NEW YORK -- In a sign of just how much American soccer has grown up, U.S. national team coach Jurgen Klinsmann was fired after a pair of losses in the final round World Cup qualifying.Six days after a 4-0 loss at Costa Rica dropped the Americans to 0-2, Klinsmann was terminated after nearly 5 1/2 years during a meeting Monday at a Los Angeles hotel with U.S. Soccer Federation President Sunil Gulati and Secretary General Dan Flynn.Los Angeles Galaxy coach Bruce Arena is the favorite to succeed Klinsmann, and his hiring could be announced as early as Tuesday. Arena coached the national team from 1998 to 2006.Gone are the days when U.S. coaches were immune to the win-now mentality that permeates soccer. Qualifying resumes when the U.S. hosts Honduras on March 24 and plays four days later at Panama, and the USSF is expecting a quick turnaround.While we remain confident that we have quality players to help us advance to Russia 2018, the form and growth of the team up to this point left us convinced that we need to go in a different direction, Gulati said in a statement. With the next qualifying match in late March, we have several months to refocus the group and determine the best way forward to ensure a successful journey to qualify for our eighth consecutive World Cup.A former star forward for Germany who has lived mostly in Orange County with his American wife since his retirement as a player in 1998, Klinsmann replaced Bob Bradley in July 2011. He led the team to the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup title and the second round of the 2014 World Cup, where the Americans lost to Belgium in extra time.The USSF announced in December 2013 a four-year contract extension through 2018, but the successful World Cup was followed by poor performances. The U.S. was knocked out by Jamaica in last years Gold Cup semifinals and lost to Mexico in a playoff for a Confederations Cup berth. The team rebounded to reach this years Copa America semifinals before losing to Argentina 4-0.But this month Mexico beat the Americans 2-1 at Columbus, Ohio, in the first home qualifying loss for the U.S. since 2001.And last week in Costa Rica, the Americans were stunned by their largest margin of defeat in qualifying since 1980. They dropped to 0-2 for the first time in the hexagonal, as the final round of qualifying in North and Central America and the Caribbean is known.While there is time to recover, given the top three teams qualify for the 2018 tournament in Russia and the fourth-place finisher advances to a playoff against Asias No. 5 team, players seemed confused by Klinsmanns tactics, such as a 3-4-1-2 formation used at the start against the Mexicans.Today we made the difficult decision of parting ways with Jurgen Klinsmann, Gulati said. There were considerable achievements along the way ... but there were also lesser publicized efforts behind the scenes. He challenged everyone in the U.S. Soccer community to think about things in new ways, and thanks to his efforts we have grown as an organization and expect there will be benefits from his work for years to come.Gulati planned a Tuesday telephone news conference to discuss the switch. The U.S. had not changed coaches in the middle of qualifying since the USSF made the position a full-time job and hired Bob Gansler in 1989 to replace Lothar Osiander, who also at the time was a waiter at a San Francisco restaurant.Klinsmann made controversial decisions, such as dropping Landon Donovan from the 2014 World Cup roster while taking along relatively inexperienced players such as John Brooks, Julian Green and DeAndre Yedlin. Brooks and Green were among five German-Americans on the 23-man U.S. World Cup roster, which drew criticism from some in the American soccer community.He went 55-27-16, including a U.S.-record 12-game winning streak and victories in exhibitions at Italy, Germany and the Netherlands. He has worked in the past year to integrate more young players into the lineup, such as teen midfield sensation Christian Pulisic, Bobby Wood and Jordan Morris.Arena, a 65-year-old wisecracking Brooklynite known for blunt talk and sarcasm, was inducted into the U.S. National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2010. He coached the University of Virginia from 1978-95, then coached D.C. United to titles in Major League Soccers first two seasons before losing in the 1998 final. As U.S. coach, he led the Americans to the 2002 World Cup quarterfinals in the teams best finish since 1930.He was let go after the teams first-round elimination in 2006. Gulati unsuccessfully courted Klinsmann, who won the 1990 World Cup with West Germany and the 1996 European Championship with Germany, then coached his nation to the 2006 World Cup semifinals.When Gulati and Klinsmann couldnt reach an agreement, the USSF hired Bradley, who coached the team to the second round of the 2010 World Cup. A year later, the Americans stumbled in the Gold Cup, and Klinsmann replaced Bradley.Arena coached the New York Red Bulls of MLS from July 2006 to November 2007, then was hired the following August by the Galaxy. He led the team to MLS titles in 2011, `12 and `14.Clearance Saucony Shoes UK . Anthony Calvillo, through 20 CFL seasons, was frequently invincible and largely stoic in the heat of competition. But underneath the professional exterior he was, and is, compellingly human. Cheap Saucony UK . Now, with Game 6 set for Fenway Park and an 8:07 p.m. ET first pitch, the Detroit Tigers face the unenviable task of having to beat the Boston Red Sox twice, on the road, to advance to the World Series. http://www.wholesalesauconyuk.com/ . The Olympic champion curler and TSN curling analyst immediately went online to look at the Halls long list of honoured members. Thats when the enormity of the honour sunk in. Cheap Saucony Shoes UK Outlet . "Trying to breathe," he said with a grin. Bernier stopped 42 of 43 shots on Monday night, including all 22 in a hectic middle frame, his heroic performance propelling the Leafs toward an undue point in their final game before the Christmas break. Saucony Shoes UK . -- The boos poured down on Tom Brady and the New England Patriots at the end of a horrible first half. OTTAWA -- Its textbook media training for hockey players: dont utter a word about the next round of the playoffs until you have all four games of your current series in the bag. Its a lesson Sidney Crosby has apparently learned well. "Im not talking about anything ahead of Game 5," was all the Pittsburgh Penguins captain would say when asked about a potential Eastern Conference final against, likely, the Boston Bruins. But after Wednesday nights 7-3 blowout of the Ottawa Senators, its hard to imagine Crosby and his teammates arent starting to think about their next trip to Beantown. Pittsburgh now holds a 3-1 series lead heading into a pivotal Game 5 at home on Friday. The Penguins didnt just beat the Senators in Game 4 of their semifinal series. They obliterated them. For a time -- until, say, Pittsburghs four-goal romp in the third period -- it looked like Ottawa might make this a series. The Senators got on the scoreboard early in the first period -- and just like Sundays double-overtime marathon win in Game 3, they did it the hard way. With defenceman Sergei Gonchar in the penalty box, Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson fed the puck up the middle to a streaking Milan Michalek, who broke through the Penguins defence and beat Tomas Vokoun low on the glove side to put Ottawa up 1-0. It was the first time Ottawa has led this series. But it wouldnt last. A hot goalie can only take a team so far, and any team that lets the star-studded Penguins shoot at will is bound to eventually give up a goal. Thats exactly what happened when Ottawa lost a face-off in its own end and James Neal was there to pick up the loose puck. He fired a shot into the back of the net to tie the game at one goal apiece. The pesky Sens, as the Twitter hash tag goes, battled back. Kyle Turris swept the puck past a sprawling Tomas Vokoun to put Ottawa ahead once more. It was the last time the Senators would have more goals on the scoreboard than Pittsburgh. Chris Kunitz snuck behind the Senators defence and put one past Ottawa goaltender Craig Anderson. Less than a minute later, aa rebound landed right on the tape of Jarome Iginlas stick and he made it 3-2 Penguins.dddddddddddd Ottawa got a lot of chances in the latter half of the second period. Unfortunately for the Senators, none got by Vokoun. The Penguins netminder ended the night with 30 saves. After that, it was all Pittsburgh. Neal, Pascal Dupuis, Crosby, Iginla -- boom, boom, boom, boom. Four Penguins goals in the third period put the game out of reach for Ottawa. Senators coach Paul MacLean pulled Anderson after he let in six goals on 38 shots. Andersons replacement, Robin Lehner, allowed one goal on four shots. Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said the firing-range approach was the only way his team was going to beat Anderson. "There was a sense like, OK, this might take as many shots as we can muster to break this guy. And fortunately, we kept on that mindset," Bylsma said. "It was a matter of, we are going to have to fire anything and everything we can at this guy to get one by him." Alfredsson marked a bittersweet milestone by notching his 100th career playoff point with a power-play goal late in the third period to make it 7-3. It was too little, too late. Only twice before have the Senators given up seven goals in a playoff game: against the Buffalo Sabres in 2006 and against the Penguins in 2010. Over in the Senators dressing room, the players were taking another page from hockey talk 101: put on a brave face when facing almost certain elimination. "I know what were going to do," Alfredsson said. "Were going to go out and play one hell of a game. That doesnt worry me at all. We never quit and thats not going to stop now. We know the odds are against us in every way, but we never quit and thats going to continue." Said defenceman Chris Phillips: "Its not where we want to be, but thats where we are." MacLean imparted a final lesson after the game: when you dont have anything nice to say, dont say anything at all. The Senators coach tersely told journalists to look at the scoresheet before leaving the room without taking any questions. ' ' '