The United States Men's National Soccer Team (USMNT) is set to begin its World Cup schedule June 16, but the Americans' coach does not think the team has any shot at winning the tournament.

Jurgen Klinsmann told the New York Times this week the USMNT is not on par with the best teams in the world, though that is hardly a revelation to anyone. But Klinsmann's approach is much more oriented to the team's long-term success instead of how they fare in this year's tournament.

The USMNT was placed in, Group G, dubbed the "group of death," in the 2014 World Cup, joining Ghana, Portugal and Germany, the latter two being a pair of powerhouses. Klinsmann is certainly not going to mail in three losses, but making it out of his group into the second stage would be quite the accomplishment.

"We cannot win this World Cup, because we are not at that level yet," Klinsmann told the Times. "For us, we have to play the game of our lives seven times to win the tournament.

"Realistically, it is not possible."

Klinsmann is a German-born soccer legend, so his approach is naturally going to be off-putting for American soccer fans.

"This is not a bottom-line situation like, say, an N.F.L. season," Sam Borden wrote for the Times in the article in which he interviewed Klinsmann. "Soccer fans tend to be more realistic than that. Raised on a steady diet of disappointment, they are far more patient than fans of American football."

Klinsmann most recently made headlines when he left Landon Donovan and select other USMNT veterans off the World Cup final roster. Some have speculated that Klinsmann wanted to expose younger players to the international stage while the team continues to rebuild.

For example, the coach is bringing no central defenders with prior World Cup experience there. He told the Associated Press his team's defense is under construction and the Brazil tournament could be a way to give a young core of players exposure.

"You won't see all the pieces in place yet," Klinsmann said. "It's still time for us to give players a chance to showcase what they have, where they are right now."

Klinsmann is still bringing plenty of able-bodied veterans, such as goaltender Tim Howard, forward Clint Dempsey and attacking midfielder-turned-defender DaMarcus Beasley.

"There's always room for improvement," Klinsmann told the AP. "When you give chances away, then you address that and you talk about it. But it's not a defensive topic; it's a whole team topic because the defense starts with the forwards up front. It starts with compactness of the whole unit. You watch it again, like we coaches do obviously, and analyze it."