It's a sharp change of direction because up until yesterday, the team – and the entire country for that matter – was expecting that Slusher would be part of the coaching staff leading the team in the US.
And, you heard in the interview where Vicente left the opportunity open for Slusher to return to the team after the Gold Cup. Well, we had a chance to speak with him this evening, where he told us that he has turned down that offer.
Here's how he explained it:
Charlie Slusher - Assistant Head Coach
"I spoke to the president a while ago and he said the same thing that I'm not going to the Gold Cup but he will want to work with me in the future and thanked him for the offer but as far as I am concerned - this is it for me when it comes to working with this federation and this executive. I told him that I don't have any more intentions of doing it because as a head coach, it's not just about me, if the players are not treated the right way and you as a coach have to fight for your players. How could I want you to go on the field and perform to your best and I'm watching them taking advantage of you?"
Daniel Ortiz
"How do you think that the refusal to allow you to go on the trip will affect the players? I know that when coach Sherrier departed, you took a very big leadership role becoming the interim coach."
Charlie Slusher
"I'm really hoping that it does not because at the end of the day I still want the best for the team and I really believe in those guys. I feel that it's my team because we have worked so hard to get them where they are and I believe it's a better team. You know I've been 'bosing' about this team for a while and I really hope that it doesn't affect them but it's really hard to say because I know most of the guys have been calling to extent that they say that they will strike later - but I don't want that, I want the guys to remain focus.
I'll be okay - thank God that the Olympic committee had already purchased and paid for a study scholarship for two weeks in Holland which will be August 1st I'm leaving the country and after that I'll probably spend my vacation in the states. But again it shows that it's not the federation doing anything for me and I'm saying that in the sense that the federation will not keep me down. If this is my dream, even when I was a player, I will continue because this is my life. My entire life has been football - as a player and now as a coach and the same drive that I had as a player, the same drive I now have as a coach. So I'll be here coaching whether it's youth football, whether it's semi-pro team but all I have said is that I will not be coaching with this present administration. So maybe I'll be with the federation if there's a new administration next year or if in ten years after because I will still be around because I love this game - this is my life. A lot of people that are making decisions about the team and even about myself - they don't love football, it's like non-footballers making decisions about you that know the game. I will be around longer than them because this is my life and it's not about any money because I don't get anything from this but this is my passion."
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