U.S. Soccer Federation President Sunil Gulati told Reuters that the USSF is set to hire a technical director next year and that it's likely the position will be filled by a Latin coach. "We will bring on a technical director to work with [national team coach] Bob [Bradley]," Gulati said. "There's a reasonable chance that would be an international coach, not because I necessarily think they're better but because he'll bring something different to the mix. Everything else being equal, if we could have it be a Latin coach that would be ideal. The Hispanic community is a huge part of our future in the United States." The technical director would oversee player development and youth teams. Speaking at a gathering hosted by Spanish-language Univision TV network, Gulati also offered his opinions on the arrival of David Beckham to MLS.

"The worldwide interest in Beckham is extraordinary, to the extent that that focuses attention on the league ... so far it has been phenomenal," Gulati said . "The hope is with all the media attention, fan attention, television interest, sponsors, that you can sustain some of that and allow soccer to be on a higher level."

Gulati added, "Is Beckham going to be Pele or is Beckham going to be [Magic] Johnson and [Larry] Bird? The analogy being that Johnson and Bird took [NBA] basketball to another level. Pele took us up but we couldn't sustain it. Sustaining the higher level, that's the big issue. It's not inevitable.

"[Beckham] is not going to be a bust. He's too good of a player, too much of a professional."