Bob Bradley Speaker Profile

Bob Bradley was born March 3, 1958 in Montclair, New Jersey

and is the current manager of the United States men's national soccer team.

Before taking over the national team in December 2006, he had previously

coached in the American college game and later in Major League Soccer, managing

the Chicago Fire, MetroStars, and Chivas USA over nine seasons.

His son, Michael Bradley, is a professional footballer

currently playing with Borussia Mnchengladbach of the German Bundesliga and

the national team.

In 1996, Bradley became Arena's assistant once again, this time with D.C.

United of the newly formed Major League Soccer. After two seasons there, he

became the first manager of the expansion Chicago Fire, leading them to the MLS

Cup and US Open Cup double in 1998. For this success, he was named MLS Coach of

the Year. He won more silverware in 2000 when the Fire won the Open Cup.

After the 2002 MLS season, Bradley resigned as manager of

the Fire and took the reins of his home state team, the MetroStars, which had

previously considered him for the job in 1996 and 1997. During his tenure, he

had the historically underachieving club headed in the right direction as the

MetroStars advanced to the US Open Cup final for the first time in club history

in 2003. Bradley stayed with the club until October 2005, when he was fired

with three games left in the regular season. The club had suffered losses in

back-to-back fixtures and diminishing playoff prospects prior to Bradley's

firing.

Shortly after the 2005 season, Bradley was named the manager

at Los Angeles club Chivas USA. Bradley revived a Chivas USA team that had

endured a poor first season in 2005, leading a young squad to a third-place

finish in the Western Conference before losing in the playoffs to the Houston Dynamo.

Following the U.S. men's national team's disappointing showing at the 2006 FIFA

World Cup, U.S. Soccer appointed Bradley the interim coach of the team.

Although Bradley was widely tipped to be a future national team manager,

perhaps for the 2014 World Cup cycle, most observers and several national team

players expected U.S. Soccer to hire recently departed Germany manager and

California  resident Jrgen

Klinsmann, due to his success and connections to American soccer. However,

after contract negotiations with Klinsmann fell through, U.S. Soccer quickly

named Bradley interim manager on December 8, 2006. Although many saw Bradley as

a second choice, he quickly went about building a strong foundation for the

team, introducing younger players to the squad and approaching the job as

though he already was, or would soon become, the permanent manager.

His tenure began successfully, and after a series of

successful friendlies which included a 20 win over Mexico, U.S. Soccer removed

Bradley's interim title and officially named him manager on May 15, 2007. He

continued his success that summer, leading the United States to the 2007 Gold

Cup Final, where it beat rivals Mexico 21 for the second time in four months

on a stunning volley by Benny Feilhaber. In his first year as manager, Bradley

built a record of 12 wins, 1 draw, and 5 losses, going undefeated for a period

of ten games over five months.

Despite the highs of its Gold Cup victory, the U.S. did not

fare as well in Copa Amrica 2007, though U.S. Soccer sent a roster mostly made

up of younger MLS-based players. This was partly because this was the second

competition for the U.S. in the summer of 2007 after the Gold Cup, and partly

because clubs were not officially obligated to release their players for this

tournament, as the U.S. was not obligated to play in it, and was an invited

guest of CONMEBOL. The team lost its first game in the Bradley era to Argentina

in the tournament opener 41. That game was Bradley's first away game with

national team and their first loss in over a year since losing to Ghana on in

the 2006 World Cup. The Americans finished Copa Amrica without a point after

losing its other two games to Paraguay and Colombia. The U.S. also went on to

lose consecutive games away to Sweden and at home to Brazil. However, Bradley's

first year in charge ended on a high note with a pair of away wins against Switzerland

and South Africa.

In early 2008, Bradley and U.S. Soccer scheduled several

high profile friendlies against some of the world's elite teams as a way of

preparing the team for 2010 World Cup qualification that would begin in the

fall. After a 22 draw in the annual Mexico friendly, the U.S. lost 20 away to

England, 10 away to Spain, and held Argentina to a 00 draw back at home.

 In the Second Round of CONCACAF qualifying the U.S. beat

Barbados 80 at home, the largest victory for the U.S. in its history, and 01

away. In the Third Round the Americans dominated their group, which included

Guatemala, Trinidad and Tobago, and Cuba, and advanced along with Trinidad and

Tobago to the Fourth Round. Bradley and the U.S. started the Fourth Round in

strong form, with a 20 defeat of rivals Mexico, with both goals provided by

his son, Michael.

In 2009, Bradley led the U.S. team to a 2nd place finish in

the 2009 Confederations Cup, including a 20 victory over the world's number

one ranked team and European champions Spain, ending their 35 game unbeaten

streak and 15 game winning streak.

With the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup happening so close to the

Confederations Cup, Bradley led a largely second-tier national team to a loss

in the final to Mexico first-tier team, 0-5. However, the first team returned

and still lost to Mexico in 2010 World Cup qualification group action in

August, 21, in Mexico City.

On October 10, Bradley led the U.S. national team to

qualification for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, with a 3-2 away win

against Honduras.