Jurgen Klinsmann told U.S. Soccer he lost the Gold Cup because it was rigged

American soccer fans finally got what they’ve been asking for on Monday with the firing of Jurgen Klinsmann. His recent losses to Mexico and Costa Rica might have set the conversation about his employment status in motion, but it’s not really the results that got him canned. It was the constant excuses. Here’s Doug McIntyre at ESPN FC on a time Klinsmann claimed he lost because a tournament was rigged.

He told Gulati that he was convinced that the Gold Cup was fixed so Mexico would win, setting up the big-money playoff match against the U.S., a viewpoint that exasperated his boss.

Klinsmann went onto insult his detractors over the weekend, calling them “disrespectful” while being disrespectful himself, claiming that people who criticized him weren’t educated about soccer — something he did repeatedly during his tenure as USMNT boss. On Sunday night, U.S. Soccer decided to pull the plug on the Klinsmann Era.

What’s next? Bruce Arena, almost certainly. And he’s got some explaining to do with regards to his comments about foreign-trained players and coaches getting chances with the USMNT. The headaches never go away for people in charge at U.S. Soccer.

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Jermaine Jones says players are just as responsible for poor results as Klinsmann, if not more so. (MLS)

Koke hurled a homophobic slur at Cristiano Ronaldo over the weekend.

Hector Bellerin has a new deal at Arsenal, and he’s well worth it.

Serge Aurier can’t travel with Paris Saint-Germain to face Arsenal because of a legal matter, and they are pissed. (PSG)

Zlatan Ibrahimovic is getting a statue outside Sweden’s national stadium. (BBC)

And he’s already talking about coming to America when he’s done at Manchester United. (Mirror)

Steven Gerrard has turned down the manager job at MK Dons. (Guardian)

Hey, look, AC Milan still hasn’t been sold and is a total mess. (Football Italia)

Elena Chiara Mitrani on Italian soccer terminology. (Unusual Efforts)

Dustin Ward on RB Leipzig’s hot starts and other weird trends in the Bundesliga. (Stats Bomb)

Alan Smith on the 20th anniversary of the best story in English soccer, con-artist Ali Dia’s appearance for Southampton. (Guardian)

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