Events

The Dutchman, who turns 55 this month, has agreed to take over the reins of the national men’s team and will arrive in the South Pacific within the next fortnight to prepare his new squad for next month’s preliminary stage of the OFC Nations Cup, the first step on the World Cup qualification path.
Rongen, who led DC United to the MLS title in 1999 and his adopted country to the quarter-finals of the 2007 U-20 FIFA World Cup, is excited to have taken on a position he describes as a “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity.
“I’m an explorer and it’s a part of the world I’ve never been to,” he says.
“We’ll do our best in qualifying but I hope to leave something tangible behind as well.”
The appointment of Rongen is a coup for the American Samoa Football Federation (FFAS) and the new boss certainly has the credentials to pass on plenty of footballing knowledge to his players.
The former midfielder began his playing career with Dutch giants Ajax Amsterdam but did not make an appearance for the first team and moved to America in 1979 to join the Los Angeles Aztecs. He played 40 times for the Aztecs in the now-defunct North American Soccer League before enjoying further stints at numerous other clubs in the States.
Rongen was one of the inaugural coaches in the MLS, taking the Tampa Bay Mutiny in their first season in 1996, during which his side won the regular season and he picked up the league’s coach of the year award.
He moved on to New England Revolution and DC United before being named coach of the national U-20 side, whom he mentored from 2001 until his appointment as coach of Chivas USA in 2005.
But he was dismissed from the club within ten matches after picking up only one win and returned to the U-20 fold, leading the team at the 2007 and 2009 FIFA World Cups.
Rongen is the second US-based coach to take over a foreign squad in recent weeks but has a much different challenge on his hands to that of Bob Bradley, who will plot Egypt’s path to the 2014 World Cup.
American Samoa is one of the world’s smallest footballing nations and has struggled on the international stage. The men’s side lost all five of its matches at the recent XIV Pacific Games in New Caledonia, including a disappointing 4-0 loss to OFC associate member Tuvalu.
Rongen will attempt to turn that form around in the preliminary tournament for the OFC Nations Cup, which takes place in Samoa from November 22 to 26 and pits American Samoa againsts the hosts, Cook Islands and Tonga.