Hours after Klinsmann told the US sports network that talks had ended with the US Soccer Federation, ESPN reported that unnamed sources told them Bradley, who coaches Major League Soccer's Chivas USA, will take the interim job Friday.

Klinsmann told ESPN that he has backed away from replacing Bruce Arena and guiding the American effort ahead of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Klinsmann, who guided Germany to the World Cup semi-finals this year, lives in Southern California and had been in intense talks with US Soccer Federation president Sunil Gulati regarding the coaching position.

"Sunil and I have concluded our discussions about the US men's national team program and I have withdrawn my name from consideration as coach," Klinsmann told ESPN.

"I'm not going to go into details about our conversations but I certainly want to wish the next coach of the US men's national team much success and I want to also thank Sunil for the opportunity to exchange ideas."

Klinsmann guided his homeland to a third-place World Cup finish on home soil this year. The former German captain led his team to the 1990 World Cup crown, finishing with 47 goals in 108 caps.

Bradley won MLS Coach of the Year honors this year after guiding Chivas into the playoffs with a mark of 10-19 with 13 drawn. Bradley coached the Chicago Fire to the 1998 MLS title.

The Americans appear to have ended a five-month search to fill the void. Bradley will have his first test in a January 20 home friendly against Denmark in nearby Carson.

After the 1998 US World Cup squad finished last in France, American hopes were bolstered by a quarterfinal run in 2002 at South Korea.

But that was followed by disappointment last June when the Americans exited the tournament in the first round, losing to the Czech Republic and Ghana while holding eventual champions Italy to a 1-1 draw thanks to an Italian own goal.