Michael Bradley Named US National Team Captain for Gold Cup
With the CONCACAF Gold Cup on the horizon, US national team manager Jurgen Klinsmann made a leadership change when he announced that Michael Bradley would be the American captain for the tournament, replacing Clint Dempsey.
Klinsmann explained that the decision stemmed from Dempsey’s recent (and shameful) dismissal from a US Open Cup match, where he reacted by ripping up the referee’s notebook. In an interview with ussoccer.com, Klinsmann stated that he had a discussion with Dempsey about the incident and how best to proceed moving forward with regards to Dempsey’s future with the national team:
“I had a very, very good conversation with Clint about what happened during the Open Cup, but also about how we want to approach things. For the time being we thought it’s the best thing to give the captaincy to Michael Bradley and let Clint focus on what he’s all about. Clint is about scoring goals. We need Clint Dempsey badly with the National Team. We need him in a good spirit.
What happened was a mistake, but it was the first red card in his career and a lot of people went at him. I think the best thing for everyone right now is to let him concentrate really on playing and doing what he does best. It’s his performance on the field. It’s his delivery for the U.S. National Team, and he has always delivered.
He’s at 40 goals for his country and I told him I want him to score many, many more. Hopefully in this summer’s Gold Cup he becomes the top scorer in the tournament. We need Clint in a free spirit and that’s why we decided to kind of take that captaincy and move it over to Michael for the Gold Cup and then we’ll see.”
Bradley, who made his debut in May of 2006 against Venezuela, is on track to pick up his 100th cap for the US during the Gold Cup. This will not be the first time that he has been given the captain’s armband, as he was the captain for a friendly against Brazil in 2010, and since the friendly against Denmark in March of this year, he has captained the US in 4 straight games.
Though often criticized as a flop after failing to secure himself more playing time while at Serie A team AS Roma, Bradley has gained the respect of fans and teammates at every stop on his career path, which has taken him through New York, Germany, England, Italy, and now with Toronto FC in Canada. In fact, it was the fans at Chievo who first coined the nickname “The General” for Bradley.
Still just 27, a solid Gold Cup tournament run would be the next step in Michael Bradley’s continued rise as one of the US’ best players. His long-pass and dribbling technique combined with his workrate on defense and ability to contribute on attack make him a prototypical central midfielder, and arguably, he has the skill to become a true world-class player.
His commanding performances during the US’ recent wins over European powerhouses Netherlands and Germany were ample demonstration that Bradley’s leadership is of utmost importance to Klinsmann and his charges. Though the record books only show one assist for Bradley after both games, he was an integral part of the US’ comeback against the Netherlands and was involved in the buildup for all 3 of their goals after the team fell behind 3-1.
Just days later, Bradley followed it up with a Man-of-the-Match performance against world champions Germany, where his midfield play was clinical in breaking up German attacks and leading the US forward. The personal highlight for Bradley was a defense-splitting diagonal ball across the pitch that led to Mix Diskerud’s equalizer, putting the exclamation point on a 30-pass buildup by the US.
As confidence in the US camp surges after the European results, Bradley will be counted on now to help lead the US to Gold Cup glory.
