It's the summer of 2011. The United States Men's National Team, fresh off of winning their (admittedly relatively easy) World Cup group in South Africa, make it to the finals of the CONCACAF Gold Cup with a spot at the 2013 Confederations Cup on the line before completely imploding against Mexico and losing 4-2.
In the wake of that watershed loss, the USMNT manager, Bob Bradley, was fired by the president of the United States Soccer Federation, Sunil Gulati, and replaced by the incumbent coach, Jurgen Klinsmann--whom many suspected Gulati had wanted to hire all the way back in 2006 over Bradley, but who turned the job down.