The San Jose earthquake confirmed the appointment United States men’s national team assistant coach Luchi Gonzalez as the club’s new coach.
Gonzalez, 42, will start after the 2022 World Cup later this year. The Hialeah, Fla., native replaces Matias Almeyda, who was fired in April after starting the season 0-4-3.
Since then, Quakes has been managed on an interim basis by Alex Covelo, who will remain in charge for the remainder of the 2022 season. San Jose currently sits at 13th in the Western 14th Teams Rankings, with 24 points after 25 matches.
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“Luchi has all the attributes we’re looking for in our next head coach,” said Earthquakes General Manager Chris Leitch said in a group release. “He has successfully coached Major League Soccer with playoffs in his first two seasons and has a very good track record in developing the youth team. His strengths and desires align with the goals. our short and long term as a club, and we look forward to letting him take the reins after the World Cup.”
At the World Cup, USA is scheduled to compete Wales on November 21st England four days later and Iran on November 29 as they attempted to qualify for the knockout round.
Gonzalez’s only previous management experience was with FC Dallasa position he held for parts of three seasons starting with the 2019 campaign after leading the club’s academy for the previous six years.
He has led FCD to the knockout stage twice, once in 2019 and again during the pandemic affected campaign in 2020. At the same time, he has built a reputation in developing develop young players, a group that includes Boavista defender Reggie Cannon, Venice midfielder Tanner Tessmannand Augsburg forward Ricardo Pepi.
But he was fired with six weeks to attend the 2021 regular season after setting a record of just 6-11-9. The overall record at the tournament and the playoff against Dallas is 28-31-26. He assumes his current role with USMNT in December 2021.
“I’m really excited about this opportunity with one of the league’s founding clubs,” Gonzalez said. “I thoroughly enjoyed working with the club’s leadership team throughout the interview process and was impressed by their vision for the future, both on and off the pitch. Chris Leitch and his team were Together we’ve built a strong foundation of players and I’m looking forward to working with them. as possible through the FIFA World Cup and I will be ready to give everything for San Jose when that happens. the journey is over.”
As a player, Gonzalez played as a team at Southern Methodist University and was Quakes’ sixth overall in the 2002 MLS SuperDraft. But he only made eight appearances for San Jose that season. He came to play in Switzerland for Bodens BK and the Peruvian team Sporting Cristal before returning to the MLS with Colorado Rapids in 2005, where he spent two seasons. He ended his career with second-tier teams Miami FC and Minnesota Thunder.
