So when he resigned as coach of the U.S. women's national team on Wednesday, it was no surprise that he did so without fanfare.

No news conference. No luncheon. No television announcement.

A statement from U.S. Soccer said the country's most successful soccer coach was leaving at the end of the year to spend more time with his family.

"The main reason I'm stepping down is that it's more important for me to be a world-class husband and father than a world-class coach," said DiCicco, who has boys of ages 17, 14, 12, and 8.

"When I looked at the generous financial opportunities available to me next year, I didn't see how they could possibly enrich my life more than spending time with my wife and boys."

DiCicco has been asked to work with the federation as a consultant. The federation gave no indication who might succeed him, but Lauren Gregg, his top assistant, certainly will draw attention. The new coach will face a difficult task: replacing DiCicco with the Olympics 10 months away.

"I can't think of anyone more deserving of the attention and praise brought on by the U.S. women's national team's success and popularity than Tony DiCicco," U.S. Soccer president Robert Contiguglia said.

"He has won every trophy in sight and done it with grace and style. He has been an integral part of the team's success since our first World Cup championship in 1991, and he has met every challenge head on. We respect, understand and admire his desire to share his life with his family."

DiCicco leaves another family behind, one with which he shared a monumental achievement that brought women's sports to the forefront.

"Obviously, it's a sad day for the team because we all have tremendous respect for Tony as a coach, a person and friend," U.S. co-captain Julie Foudy said. "But we understand his commitment to his family and his desire to spend more time with his wife and sons."

DiCicco has been a fixture on the U.S. soccer scene since 1990. He began with the women's national team as the goalkeepers coach, and was an assistant on the 1991 World Cup championship team before taking over the head job from Anson Dorrance in 1995. His '95 team finished third in the World Cup, but he led the Americans to the 1996 Olympic gold medal.

"He's put in a lot of years with us, and spent many hours away from his family for us, and sacrificed a lot for the team," Foudy said. "We'll always be proud of the things we accomplished together. It will be difficult to replace him."

Defender Joy Fawcett, who twice returned to the team after giving birth, added: "Tony understands us. He understands we have a different approach to the game and to the relationships we build than the men do. He allows us to be ourselves, and that's been a very important part of our success."

DiCicco built a fast, aggressive defense and a potent offense in which Mia Hamm became the sport's career goals leader. His overall record with the national squad was 103-8-8, including six wins in the World Cup.

"The things I'll miss the most are the players, what they taught me, what we learned together and how they made me feel. And how much fun it was to go after something great together," he said.

Few sports events captured America's imagination the way the Women's World Cup did. For a month, soccer -- women's soccer, yet -- was a front page, nightly news story. The Americans, who drew sellout crowds to their games and huge gatherings of youths, soccer moms and dads to their practices, became as popular as rock stars. Squeals of "Mia" and "Julie" and just about every other first name on the team were heard at those workouts.

The women responded with rounds of autographs, interviews and personal appearances. The tone of cooperation was set by DiCicco.

"The genuine pursuit of their dreams and goals is what is so enticing for people," he said just before the shootout victory over China in the World Cup final. "It's kind of snowballed and has turned into a wonderful phenomena. They are finally getting their due."