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Dave Sarachan named interim head coach of U.S. for Portugal friendly

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Dave Sarachan, a former assistant under Bruce Arena, has been named interim head coach of the United States ahead of next month's friendly against European champion Portugal.

The U.S. has been without a coach since Arena resigned shortly after the country's failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup earlier this month.

Sarachan, 63, worked with Arena for a number of years, including their previous stint with the national team and a handful of Major League Soccer clubs.

However, the country's friendly against Portugal on Nov. 14 will be his first match in charge of the national team. It will also be his first head coaching gig since 2007 when he was the manager of the Chicago Fire.

Under-20 coach Tab Ramos was initially identified as U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati's first choice to assume interim coaching duties, but a failure to guarantee the job on a permanent basis resulted in Sarachan being appointed, according to Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated.

Wahl added that a new head coach is not expected to be announced until after the U.S. Soccer presidential election in February.

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