Bradley elevates his game during a busy summer
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By Nicolino Di Benedetto, STATS Writer
Most 20-year-olds use the summer to relax on a beach and hang out with friends, one last chance for a relatively carefree existence before heading back to school and being forced to deal with the daunting pressures of life after college.
Michael Bradley is not one of those 20-year-olds.
While others his age will soon go into interviews armed with a fresh degree and hoping to land a job, Bradley's intentions are a little different: His goal is gold. Instead of an office, he wants to do his work in the middle of a Beijing field. Instead of a piece of paper, he wants a medal.
And if he keeps playing soccer the way he's been doing it the past few months, he just may get that shot.In a sport where goal scorers and dazzling playmakers get all the publicity, Bradley is gaining recognition for doing the dirty work. And the United States national team couldn't be happier.
"I am going to try to impose myself on the game," said Bradley. "Really be in the backbone of the team from the center of the field."
At 6-foot-1, he is a tough, imposing central midfielder looking to steal the ball from opponents and transition his team into the offensive. He's also the son of coach Bob Bradley, creating the first father-son combination in the U.S. team's history. But if you think nepotism has opened up this opportunity for Michael, forget it. His place on the team is all about his level of play and nothing to do with favored treatment.
ESPN soccer analyst Eric Wynalda, who praised the younger Bradley throughout the U.S.' 4-2 loss to Brazil in a friendly at Soldier Field on Sept. 9, feels any criticism the Bradleys get about nepotism is plain and simple ignorance. "Then they haven't been watching the games," Wynalda said. "On a couple of occasions he has been the best player on the field and he was the best American on the field against Brazil.
"When you look at the players who have developed over the past few years, Michael is one of the best. Over the last couple of games, I am impressed. His fight, his grit and his tactical awareness are fun to watch." Bradley has played nine games for the team in 2007, five while helping the U.S. to the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup title in June. He followed that up by providing leadership and a strong midfield presence in the FIFA Under-20 World Cup in July, scoring the overtime goal against Uruguay that advanced the team to the quarterfinals before a disappointing loss to Austria.
Against Brazil, Bradley was the youngest player on the field and found himself mixing it up with two of the best playmakers in the game - Ronaldinho and Kaka. Unfortunately for the young New Jersey native, he committed a foul to set up a stoppage-time penalty kick for the five-time World Cup champions.
"One of the things I learned at a young age is how to compete," said Bradley, who comes from a sports rich family that includes uncle Scott, a former catcher for the New York Yankees and the current baseball coach at Princeton. "How fun it is to just go out and compete. I think that carries over to a game like this.
"What more can you ask for? It's 45,000 people, playing against Brazil and you're playing for the national team." Bradley's competitive edge has been seen on the field all summer, starting with his breakthrough Gold Cup. The basis for that performance was some advice his father gave him before the tournament. "I needed a good attitude, to work hard in training and to earn everyone's respect," Bradley said. "The rest would go from there."
And so it has.
This is not the first time the Bradley duo has been together in a professional environment. Bob, the all-time winningest coach in MLS history, made his son a fourth-round selection for New York in the 2004 MLS draft. The younger Bradley would spend two years with the club before being transferred to SC Heerenveen of the Dutch Eredivisie.
Prior to that, Michael found himself on the practice field with some strong Chicago Fire squads when Bob coached the MLS side from 1998-2002, winning an MLS Cup as an expansion club and two U.S. Open Cup titles. "When you would see him training with us in Chicago, you could see he had a mind for the game," said U.S. forward Josh Wolff, who played under the elder Bradley in each of his five seasons with the Fire. "It's great to see him grow and mature, but, at the end of the day, he's a heck of a soccer player. He's got a lot of upside."
Michael grew up admiring the strong Milan teams of the 1990s and identified himself with Demitrio Albertini, a deep-lying midfielder whose job it was to win balls, intercept passes and start the offense. "He wasn't always the best player, the most well known or got the best recognition, but he did as well as anyone," Bradley said. "He was the engine and the heart of the team. He would win tackles and get the ball in a real simple way to the next guy." "When you look at really good and successful teams, they have guys that work for the team and that can go unnoticed."
Bob noted another Italian example, eying the relationship between Milan's superstar defender and captain Paolo Maldini and his father, Cesare, who coached his son on the Italy Under-21 team and the 1998 World Cup squad after he captained the Rossoneri in the 1960s.
"When you look at the Maldinis, you see how Cesare told and taught Paolo how to be a man and a professional on and off the field," he said. "At the end of the day, that is what it comes down to if you want to succeed in anything. That crosses all sports and life in general."
Just to drive that point home, Michael scored his first career goal for Heerenveen in a 5-2 rout of Excelsior on Saturday. He has moved into the starting lineup this season following a summer which saw him jump into the spotlight. The only question that remains is, how long will he be able to ride this momentum of improvement?
If it's another few months, his graduation may take the form of inclusion on the 2008 U.S. Olympic team.
And that beats going to an office anyday.
And this Daisy couldn't agree more!!!!
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