Michael Bradley (born July 31, 1987) is an American soccer player who currently plays as a midfielder for Borussia Mönchengladbach of the German Fußball-Bundesliga and the United States national team, coached by his father Bob Bradley.

[edit] Youth

Bradley was born in Princeton, New Jersey, son to Bob Bradley, then coach of the Princeton University soccer team and current head coach of the United States men's national soccer team. Michael spent his teenage years in Palatine, Illinois while his father coached the Chicago Fire of Major League Soccer, and he grew up playing for Sockers FC, who went to the 2002 National Championship and finished 3rd. He later attended the IMG Soccer Academy in Bradenton, Florida — the dedicated facility for the training of the Under-17 national team — for four semesters, from the fall of 2002 through the spring of 2004.

[edit] Professional career

[edit] Metrostars

Before leaving Bradenton, Bradley signed a Project-40 contract with MLS, turning professional at the age of sixteen, and entered the 2004 MLS SuperDraft, where he was selected thirty-sixth overall by the MetroStars, who at the time were coached by his father. Bradley did not see any playing time in his rookie season, missing out with a foot injury, but went on to gain a starting spot in 2005, playing thirty out of thirty-two matches for the Metros. He headed in his first professional goal in a dramatic victory over Chivas USA, clinching a playoff spot for his team in their last game of the 2005 season. (His father had been dismissed as MetroStars coach less than two weeks before and would go on to coach Chivas USA during 2006.)

[edit] SC Heerenveen

In January 2006, Bradley became the youngest MLS player to ever be sold when he was transferred to SC Heerenveen for an amount which remains undisclosed. His first start for the Frisian club came on April 16, 2006, in a match against AZ Alkmaar. He found success early, earning four starts and helping the club to a coveted UEFA Cup spot in his first half-season. Upon the retirement of Paul Bosvelt after the 2006–07 season, Bradley took the veteran's starting place in central midfield. Bradley scored sixteen Eredivisie goals and twenty in all competitions during the 2007–08 season.

In January 2008, Bradley broke the record for the most goals scored in a single season by an American-born soccer player playing in a European first division, which was previously held by Brian McBride with his thirteen goals for Fulham in the English Premier League. On January 26, 2008, Bradley extended his record to fifteen goals with two against De Graafschap, and scored another on February 2 and yet another on the February 9 to make it seventeen, including thirteen league goals.

[edit] Borussia Mönchengladbach

On August 31, 2008, Bradley signed a four-year deal with Bundesliga side Borussia Mönchengladbach for an undisclosed fee.^[1] It was later revealed that Bradley had agreed a switch to Premier League club Birmingham City on the condition that the Midlands side retained their top flight status.^[2] However, they did not and he made his Gladbach debut on September 20 in a loss against Hertha Berlin. On November 15, 2008, Bradley scored his first goal for Monchengladbach against Bundesliga powerhouse Bayern Munich with an eighty-first minute equalizing header. The game ended 2–2.

[edit] Career statistics

[edit] National team

In May 2006, Bradley was brought into the World Cup 2006 training camp in Cary, North Carolina to train with the United States national team. While not a member of the World Cup squad or an alternate, Bradley was on the roster for the three send-off friendlies played before the tournament. He earned his first cap in the May 26 match against Venezuela as a substitute and his second cap for the United States in the following game against Latvia, again as a substitute.

