Sarachan’s tenure as interim coach nearing one-year mark
WHIPPANY, N.J. » Cherie Sarachan wonders along with many U.S. soccer fans.
“Yeah, my wife asks me all the time what my future’s going to be,” American interim coach Dave Sarachan said ahead of Friday’s exhibition against Brazil. “But I look at it day by day and just doing my job and enjoying the role.”
Sarachan was Bruce Arena’s top assistant with the U.S. national team from
2000-02 and returned after Arena replaced Jurgen Klinsmann in November
2016. Arena quit last October, three days after the U.S. was eliminated from World Cup qualifying with a 1-0 loss at Trinidad and Tobago, ending a streak of seven straight appearances at soccer’s showcase. Sarachan took over as interim coach, a tenure that next week will surpass the length of Arena’s second term.
Sarachan took over for a friendly at Portugal last November and hopes to be considered to lead the Americans back to the World Cup in 2022. The search for a permanent coach kept getting pushed back, first for the U.S. Soccer Federation presidential election, then as USSF staff concentrated on the selection of the 2026 World Cup host, then as the federation waited for Earnie Stewart to start his new job as men’s national team general manager on Aug. 1.
Sarachan’s interim tag was extended for a January training camp and exhibition, for a pair of March friendlies and three more games in May and June. He appears set to keep the role for six more games this year.
“I think he’s done a great job here,” right back DeAndre Yedlin said before the first training session Monday, two days after scoring his first Premier League goal for Newcastle in a 2-1 loss at Manchester City.
Sarachan’s previous head coaching jobs were at Cornell from 1989-97 and with the Chicago Fire from 2003 until mid-2007. Now 64, he is the oldest of the American candidates, a group that could include Peter Vermes, Gregg Berhalter and Tab Ramos. Atlanta coach Gerardo “Tata” Martino is a possibility among foreigners; former Mexico coach Juan Carlos Osorio was eliminated when he was hired Monday to coach Paraguay.