SAN JOSE, Costa Rica -- Looking a bit shocked, Jurgen Klinsmann called it a bitter moment four times in 14 minutes and also a bitter pill to swallow during his post-match news conference. He described the 4-0 wipeout in a World Cup qualifier against Costa Rica as the defeat that hurts most during his five-year tenure as U.S. coach.Time for a new leader?Outside the room, U.S. Soccer Federation President Sunil Gulati expressed patience.We dont make any decisions right after games, Gulati said. Well think about what happened today and talk with Jurgen and look at the situation.The U.S. is 0-2 in the final round of World Cup qualifying for the first time following a 2-1 home loss to Mexico last week and its ninth straight defeat in a qualifier at Costa Rica. Given a rare opportunity to coach a national team for a second World Cup cycle, Klinsmann is under renewed scrutiny by critics who claim his reign has gone stale.I obviously understand that when you lose two games and especially two World Cup qualifiers right after each other, that there will be a lot of your comments, he told reporters after the match. That is just part of the job.A World Cup champion with West Germany in 1990 and the coach who led Germany to the 2006 semifinals at home, Klinsmann replaced Bob Bradley after a poor U.S. performance in the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup, where Mexico beat the Americans 4-2 in the final.Klinsmann coached the U.S to the 2013 Gold Cup title and the second round of the 2014 World Cup, where the Americans lost to Belgium in extra time, but the U.S. was upset by Jamaica in the 2015 Gold Cup semifinals and lost a playoff to Mexico for a Confederations Cup berth, sparking skepticism of personnel decisions and tactics.Play improved again at this years Copa America, where victories over Paraguay and Ecuador advanced the U.S. to the semifinals -- and a 4-0 loss to Lionel Messi and Argentina.Then came the start of the hexagonal, as the final round of the North and Central American and Caribbean region is known, and it could not have gone much worse.When you lose 4-nil, there are issues, absolutely, Klinsmann said.Soccer powers traditionally have little tolerance for defeat.When Mexico lost a World Cup qualifier at home against Honduras in September 2013, coach Jose Manuel De la Torre was fired about 4 1/2 hours after the final whistle and replaced by Luis Fernando Tena. When El Tri lost a few days later in the United States, Tena was replaced within 48 hours by Victor Manuel Vucetich. Two games later, Vucetich was supplanted by Miguel Herrera.Obviously, its not a good start to the hex and today in particular was not a good performance, Gulati said.Because the top three nations qualify and the No. 4 team advances to a playoff against Asias fifth-place finisher, there is much room for error. That wont quiet fans who have four months to vent before qualifying resumes with a home game against Honduras on March 24 and a match at Panama four days later.This is definitely a moment to reflect about what happened the last 10 days and to probably open up a lot of discussions with the players, with the team, Klinsmann said.He also was criticized in March 2013 after the Americans opened the hex with a 2-1 loss at Honduras. They rebounded the following month to beat Costa Rica 1-0 in a Colorado snow storm and tie 0-0 at Mexico, and they went on to clinch a World Cup berth in the eighth match of the 10-game round. After qualifying and before the World Cup, Klinsmann shifted Mart?n Vasquez out of his assistants role and brought in former Germany coach Berti Vogts as a technical adviser.The U.S. has shifted coaches during qualifying just once in the modern era. Bob Gansler, then coach at Wisconsin-Milwaukee, took over from Lothar Osiander in January 1989 when the USSF transformed the position to a fulltime job, and Ganslers team qualified for the 1990 World Cup -- the first for the U.S. in 40 years.Gulati, the USSF president for the past decade, moves methodically, consulting his board and advisers.Was the result embarrassing? Yes. But Im not embarrassed by our team. Im very disappointed, obviously.Most of the players wont gather again until March 20, just ahead of the Honduras match. The margin for error has narrowed, especially with Mexico, Costa Rica and Panama opening with road wins.Theres going to need to be some urgency, U.S. captain Michael Bradley said. Were going to have to look collectively real hard in the mirror at ourselves and understand its not been a good start. But the reality of this hexagonal format is that nothing is lost yet, not even close. So anybody who thinks that is sorely mistaken. Wholesale Under Armour NZ . Traditional contenders Brazil, Greece and Turkey drew the other three spots to complete the 24-team field for this summers tournament in Spain, basketball governing body FIBA announced Saturday at its meeting in Barcelona. Clearance Under Armour NZ . Each of Houstons starters scored in double figures as the Rockets improved to 2-0 against the Spurs this season, with both victories coming on the road. They also moved within 3 1/2 games of San Antonio (22-7) for the lead the Southwest Division. http://www.discountunderarmournz.com/ .J. -- Pitcher Carl Pavano is retiring after 14 major league seasons. Wholesale Shoes NZ . Dukurs winning time was 1 minute, 45.76 seconds, a quarter-second better than Russias Alexander Tretiakov. Lativas Tomass Dukurs was third, 1.41 seconds off the pace. Jon Montgomery of Eckville, Alta. Cheap Under Armour NZ From China . He said Tuesday thats a big reason why he is now the new coach of the Tennessee Titans. Whisenhunt said he hit it off quickly with Ruston Webster when interviewing for the job Friday night. CHASKA, Minn. -- Tiger Woods has had little success altering the outcome of the Ryder Cup, playing on just one winning U.S. team. This week, he attempts to make an impact in another way, as