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Bradley “incredibly proud” of father Bob’s work with Egyptian National Team

Michael Bradley

Photo by ISIPhotos.com

By DAN KARELL

One of the feel good stories in the world of soccer has been the performances of the Egyptian National Team since former U.S. Men’s National Team head coach Bob Bradley took the job in 2011.

As he approaches two full years in charge of the Egypt squad, Bradley has guided them to an undefeated eight-game run since March and a place in the final round of African World Cup qualifying; a two-legged series against Ghana for a place in the 2014 World Cup that begins on October 15 in Kumasi, Ghana.

Through political and social unrest, with the domestic league currently suspended indefinitely, Bradley has captivated the nation and given them hope that they can make their first World Cup finals since 1990. It something that makes Bradley’s son Michael very proud of his father.

“(I’m) incredibly proud. Incredibly proud of him, of my mother who’s there with him, and their commitment to finish what he started,” Michael Bradley told the BBC World Service. “He went there with the idea, with the dream of taking Egypt to the World Cup, and in the midst of all the instability in their country, revolution, massacres, and so much trouble in their country, they have managed to keep a group of guys focused and committed on really “the dream” of the entire country.

“And I think it’s in these ways and these moments that we’re all able to see how powerful football is. In a country like that with so much turmoil, maybe the only thing the Egyptians can agree on is their love and support for the national team and how the dream is to see them back in a World Cup.”

The younger Bradley, who is currently rehabbing an ankle injury suffered in Costa Rica and will miss the USMNT’s final two World Cup qualifiers, also spoke to the BBC about the success of his club team, AS Roma.

After seven matches in the young Serie A season, Roma hold a perfect record and are off to their best start in club history. This past summer, the team sold off some of their high profile players such as Pablo Osvaldo, Erik Lamela, and Marquinhos for big money, while using their scouting network to make shrewd signings such as Kevin Strootman and Medhi Benatia, both of whom have been stellar to start off the season.

The 26-year-old midfielder gave credit to everyone inside the club including head coach Rudi Garcia, who has surprised everyone with the team’s success, as well as acknowledging the motivation that comes with a demoralizing Coppa Italia Final defeat to arch-rival Lazio.

“I think the club did very well in the summer to assess the situation, to decide which players were needed here and to decide which players had value in the transfer market,” Bradley said. “They really did a good job of now finding the right coach, allowing him the chance to work with players who he wanted, and so far this season what you’re seeing is the fruit of all that work.”

Bradley also touched on Roma forward and legend Francesco Totti, who is in some of the best form of his career with three goals and six assists already. The 37-year-old Totti is even receiving requests from fans and the media in Italy to be recalled to the Italian National Team.

“He’s the symbol for this club, he’s the symbol for every Roman, every fan,” Bradley said. “For every person who’s grown up in this city who’s dreamed of playing professional football, he’s the idol, the symbol, the example. He obviously grew up in Rome, he’s never left, he’s won the Scudetto, he’s won Italian cups.

“And really more than anything what people here have so much respect for him about is his loyalty. Through a career where he’s really one of the best players in the world, with the opportunity to go to the biggest clubs (such as) Real Madrid, he always chose to stay loyal to this city, to these colors, to his club, and so in those ways he’s somebody who is a legend.”

With his current injury, Bradley will stay in Rome to continue his rehab, where he’ll be able to keep an eye on both the USA and Egypt’s matches from home. Bradley revealed that if Egypt had been hosting the first leg against Ghana, he would have gone to the match.

“If the first game were in Cairo I’d be there for sure,” Bradley said. “I’ll be watching and cheering like every other Egyptian that day.”

Comments

  1. Bob went to Egypt…… because it was his only real job offer. He originally said no to Egypt, until they increased his salary. He wanted the Aston Villa job, but Aston said no thank you to Bob.

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    • its nice that you’re trying to pour cold water on this but…. it doesn’t matter, and it certainly doesn’t change what he’s accomplished with the Egypt team. Go troll somewhere else.

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  2. Is it just me or does il Generale always look short in pictures until you see him standing next to someone else? LOL. Idk what it is…

    Love him, he is the rock, the most indispensable. Come back soon Michael.

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  3. Anybody know if he is even gonna play when he comes back from the injury? Seems like they aren’t gonna mess with the squad, given that their undefeated and all.

