Arena's criticism followed similar comments made recently by football captain Michael Bradley and NBA championship-winning coaches Steve Kerr of the Golden State Warriors and Gregg Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs.

"It's sad because one thing we do in our sport is that we are a global sport," Arena told the Washington Post.

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We travel the world. We meet all kinds of people. And we conclude at the end that they are all beautiful people.

"We have bad people in the world, we have bad people in our country, but clearly a large majority of people are good. It's fabulous when we can give them an opportunity to be part of our country."

Arena, whose grandparents emigrated from Italy, was commenting on the executive order issued by Trump on Friday to halt the refugee program and temporarily bar citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States.

Trump put a 120-day hold on allowing refugees into the country, an indefinite ban on refugees from Syria and a 90-day bar on citizens from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

United States midfielder Michael Bradley (4) jogs on the field against New Zealand in the second half at RFK Stadium. Image credit: Reuters

"I don't think too many Americans would agree with banning Muslims, nor any other group of people based on religion or race," said Arena. "But there are some that believe that's what we should be doing.

"It's been a topic of discussion in our country. Our guys are not immune from the news. They know what's going on. I don't think it's the first thing they talk about, but it's certainly an issue. I don't think there's one person on our team that thinks a ban on Muslims or any other group is right."

Arena was speaking four days after the drew 0-0 with Serbia in a friendly played in San Diego, the first match of Arena's second stint as head coach.

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