WASHINGTON, Oct. 31 -- Weeks after the US men's soccer team was knocked out of the 2018 World Cup, the country is still recovering from the shock amid confusion and struggling for answers.

Needing only a draw against the world's 99th-ranked Trinidad and Tobago, the US team was eliminated from 2018 World Cup Finals early this month with a 2-1 loss to the island nation, ending a run of seven straight American appearances at the soccer's showcase.

US coach Bruce Arena accepted responsibility and resigned immediately, but the blame for the World Cup failure can not entirely be laid upon Arena's feet.

"Nothing has to change."

These are the words of Arena. He's upbeat about the future of US soccer.

However, the stunning nature of the US ouster has inspired an unflinching examination of the entire national program for men's soccer.

"US soccer has had this bad outcome. How do we work together to solve it? It's not maybe a straightforward answer," said Garth Lagerwey, a former goalkeeper and now general manager of Major League Soccer's Seattle Sounders FC.

There have already been calls for US soccer to address the way it develops young players after the national team was outclassed by teams with inferior resources and revenue.

The US team failed to qualify for the 2017 and 2016 men's Olympic soccer tournaments, with a generational talent gap evident when a creaky defense repeatedly broke down during qualifying. There were even no young goalkeepers considered challengers to veteran Tim Howard.

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