[NASCAR Gnome]

CHICAGO - Greg Ryan is out as the U.S. women's soccer coach less than a month after his top-ranked team lost in the World Cup semifinals following a contentious goalie switch.

U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati said that Ryan will not return as coach on a conference call Monday.

Ryan was 45-1-9 since taking over in early 2005, but that one loss — in his only major tournament — overshadowed the rest of his tenure.

With the Americans favored to win their third World Cup, Ryan decided before their match with Brazil to make a change in goal, replacing Hope Solo with veteran Briana Scurry. Solo had allowed two goals in four World Cup starts and had a shutout string of nearly 300 minutes. Scurry, the goalie for the 1999 World Cup champs, had beaten Brazil two straight times.

The U.S. lost 4-0 and had to settle for third place, and Solo ripped Ryan for the move.

Greg Ryan out as US women's soccer coach - Yahoo! News

That must have been one of the single-most idiotic coaching moves ever made in team sports in recent times. Ryan must have convinced himself that it was because of his coaching that the women's team had that awesome winning record but in truth, the women playing are so darned good and talented that this coach really never impressed me.

I'm glad he's gone.