David Joseph Brcic (born January 21, 1958) is a retired American soccer player. He was a member of the United States national team that competed at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California. He also represented the U.S. in the qualifiers for the 1986 FIFA World Cup.

[edit] Youth career

Brcic attended Bishop DuBourg High School in St. Louis, Missouri where he played goalkeeper on the school's soccer team. Brcic graduated from high school in 1976 and has been inducted into the school's Hall of Fame. After high school, Brcic attended St. Louis University where he played a single season of college soccer.

[edit] Outdoor soccer

In 1977, he left the university to sign with the New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League. Brcic remained a back-up with the Cosmos through the 1979 season. Through that year, he had played only eight games in goal.^[1] Consequently, he moved to Scotland where he played a year, six games total, with Greenock Morton. However, he returned to the Cosmos for the 1981 season and remained with the team until it folded during the 1984-1985 indoor season.

[edit] National Team

Brcic did not only return to the Cosmos in 1979, he also earned his first cap with the U.S. national team when he came on for Arnie Mausser in a May 2, 1979, loss to France. Brcic did not play again for the senior team until 1984. That year he was the starting goalkeeper for the U.S. team at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. He also played two world cup qualifying matches, a May 30 tie with Italy and a 4-0 win against the Netherland Antilles on October 6. He played one more game with the senior national team, a 2-1 world cup qualification victory over Trinidad and Tobago on May 15, 1985.

[edit] Indoor Soccer

By this time Brcic was ending his outdoor professional career and had embarked on his indoor years. He gained his first indoor soccer experience during the 1981-1982 NASL indoor season. He played fourteen games for the Cosmos as they finished with the league's second worst record. Brcic and the Cosmos did much better in the second NASL indoor season, which didn't take place until 1983-1984. He started twenty-six games as New York made it to the championship game before falling to the San Diego Sockers. The next year, the Cosmos entered the Major Indoor Soccer League. However, they were a shell of the team they were a few years prior and folded thirty-three games into the forty-eight game season. Brcic began the season with the Cosmos, but when they collapsed, he moved to the Wichita Wings. At the end of the season, he moved again to the Pittsburgh Spirit for the 1985-1986 season. Although the Spirit finished in the bottom of the standings, Brcic was selected to the first team All MISL list. For the 1986-1987 season, he was with his fourth team in three seasons, the Los Angeles Lazers.^[2] Once again, he found himself with a struggling team. Brcic also played with the Kansas City Comets and St. Louis Storm.

Since retiring from playing, Brcic graduated from Maryville University in 1996 has run soccer camps and is President of Soccer Master. He resides in St. Louis with his wife Cindy and two children Emily and Alex.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• MISL stats
• [http://nasljerseys.com/Players/B/Brcic.David.htm NASL/MISL stats