In late 2006, Bob Bradley was hired as head coach of the national team and Michael has established himself a key player for the U.S. during his father's tenure. Michael earned his first international start on March 28, 2007, during a friendly against Guatemala. He was a starter at the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup and helped lead the U.S. to the title, though he was sent off for a late tackle in the semifinal against Canada. The next month, he started every match for the U.S. at the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup, where he scored the game-winning goal in the 107th minute against Uruguay in the round of 16^[3]. He scored his first senior international goal on October 17, 2007, with a game-winner in the 87th minute against Switzerland in a friendly. Following these performances, Bradley was named U.S. Soccer's Young Athlete of the Year for 2007.^[4]

He had a strong performance, in what has been called his best game to that date for the national team,^[5] in a fourth round qualification game for the 2010 World Cup against Mexico in Columbus, Ohio, scoring two goals en route to a 2–0 victory.^[6]

During the USA's surprising run to the finals of the 2009 Confederations Cup, Bradley scored the USA's 2nd goal against Egypt in the 63rd minute off a pass from Landon Donovan. The goal helped the Americans advance to the semifinals after beating the Egyptians 3-0.^[7] He played an important role in the 2-0 upset victory against Spain, but was controversially sent off late in the game by referee Jorge Larrionda, the same referee that sent off fellow American internationals Pablo Mastroeni and Eddie Pope during the 2006 World Cup match against Italy. The resulting suspension kept Bradley out of the tournament final, which the USA ultimately lost 3-2 to Brazil.^[8] Bradley was later reported to have confronted Larrionda following the match, resulting in Bradley receiving an additional 3 match suspension to be served during the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup.^[9]

[edit] International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
01.	October 7, 2007	St. Jakob-Park, Basel, Switzerland	Switzerland	1 – 0	1 – 0	Friendly
02.	June 15, 2008	Home Depot Center, Carson, USA	Barbados	2 – 0	8 – 0	Q 2010 World Cup
03.	September 10, 2008	Toyota Park, Bridgeview, USA	Trinidad and Tobago	1 – 0	3 – 0	Q 2010 World Cup
04.	February 11, 2009	Columbus Crew Stadium, Columbus, USA	Mexico	1 – 0	2 – 0	Q 2010 World Cup
05.	February 11, 2009	Columbus Crew Stadium, Columbus, USA	Mexico	2 – 0	2 – 0	Q 2010 World Cup
06.	June 21, 2009	Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Phokeng, South Africa	Egypt	2 – 0	3 – 0	2009 Confederations Cup
07.	October 14, 2009	RFK Memorial Stadium, Washington, DC, USA	Costa Rica	1 – 2	2 – 2	Q 2010 World Cup

[edit] Honors

[edit] United States

• CONCACAF Gold Cup Champions (1): 2007

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Michael Bradley FIFA competition record
• MetroStars profile
• Michael Bradley articles on Yanks Abroad
• Michael Bradley interview at fohlen-hautnah.de in German

United States Squad v • d • e United States squad – 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup Champions (4th Title) 1 Howard • 2 Hejduk • 3 Bocanegra • 4 Mastroeni • 5 Feilhaber • 6 M. Bradley • 7 Beasley • 8 Dempsey • 9 Johnson • 10 Donovan • 11 Ching • 12 DeMerit • 13 Bornstein • 14 Ralston • 15 Simek • 16 Parkhurst • 17 Spector • 18 Keller • 19 Clark • 20 Twellman • 21 Mapp • 22 Onyewu • 23 Guzan • Coach: B. Bradley v • d • e United States squad – 2008 Summer Olympics 1 Seitz • 2 Wynne • 3 Orozco • 4 Bradley • 5 McCarty • 6 Edu • 7 Holden • 8 Szetela • 9 Davies • 10 Feilhaber • 11 Adu • 12 Altidore • 13 Ianni • 14 Rogers • 15 Parkhurst • 16 Kljestan • 17 McBride • 18 Guzan • Coach: Nowak v • d • e United States squad – 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup Runners-Up 1 Howard • 2 Bornstein • 3 Bocanegra • 4 Casey • 5 Onyewu • 6 Pearce • 7 Beasley • 8 Dempsey • 9 Davies • 10 Donovan • 11 Wynne • 12 M. Bradley • 13 Clark • 14 Califf • 15 DeMerit • 16 Kljestan • 17 Altidore • 18 Guzan • 19 Adu • 20 Torres • 21 Spector • 22 Feilhaber • 23 Robles • Coach: B. Bradley