Brad Friedel

Bradley Howard Friedel is an American goalkeeper, who plays for London side Tottenham and used to play for the USA national team. He participated in three World Cups and is one of the oldest footballers in Europe. Bradley’s solid play bound him with a ‘Human Wall’ nickname. He was born in Lakewood, Ohio.

Brad went in for several sports including basketball, soccer and tennis in early childhood. He showed good results in all of them, but eventually decided to link his destiny to soccer. First the American player wanted to be a forward, but changed his mind and became a goalkeeper. At the beginning of 1990s Brad could move to famous Nottingham Forest, but there were some troubles with processing of documents and the signing failed. As a result, by 1994 Friedel did not play football professionally, but that didn’t impede his national team performance in the World Cup the same year. Brad was a third-choice goalkeeper at that time, though the very fact of participation helped Friedel to start negotiations with Newcastle. The player and the club managed to come to an agreement, but the British Immigration Office refused to execute the papers again. Thereby, there was nothing left for Brad but to move to Denmark and join Brøndby at the beginning of 1995.

The American goalkeeper played for the Danish side club during several months. At the beginning he was a second-choice keeper, but then managed to supplant Mogens Krogh and become a regular. Soon Brad left Denmark and returned to the USA in order to start training with his national team. The same time he made the third attempt to get to the English Premier League. Brad had a deal with Sunderland, but his attempt to receive a work permit failed one more time. However, in July 1995 Friedel went to the Turkish side Galatasaray and played a full season there (30 matches). In the summer 1996 the keeper went back to his motherland and became a full-grown player of Columbus Crew. He was a reserve goalkeeper during the first season for the new team, but Brad managed to become a regular player by the end of 1997. The same year Friedel was voted the best MLS Goalkeeper and included into the MLS Best XI.

By the end of 1997, Friedel moved to the English side Liverpool for about £1.5 million as all official documents had finally been executed properly. On 28 February 1998, the goalkeeper made his debut for the Merseyside ‘Reds’ in the match against Birmingham side Aston Villa. During three years at Merseyside, Brad didn’t make many appearances and went on the pitch 31 times (including two UEFA Cup matches). When his contract spell ended, Friedel joined Blackburn on a free transfer.

The American player became a regular of Rovers almost right after he transferred to the team. Friedel started to show safe play and good abilities of organizing defense. The promotion of ‘The Riversiders’ to the Premier League in 2001 was in many respects Brad’s merit.

In 2002 when Rovers played in the League Cup final against Tottenham, Friedel was named the Player of the Match. He saved his team in several hard moments, showed a very secure play and helped Blackburn to lift the national trophy.

In 2002/2003 the American footballer reached another acme, playing 15 matches of the Premier League without conceding a goal. Due to that achievement, Friedel was named the Blackburn Footballer of the Year and included in the nominal PFA Premier League Team of the Year.

On 21 February 2004, Brad got on the scoresheet, netting a goal in the match against Charlton. On 9 September 2006, Friedel pulled off two penalties in the match against Sheffield United. During eight years Brad made 287 appearances for the club and skipped only five games by non-playing reasons because of the preparation for the 2002 World Cup with his national team. On 26 July 2008, the keeper left Rovers and moved to Birmingham side Aston Villa for about £2.5 million.

Friedel signed a contract with the new club for three years. On 17 August 2008, he made his debut for Birmingham side Aston Villa in an outstanding 4-2 victory over Manchester City.

Brad made 114 appearances for Villa, but he failed to do any significant club achievements. However, he still was a great footballer who showed solid play and outstanding saves despite of his relatively old age for football. On 3 July 2011, the American goalkeeper moved to London side Tottenham Hotspur on a free transfer. His contract with Spurs was supposed to be for two years despite Friedel was already 40 years old.

In 2011/2012 the American player was a first-choice keeper of Tottenham. He took part in 38 league games and conceded 41 goals. The team took 4th place.

Brad is a record holder in the number of matches for the USA national team as a keeper. From 1992 till 2005 he made 82 appearances. In his first match against the Canada national team Brad managed to keep a clean sheet. In 2002, the goalkeeper took part in the World Cup and his team made its way through to the semi-final, but lost to the Germany national team 0-1. Brad saved two penalties during that tournament. In 2005 Friedel announced he finished his international career.