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Princeton University Athletics
Bradley '80 In Charge As U.S. Men's National Team Starts Gold Cup Play
June 08, 2007 | Men's Soccer
On May 16, former Princeton men's soccer coach Bob Bradley '80 shed his interim title when he was named the head coach of the U.S. men's soccer national team. What Bradley and his U.S. team haven't shed are the winning ways that began when he took over the team on an interim basis in December.
With a 1-0 victory against Guatemala Thursday at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., in their opening match in the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup, the U.S. improved to 5-0-1 under Bradley's watch and 2-0 since the former Princeton coach was named the team's permanent head man. The U.S. defeated China by a 4-1 score last weekend in San Jose in a friendly in preparation for the Gold Cup.
Thursday's 1-0 victory against Guatemala came courtesy of a Clint Dempsey goal in the 26th minute and a stout defensive effort in the final 17 minutes after a red card to defender Oguchi Onyewu left the U.S. team with only 10 men.
The U.S. next plays on Saturday afternoon, hosting Trinidad and Tobago at 2 p.m. at the Home Depot Center, before traveling to Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts to host El Salvador Tuesday night. The championship game of the 2007 Gold Cup is June 24 at Soldier Field in Chicago.
Bradley's U.S. team will also participate in the Copa America tournament in Venezuela in July.
After taking over the U.S. team on an interim basis in December, Bradley led the team to three wins and a tie in four matches prior to his announcement as the team's permanent coach. He became the first U.S. coach to lead his team to victory in his first three games, including a 2-0 victory against Mexico in front of more than 60,000 people in Glendale, Ariz.
In 12 seasons at Princeton, Bradley led the Tigers to 92 wins, two Ivy League titles and three NCAA tournament appearances, including the program's only NCAA final four appearance in 1993. The brother of Scott Bradley, the Robert H.B. Baldwin '42 Head Coach of Baseball at Princeton, he also played soccer for the Tigers as an undergraduate, leading the Tigers in scoring in 1979 and helping Princeton to the NCAA second round that year.
Bradley,
a New Jersey native, left Princeton after the 1995 season to become an
assistant coach for MLS's D.C. United. He first became an MLS head
coach with the Chicago Fire in 1998 and later was the head coach for
the NY/NJ Metrostars in 2004 and 2005.
With 124 career
victories, Bradley is the winningest coach in the history of MLS,
winning one MLS Cup and two U.S. Open Cup titles with the Fire,
including both titles in 1998 during the club's inaugural season.
During his 11-year MLS career as a head or an assistant coach,
Bradley's team's qualified for the playoffs every year.
Bradley spent 2006 as head coach of Chivas USA, where he was honored as the league's Coach of the Year for the second time in his career. During his one season at Chivas USA, Bradley turned around a team with the worst record in the league in 2005, leading them into the playoffs as the third-place finisher in the Western Conference.
Bradley has previously been on the U.S. National Team coaching staff as an assistant with the Under-23 Men's National Team at the 1996 Olympics and also assisted at several winter training camps and games during Bruce Arena's tenure as manager of the U.S. team.