It was an exciting and hopeful time, when U.S. Soccer hired Jurgen Klinsmann in the summer of 2011. The press conference at Niketown in New York City garnered media attention not seen for an American soccer announcement since MLS signed David Beckham in 2007.

More than five years with Jurgen Klinsmann in charge of the U.S. team ended Monday when U.S. Soccer relieved him of his duties as head coach and technical director. Triumphs and controversies marked his time with the U.S., just as had been the case with when he coached Germany and Bayern Munich.

Tony DiCicco remains the only coach who has guided the U.S. women to a World Cup (1999) and an Olympic (1996) title. We asked DiCicco, also coach of the USA's 2008 U-20 Women's World Cup championship team, for his assessment on the state of the U.S. national team under Coach Jill Ellis, who took the helm in May of 2014.

The 4-0 blowout loss in Costa Rica Tuesday night is grounds for real concern, not just for the result itself, but for a worrying malaise among the players in the first two Hexagonal matches.

First things first, the better team won on Friday night. Mexico coach Juan Carlos Osorio recalled Carlos Vela and Giovani dos Santos, starting them together in attack for the first time since he took over as coach and the first time since the 4-4 game against Trinidad & Tobago in the group stage of the 2015 Gold Cup, and he was rewarded for his attacking gambit as El Tri won, 2-1, ending its misery in Columbus.

A decade and a half of dominance crashed to earth Friday night in Columbus, where Mexico ended a run of four straight World Cup qualifying defeats by beating the USA, 2-1,.

Every time the USA plays Mexico those who have taken part in the rivalry think about how much the dynamics have changed; Quakes head coach Dominic Kinnear, who briefly played in Mexico, was on the bench at the L.A. Coliseum for the first USA victory by a 2-0 scoreline in 1991.

Jake Edwards just completed his second season as the president of the USL. The league expanded from 14 teams in 2014 to 24 in 2015 and 29 in 2016. It will have 31 teams in 2017 and more teams could be on the way in the future.

The byzantine MLS playoff schedule goes into hiatus at just the right time, allowing more time for three of the top four regular-season teams to dissect and digest how they faltered in the conference semifinals.

After nearly four months on the shelf rehabbing a knee injury, midfielder Jermaine Jones has returned to action for Colorado. Among those observing closely will be Jurgen Klinsmann, who a few hours after watching the Rapids-Galaxy game on Sunday will name his roster for the USA-Mexico Hexagonal opener next week in Columbus.

Here's a bizarre thought: flip the script on the tiebreaker used in a two-leg series.