Bruce Arena has agreed to a new four-year contract as U.S. men's national team coach.
Arena, who was hired in October 1998, is the team's all-time leader in victories (34) and winning percentage (.621). In 2002, the United States reached the quarterfinals at the World Cup and won the Gold Cup. In 1999, the Americans finished third at the Confederations Cup.
In addition to wins over Portugal and Mexico at the World Cup, other big wins under Arena include two victories over Germany and a win over Argentina in 1999. The United States has dominated Mexico in recent years, winning five of the last six meetings.
Arena, the longest-serving coach among coaches at the 2002 World Cup, said his goal was the same as it was when he started four years ago: qualify got the World Cup.
CONCACAF was awarded an extra half spot in the 2006 World Cup — the No. 4 CONCACAF team will play the No. 5 Asia team — but Arena said the task will remain difficult.
He says the pool of European-based players is shrinking, so the United States will have to rely more heavily on MLS players.
He anticipates taking a mix of veterans and young players to next summer's Confederations Cup in France. He says he'll take Brad Friedel or Kasey Keller in goal and mentioned John O'Brien, Steve Cherundolo, Jovan Kirovski and Eddie Lewis as European-based players who might be called up.
He said Friedel and Keller have expressed interest in continuing with the United States over the next four-year cycle. He said captain Claudio Reyna's future depends on how well he comes back from his knee injury.
Arena said he would experiment with his team until the summer of 2004 when qualifying for Germany '06 is expected to begin.