Zinedine Zidane rejected approach to coach USMNT

Zinedine Zidane rejected an approach from the U.S. Soccer Federation to take over as head coach of the U.S. males’s nationwide staff, sources have informed ESPN.

Zidane, by way of his agent Alain Migliaccio, was requested if he can be curious about succeeding Gregg Berhalter on the U.S. bench, to which the Frenchman politely declined.

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The 1998 World Cup winner, who turned 50 final June, has been with out a membership for the reason that finish of his second spell in control of Real Madrid in the summertime of 2021, however he has his eyes firmly set on the France job in some unspecified time in the future.

With the announcement Saturday that Didier Deschamps’ contract as France coach has been prolonged till 2026, Zidane can have to wait just a few extra years and would possibly take a job within the meantime.

But it won’t be with the U.S. staff, nor will it’s with the nationwide groups of Brazil or Portugal, who have been additionally eager on the three-time Champions League-winning coach.

Berhalter’s contract as USMNT coach expired Dec. 31, with the federation saying this week that assistant coach Anthony Hudson would take cost for friendlies in opposition to Serbia on Jan. 25 in Los Angeles and in opposition to Colombia three days later in Carson, California.

As properly as enterprise a evaluation of the USMNT program following the 2022 World Cup, U.S. Soccer has commissioned an investigation right into a home violence incident from 1991 involving Berhalter and his now-wife, Rosalind.

Berhalter released a statement Tuesday revealing that he had kicked his longtime companion throughout an argument after they have been courting.

Danielle Reyna, the mom of USMNT participant Gio Reyna, mentioned Wednesday that she had disclosed the incident to U.S. Soccer, who employed Alston and Bird LLP to conduct an unbiased investigation into the matter.

– Berhalter-Reyna rift defined: What it means for U.S. Soccer

U.S. Soccer sporting director Earnie Stewart, talking at a information convention this week, allowed for the likelihood that Berhalter may very well be rehired as coach upon the conclusion of the exterior legislation agency’s investigation and U.S. Soccer’s personal inner evaluation of the boys’s program.

Speaking Thursday, Berhalter, who led the USMNT to a round-of-16 exit to the Netherlands in Qatar, mentioned he was nonetheless eager to proceed as coach.

“It’s about being able to take that next step and the next step is doing something that no U.S. team has ever done and that’s get to the semifinals and see what happens from there,” he mentioned whereas showing as a visitor on “The New World of Work,” a web based streaming present produced by the Harvard Business Review.

“So, there’s a lot of great challenges involved,” Berhalter mentioned. “Of course, I’d like to continue in my role.”

The U.S. will collectively host the 2026 World Cup, alongside Canada and Mexico.