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  4. it’s quite clear that the Bradleys are either “plants” or outright spies for the CIA

    Bradley has worked in DC, New York and Chicago and Egypt.
    Michael has played in Holland, Germany, England and now Italy

    Monitoring radical Islamic activity among the population and leftist anti-American politicians. read the signs on the wall people. It’s why they’re so emotionally distant and so focused on “soccer”

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    • Whoa whoa whoa, maybe if Michael Bradley was = to Ronaldo or Messi you could make the comparison to the Mannings but he’s not. The Bradley’s are a great sports family and a great story, but the Mannings are on a totally different level.

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      • It’s impossible to really compare because American Football is only played in one country. If the Mannings had the rest of the world to compete against, would they be veiwed the same? Possibly but perhaps not.

      • On top of that, the Mannings were able to play by using their hands (should have been called handball) and must have loved taking physical hits.

      • But remind us how … uh … “great” the elder Manning was … psst, Tebow has 2 more playoff starts and 1 more playoff victory.

  5. MB… I remember the SBI experts (commenters) who trashed his very existince 4 years ago… Now, it can be argued that he is one of the best to wear the US crest.

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    • I was one of them.
      I looked at Bob and Michael as just another case of nepotism.
      I was wrong.
      Michael does not have the skills of the world’s greatest players. And Bob is not the technical genius like many famous names.
      What these guys have is tremendous passion, hearts of lions and balls of steel.

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      • If you look back 8 years ago, he was the last player not selected for WC 2006 (the only one in the final camp who did not go to Germany). It was a sign of things to come. He was the star in the 2-0 defeat of Mexico in Columbus in 2009. In a much under-appreciate outing vs Argentina in 2011 (the game Chandler first showed well for the USMNT), he basically negated Messi in an outstanding defensive performance. Subsequently people began to notice that the USMNT played less well when he was not on the field. Whatever it is, right now, he brings things to the field that no other US player can.

      • Dennis – Just a correction: Michael wasn’t selected for the 2006 World Cup squad (and wasn’t an alternate) he was brought in by Bruce Arena to fill in the training camp numbers. This *was* recognition of his potential and earned him his first caps in the run up to the Cup. More important than any playing time was the establishment of Michael in the National Team pool ahead of his dad being named Head Coach.

      • Bradley got a few minutes at the end of one of their last (or last) friendly played in East Hartford before the WC in 2006.

    • those were idiots. Bradley may have started way too many games and played the full 90 way too much but he was a pretty damn up and coming player. He’s destined to reach 100 caps by the end of next summer/FALL. Probably gonna end up 1 of the best US players ever. no doubt

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    • An ol’ buddy of mine spent the better part of a week out at the lake, tracking down this monster catfish. It had become something of a local legend they had named it Gen. Sherman. They said he was over 3ft long, and weighed over 25lbs. That he was cunning, could hide in plain sight, that it could find a shadow in the sun, and just toy with fishermen. That it would nip at their lure, and they would reel it up to find the bait still there, then they went to cast the line back out, the bait would be gone. Well, my friend didn’t catch the fish, he had just given up. But that was when Michael Bradley showed up. He saw my friend’s last struggle to real in Sherman, and the look of exhaustion and despair on his face. Michael Bradley thought up a plan. Puny mortals like you & I would fill the lake with cyanide, and get the bastard the easy, dishonorable way. But not Michael Bradley. He told my friend to cast his line one last time, quick while Sherman was still in the area. Then Bradley pulled out a bunch of Crisco, and splatted it onto his head to polish it up, before he applied his secret weapon: Windex* to give it that extra super-shine!! Michael Bradley’s bald head shined like the sun, which reflected off of him and lit up the shadows under some fesh-water-sea-plants, under which Gen. Sherman was hiding. There, my friend dropped the lure and Sherman went for it. My friend, not surprised this time timed a quick pull to snare the Devil Catfish before he could get away with bait. But the fish was strong, and pulled away at the line. Flexing its fins so fast and hard that the ripples in the water became waves, nearly pulling my friend down to the water. MIchael Bradley saw the danger and stepped over. He pushed my friend over and grabbed the fishing pole and he did battle that fish. It was an epic fight that lasted for hours. Luckily MB-90 became MB-120 + Stoppage Time. The fished died of exhaustion right there on the line battling Michael Bradley. To this day, the town’s folk speak of him as a mythical hero. The said he was 7-foot tall, had arms of steel and because the Crisco melted running down his chest it gave him a body made of Bronze. And if Michael Bradley didn’t like you, well, he could blind a man just by looking him in the eye.

      Yep. That’s my Michael Bradley story. True story. Ask anyone ’round these parts.

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