New San Jose Earthquakes coach Bruce Arena accepted responsibility Wednesday for “insensitive remarks” that led to his departure last year from the New England Revolution and said he has learned from the experience.
The former coach of the U.S. men's national team spoke at a news conference introducing him as the Earthquakes' sporting director and head coach.
Arena left the Revolution in September 2023, six weeks after he was placed on administrative leave by MLS for what the league said were “allegations that he made insensitive and inappropriate remarks.” MLS later announced an investigation confirmed the allegations.
Arena did not comment on the nature of the remarks.
“I made a couple of mistakes there. I accept the responsibility, and I’m going to move forward," he said. “I will say this about my experience in New England, I’m very proud of the work I did there. The players, I enjoyed just about as much as any team I’ve ever had, some really good people in the organization. The fan base was good. The people in Boston were great. So overall, it was it is a really positive experience for me. And I’m disappointed in the way it ended. But I’ve learned from that.”
Arena, 73, is the most accomplished coach in U.S. soccer history and was inducted into the U.S. National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2010. He has won five MLS championships and is the winningest coach in MLS and for the U.S. men’s national team.
He'll face a challenge in turning around the Earthquakes, one of the league's founding teams. San Jose finished at the bottom of the league with just six wins this past season.
“I think there’s potential and certainly, when you take over a team that finishes last, in my opinion you can only go one way. ... When we kick off in late February, we’re hopeful that we’re going to have a pretty competitive team and we can turn it around. I’m not promising that we’re winning the MLS Cup in 2025, but promising that we we will have a better team and a team that this community and our fan base will be proud of," he said.
Arena led the United States in two World Cups, including a run to the quarterfinals in 2002 that was the first time the country made it that far since the initial tournament in 1930. The U.S. failed to make it out of the group stage in the 2006 World Cup and Arena’s contract was not renewed.
Arena won two MLS championships with D.C. United and three more with the LA Galaxy in 2011, 2012 and 2014. His 262 regular-season wins and 35 postseason wins are the most in MLS history. He also coached the New York Red Bulls and most recently New England from 2019-23.
He said Quakes owner John Fisher has promised him the tools to field a competitive team.
“My meetings with Mr. Fisher strongly indicate that he’s going to support the club. We don’t expect to be Inter Miami, believe me. But, we’re going to move our club up the ladder to position ourselves to be a much more competitive team,” Arena said. "And I believe there’s great commitment on part of the owner as well as our front office.”
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
FILE - Then-New England Revolution coach Bruce Arena gestures on the sideline in the first half of an MLS soccer match against CF Montreal, Saturday, April 8, 2023, in Foxborough, Mass. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell, File)
PARIS (AP) — A heavy police presence but few visiting fans are expected when France hosts Israel in Nations League soccer on Thursday, a week after violence erupted in Amsterdam in connection with an Israeli club team’s visit.
French police chief Laurent Nuñez said 4,000 police officers and security staff will be deployed around the Stade de France, with another 1,500 police on public transport.
Paris authorities are on high alert following the violence in Amsterdam before and after a Europa League match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv. Dutch authorities say fans from both sides were involved in the unrest. The assaults on Maccabi fans sparked outrage and were widely condemned as antisemitic.
“What we learned from Amsterdam is that we need to be present in the public space including far away from the stadium," and in public transports before and after the match, Nuñez said Thursday on French news broadcaster France Info.
Three months after hosting the Olympic closing ceremony, the atmosphere has gone from festive to fearful and the national stadium was expected to be three-quarters empty for the match. French President Emmanuel Macron and French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau will be present. Former presidents Francois Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy are also to attend.
Only 20,000 of 80,000 tickets have been sold with around 150 Israel supporters reportedly attending, escorted by police.
“We’ve tried to prepare for this match as normally as possible. But obviously none of us within the team can be insensitive to such a heavy context,” France coach Didier Deschamps said Wednesday. “It impacts the amount of supporters present tomorrow and everything that goes with it.”
The away match against Israel on Oct. 10 — which France won 4-1 — was played in Budapest, Hungary.
“These are situations the players are not accustomed to,” Deschamps said. “But we have to adapt.”
The low number of visiting fans comes after Israel’s National Security Council warned citizens abroad to avoid sports and cultural events, specifically the match in Paris.
Retailleau told French news channel TF1 on Tuesday that no specific threats were identified but “zero risk does not exist.”
Therefore, he said, exceptional measures are in place "before the match, during the match and after the match."
The elite tactical unit of the French National Police, known as RAID, will be in the stadium and some police will be in plain clothes mingling with fans. There will also be heavy surveillance within Paris, including at Jewish places of worship and schools.
“It is out of the question that we take the risk of seeing a repeat of the dramatic events, of the manhunt, that we saw in Amsterdam,” Retailleau said, adding that postponing or moving the game elsewhere was ruled out.
“France does not submit, and the France-Israel match will take place where it's supposed to," he said.
In Amsterdam, a number of Maccabi fans attacked a cab and chanted anti-Arab slogans while some men carried out “hit and run” attacks on people they thought were Jews, according to city Mayor Femke Halsema.
After the match, parts of a large group of Maccabi supporters armed with sticks ran around “destroying things,” a 12-page report on the violence issued by Amsterdam authorities said.
There were also “rioters, moving in small groups, by foot, scooter or car, quickly attacking Maccabi fans before disappearing,” it said.
Protests erupted in Paris on Wednesday night against a controversial gala organized by far-right figures in support of Israel.
The game in Saint-Denis, the suburb north of Paris, is scheduled to kick off at 8:45 p.m. local time (1945 GMT).
A pro-Palestinian demonstration is organized on a Saint-Denis plaza at 6 p.m. local time to protest against the match.
Nine years ago, Stade de France was one of several locations during the Nov. 13 terror attacks in which 130 people died. France was playing Germany that night when two explosions happened outside the stadium.
Deschamps, Germany coach Joachim Löw and all of the players stayed together in the locker rooms for hours until it was safe to leave.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Protesters take part in a rally against the "Israel is Forever" gala organized by far-right Franco-Israeli figures, in Paris, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, on the eve of the UEFA Nations League 2025 soccer match between France and Israel. (AP Photo/Louise Delmotte)
FILE - Police officers stand guard ahead the UEFA Nations League soccer match between France and Denmark at the Stade de France in Saint Denis near Paris, France, Friday, June 3, 2022. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias, File)