a vice captain at Hazeltine National.And by numerous accounts, Woods is all in.The 14-time major champion, who has not played this year while recovering from back surgery, was named one of Davis Love IIIs vice captains nearly a year ago, and the speculation immediately began as to Woods involvement.Would he be a glorified cart driver with no duties? Or would he embrace the role and get involved? Woods has clearly taken the appointment seriously.I am so happy to see how well-thought-through he has been, said Phil Mickelson, who will play on his 11th consecutive U.S. Ryder Cup team. I cant believe our conversations, how detail-oriented he has been. The players, the pairings, the possibilities.Not just what match you will play, but where on the list. He has got us a good, solid game plan that is easy to buy into and get behind. Im very impressed.Woods role is far from ceremonial. From all indications, the U.S. team will use a pod-like system employed by captain Paul Azinger in 2008 -- the last time the U.S. won the Ryder Cup.Under that formula, Azinger divided his team into three groups of four players each. Those groups practiced together in the days leading up to the Ryder Cup and it was made clear that their partners in the foursomes and four-ball matches would not come from anywhere outside that group.A similar approach is being taken this year, and Woods is apparently the one who has spearheaded the system. He has been crunching numbers behind the scenes and figuring out the best matchups among players. The other vice captains under Love are Tom Lehman, who captained the 2006 U.S. Ryder Cup team, Steve Stricker, who will captain next years U.S. Presidents Cup team, and Jim Furyk, who will likely get strong consideration to be the U.S. Ryder Cup captain in 2018.Hes been amazingly involved, Love said of Woods. Hes been very thoughtful in the way that hes handled the Tiger Woods factor of being an influence, but also being a distraction.His openness of helping us with strategy, getting into how he prepares; that hell pick up the phone and call Phil Mickelson and work on things; that hell call Matt Kuchar. I gave him a list of guys to ask who they wanted to pick and who they wanted to play with. Hes just been willing to do anything we ask, just like Jim and Tom and Steve.But his role has been more on strategy and helping us think out pairings and think out a game plan for actually playing the matches and playing the golf course.Woods certainly has experience there. He has twice finished runner-up in major championships at Hazeltine, to Rich Beem at the 2002 PGA Championship and to Y.E. Yang at the 2009 PGA.He also has plenty of Ryder Cup experience, although it has mostly been in a losing effort. Woods played on the 1997, 1999, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2010 and 2012 teams. The only winning effort was on the 99 squad that came from four points down on the final day.Woods record has been thhe source of consternation, as he is just 13-17-3 in seven appearances, although he has just one loss in singles that came in his first Ryder Cup.ddddddddddddOf course, some of that can be attributed to the overall difficulties the U.S. side has had. Furyk and Mickelson also have losing Ryder Cup records. Woods had 12 different partners in 26 team matches.But he is still Tiger Woods, and a good number of the players on the team look up to him and respect him. His knowledge and insight will be invaluable. And then there are other factors.It will be difficult for our rookies when he is standing there, said Colin Montgomerie, who captained the 2010 European Ryder Cup team to victory in Wales. He was also 3-2 playing against Woods in team Ryder Cup matches. You know Tiger is there, you know he is well up for it, the crowd will be there chanting Tigers name. That is an added incentive for America.If I had someone of that stature for my first game -- if Jack Nicklaus had been standing there on the first tee or Arnold Palmer -- my God, you would feel it. And Tiger will be used as much as possible to be that way. It was a bit of a coup to get Tiger involved.Woods was initially part of the 11-person Ryder Cup Task Force that was formed after the defeat at Gleneagles two years ago -- the Americans eighth loss in 10 Ryder Cups. It was compromised of current and past players and captains as well as PGA of America executives.They dug down into some of the reasons for the U.S. shortcomings, many of which the players believe is a lack of input in the process and how they approach Ryder Cup week -- which is unlike any other golf tournament. Included was a revamping of the qualifying structure and the timing of captains picks.That task force was disbanded after Love was a mildly surprising choice: He is the first captain for the U.S. since Jack Burke Jr. (1957, 1973) to do it a second time after losing the first.The task force was replaced by a committee that is comprised of Love, Woods, Mickelson and three executives from the PGA of America.Just his presence is going to buoy our team, Love said. If he is just standing there and says, Hey, we just made a birdie, go get em, thats going to be unbelievable.Woods, who announced that he hopes to play in two weeks at the Safeway Open, has declined interview requests leading into the Ryder Cup. He is said to be fully focused on his vice captain duties and did not want to be treated any differently.But when asked about it last year, Woods seemed fully invested.We worked our tails off to get this thing rolling in the right direction for not just this Cup but for next subsequent 10 Cups, Woods said. I think we can do that. I think we have the blueprint. I think we have the right people in place, and I think we set up really well for Cups down the road and whos going to be involved.But eventually its up to the players and up to us to try and hopefully help them, [in] whatever capacity that is, and win the Cup back. ' ' '