Ryan will not return as Team USA women’s soccer coach

CHICAGO (TICKER) —Greg Ryan will not return as the coach for the United States women’s national soccer team next season, U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati announced Monday.

Ryan, whose contract will expire at the end of 2007, posted a 45-1-9 record since taking the post in January 2005.

But the 50-year-old Ryan drew severe criticism last month when he benched starting goalkeeper Hope Solo in favor of Brianna Scurry, who allowed four goals in a 4-0 loss to Brazil in the semifinals of the Women’s World Cup.

“At the conclusion of each world championship cycle, every national team’s performance is closely analyzed,” Gulati said in a statement. “There are many factors considered in this analysis, and it certainly isn’t just about one loss or one particular coaching decision.

“In this case, after looking closely at the last six weeks and the team’s performance at the 2007 FIFA Women’s World Cup, we have made a decision to change leadership of the U.S. Women’s National Team.”

During a conference call Monday, Gulati stressed that the decision to bench Solo had not led directly to this decision.

“We weighed up everything that took place, particularly in the last 45 days, but also in the last couple of years,” Gulati said. “I’m not going to point to any one fact or decision. Coach’s decisions affect games.”

However, Gulati did address the situation and suggested it might have been handled better.

“I’m sure a number of participants, if they could do it all over again, they would do it differently,” he said. “We’ve had issues with the players in the past. This was issue was public at the highest possible stage, but we’ve had situations in the past where players are not happy and those been handled on the inside.”

Gulati refused to blame the situation for the United States’ exit from the World Cup.

“I’m not going to second-guess decisions made by a coach,” he said. “Obviously, we were unbeaten in the tournament until then.

“Would it be different if Hope Solo had played? I don’t know. Would it be different if we hadn’t had an own goal and a red card? I don’t know.”

Gulati also said that Solo would remain part of the national team.

“Hope is not suspended from the team,” he said. “She will be invited to the residency program. Her involvement will then be up to the new coach. But she is absolutely eligible.”

Ryan was told of the decision not to renew his contract on Sunday.

“He was thankful for the opportunity to have coached the national team but disappointed not to have the chance to go for Olympic gold,” U.S. Soccer secretary Dan Flynn said.

“I’d like to thank Greg for his efforts over the last two years, and his staff, but we wanted to move in a different direction,” Gulati added.

Gulati and Flynn will now work alongside U.S. legend Mia Hamm to find a successor. Gulati said he hoped the process could be completed within six weeks, as the qualification process for the 2008 Olympics starts early in the new year. The schedule has not yet been finalized.

Gulati said that the best coach for the job would be hired, regardless of gender or nationality.

However, any foreign coach would need to have a good knowledge of the U.S. because of the short timeframe they would have to get acquainted with the team.

“We will certainly be talking with some female candidates,” he said. “We will hire the best coach we can. If that’s a woman, terrific.

“The short time we have before competition makes it very hard for someone without any experience in the USA to be considered. Not impossible but very hard.”