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Despite a few bumps, Gulati positive on US soccer future

Sunil Gulati, president of the United States Soccer Federation.Associated Press/Elise Amendola

For Sunil Gulati, president of the United States Soccer Federation, “international friendly” doesn’t aptly describe Tuesday’s match between the US and Brazil. Not when the Gillette Stadium game will serve as valuable preparation for next month’s showdown between the US and Mexico with a 2017 Confederations Cup berth in the balance. Not when the Confederations Cup is valuable preparation for the 2018 World Cup.

Gulati anticipates a tightly contested US-Brazil game. And that’s what he wants for the players and fans.

“The reason we take the men’s team and the women’s team to a number of different US cities throughout the year and over any number of years is for people to be able to see them in person,” said Gulati. “It’s an opportunity for fans of the US team to see our top players in highly competitive situations, which they don’t get to do very often.”

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The last time the US men’s team played an international friendly at Gillette was 2011 against Spain. Nearly two months later, Jurgen Klinsmann was named head coach, ushering in a new era that has produced inspiring highs and embarrassing lows on the world scene.

This summer, three weeks after the US women won the World Cup, the US men finished fourth in the Gold Cup, their worst performance in the tournament in 15 years.

It was a low point that Gulati called “more than a blip.” He has also watched as the long shadow of the FIFA bribery scandal and Hope Solo’s domestic violence case consumed summertime headlines.

In a wide-ranging interview in advance of the US-Brazil game, Gulati talked about the recent performances of the US men’s and women’s national teams, US-based pro soccer leagues, player development at all levels and Solo. He declined to comment on the FIFA scandal and the potential impact of $110 million in bribes related to the 2016 Copa America, citing the fluidity of both situations.

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Following the US men’s Gold Cup debacle, there were calls for Klinsmann’s job. After all, former US men’s coach Bob Bradley lost his job after the US fell to Mexico in the 2011 Gold Cup final. When asked what he thought of the job done recently by Klinsman, Gulati’s answer meandered to support of the coach.

“We obviously didn’t have the result we wanted in the Gold Cup, but we had a very good spring with some important wins in friendly matches,” said Gulati. “And we have a reprieve because of this special playoff game in order to get to Russia in 2017 for the Confederations Cup. So, it’s a big opportunity. We’re fully confident that on October 10th we’ll give it our best and be on our way to Russia. The answer is, yes, we’re staying the course.”

Naturally, Gulati preferred talking about the women’s World Cup victory in July. It was the first World Cup win for the US since Gulati became president of the US Soccer Federation in 2006. He was reelected to a third four-year term in April 2013.

Gulati was expansive in talking about how to draw attention to the women’s game outside the World Cup and Olympic years. The general game plan: Use the World Cup as a springboard to build awareness of the National Women’s Soccer League and individual players. The national team’s current victory tour is a good example of that plan in action.

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Gulati estimated that an average of 30,000 fans will see the team during the 10-game tour and he said “that’s giving a lot of people a chance to see, touch, feel and be part of the team.” He added that next year’s Olympics in Rio, with the short amount of downtime between the two international tournaments that attract the biggest US audiences, was also a plus.

Longer term, Gulati believes more MLS teams will partner with NWSL teams in the way the Portland and Houston franchises do.

“There’s a natural rationale for [MLS and NWSL teams working together],” said Gulati, sounding like the Columbia University economics professor that he is. “When you’ve got a facility, when you’ve got staff, when you’ve got a brand and a following, then it’s a little easier than starting from scratch without any of those things. I think you will see more MLS teams look at this very seriously in the years to come and take advantage of the natural synergies.”

But the women’s World Cup wasn’t without controversy for the United States. Early in the tournament, US Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut sent a letter to Gulati criticizing the way US Soccer handled goalkeeper Solo’s domestic violence dispute. In his letter, Blumenthal questioned the thoroughness of US Soccer’s investigation of the incident, and its delayed and inadequate response.

(Blumenthal was also part of a Senate subcommittee that held a July hearing to examine what US Soccer knew about FIFA corruption. Gulati declined to attend that hearing, drawing further criticism.)

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Responding to Blumenthal’s anger about Solo, Gulati defended the actions of US Soccer.

Gulati said, “We have formalized some of those [investigative] processes with our outside counsel. Those have been approved by our board and that’s been done. These are all very difficult situations. And a number of organizations, that have been very highly publicized, have looked at how they’ve handled situations like these and made adjustments. We’ve done the same certainly.”

On the field, US Soccer has made adjustments to how it finds tomorrow’s soccer stars. And Gulati trumpeted the transition to single-year national teams.

“A 12-year-old who’s playing in an under-14 group may well get missed,” said Gulati. “So, now, when you have a U-13 age group, it’s much easier for them not to get missed. They’re playing with players, especially at younger age groups, more their size, more their level of ability. The idea is to give more players an opportunity and make sure we’re not missing players who either because of when they come into the program or when they started or some physical size issues or are late developers, whatever it might be, get an opportunity.”

And Gulati hopes that helps move US Soccer in a positive direction for the World Cups, Gold Cups, and Confederations Cups to come.

“We always want to be better on the field,” said Gulati. “We always want to see soccer further woven into the fabric of American society, to be water cooler talk. So, I think if we continue the progress that we’ve had that will happen. But the progress is not linear, you take some bumps, you lose some games, and there’s downturns.”

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After a rough summer for the US men’s team, Gulati hopes fans at Gillette will see signs of an upturn.


Shira Springer can be reached at springer@globe.com.