Gulati: Defeat “difficult to take” 03/12/2010 |
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The head of the United States World Cup bid team admits defeat to Qatar in the race to stage the tournament in 2022 is "very difficult to take".
The US, which hosted the World Cup in 1994, lost out to Qatar in the vote at Fifa's headquarters in Zurich, with bids from Australia, Korea and Japan also failing to sufficiently impress the voting executives.
US Soccer president Sunil Gulati said: "There's no way around it, I am disappointed. Millions of US soccer fans worked hard to bring the World Cup to our country. To come up short is very difficult to take."
However, Gulati paid tribute to the weight of support the bid had received from football fans in the US.
"In the face of this disappointment, we shouldn't lose track of all that we achieved," he added.
"During the past two years, the outpouring of support for soccer in the United States has been inspiring and historic. More than one million people signed on to our bid, and more than 100 million [in the US] watched last summer's World Cup.
"Thanks to your efforts, the game is stronger than ever in our country, and it will continue to grow stronger. There's no question that you've helped make a lasting impact on soccer in the United States. The entire country – and the entire world – took notice.
"Even though our bid did not win, the future of soccer is bright in the United States."
The US managed to take Qatar to a fourth round of votes after Australia was eliminated at the first hurdle, while Japan and Korea followed suit in rounds two and three.
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