Sampson Promoted To Full-Time Status As U.S. Soccer Coach

Steve Sampson, who led the U.S. national soccer team to a string of unexpected successes this summer as interim coach, will get the full-time job.

Sampson, who has been running the team since April following the ouster of Bora Milutinovic, will be officially appointed Wednesday at a news conference at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.

Sampson was told by U.S. Soccer president Alan Rothenberg last Friday the position was his.

“If this is the result of some successful results, all the better,” Sampson said Monday from the hotel where the team is training for this weekend’s Parmalat Cup. “I’ve been given an opportunity now and I’m going to continue to do my best.”

U.S. Soccer initially wanted a coach with an extensive international resume. But Sampson’s direction in leading the Americans to the U.S. Cup ‘95 title and a startling fourth-place finish in the America Cup seems to have brought a change in thinking.