U.S. SOCCER: Klinsmann turns down national team job

German Juergen Klinsmann, who has for months been tipped to succeed Bruce Arena as U.S. menÆs national team coach, wonÆt be taking the job.

In a statement to ESPN, Klinsmann said he had withdrawn his name from consideration but would not go into details of his conversations with U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati.

Klinsmann, who resides with his family in Southern California, had been considered the overwhelming favorite for the job, especially after he did not continue as Germany national team coach after the 2006 World Cup. Insiders have always cautioned, though, that there was no guarantee Klinsmann would succeed Arena, with whom he spent time as an observer at the U.S. national team training center in Carson, Calif.

Gulati has scheduled a media teleconference for Friday noon ET to discuss the search for the next head coach.

SI.com reports that Chivas USA coach Bob Bradley, a former Arena assistant at the University of Virginia, the U.S. Olympic team and D.C. United, would be named as interim head coach.