Gansler Retained to Coach U.S. National Soccer Team

Bob Gansler will be retained as coach of the U.S. national soccer team, the new president of the U.S. Soccer Federation said today.

Alan Rothenberg, who replaced Werner Fricker as head of the USSF after the World Cup, said he anticipated that Gansler would remain as coach through the 1994 World Cup, the first to be played in the United States. However, Rothenberg refused to guarantee that Gansler would remain four more years.

“He’s there, and the expectation is he’ll see us through until 1994,” Rothenberg said in a telephone interview.

Gansler took over the team in January, 1989, and led the United States to its first World Cup berth since 1950. However, the team lost three straight games at the World Cup and finished 23rd among 24 nations. Overall, the United States is 7-11 this year.

“At this point, I have no reason to make a change,” said Rothenberg, a Los Angeles lawyer who was commissioner of soccer at the 1984 Olympics. “It’s a dual thing, evaluating his performance and evaluating what the alternatives are. We want him to continue, and nobody has dropped on our lap that will be a superman. There’s no reason to make a change.”

The USSF made overtures to Franz Beckenbauer, who retired as West German coach after his team won the World Cup. Beckenbauer then signed as technical director of Olympique Marseilles in France.

Gansler is making $100,000 this year; his contract automatically renews each year unless it is terminated.