of America. If everything here — you want to coach this team fine. You haven’t won anything. You’re so gutless you went out and said ‘oh, our team can’t win, we can’t win.’ You’re supposed to be such a great coach, why are they paying you? They’re apparently paying you for something you did not only yesterday, but somewhere else about 4,000 miles away. I repeat: Get the hell out. When did Klinsmann become an expert on American sports?”
Will Wilbon come back at Klinsmann a second time? Do you agree with the pundit’s sentiments or is Klinsmann’s realism just a breath of fresh air that allows the US to better focus on the Group Stage?