Michael Bradley (soccer) - National Team

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 established himself as a key player for the U.S. during his father's tenure. Bradley 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. 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. football's Young Athlete of the Year for 2007.

He had a strong performance, in what has been called his best game to that date for the national team, 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.

During the United States' surprising run to the finals of the 2009 Confederations Cup, Bradley scored the U.S.'s second 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. He played an important role in the 2–0 upset victory against Spain, but was 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 U.S. ultimately lost 3–2 to Brazil. Bradley was later reported to have confronted Larrionda following the match, resulting in Bradley receiving an additional three match suspension to be served during the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup. On June 18, 2010, Bradley scored his eighth international goal against Slovenia in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, which tied the score of the game, 2–2. He captained the national team for the first time on August 10, 2010, against Brazil. In the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup, Bradley featured in each game, and scored his team's first goal in the final against Mexico. Despite his early goal, the United States went on to lose 4–2 to Mexico.