Brad Guzan life and biography

Bradley Edwin "Brad" Guzan (born September 9, 1984, in Evergreen Park, Illinois) is an American football goalkeeper who currently plays for Aston Villa of the English Premier League and the United States national team.

Career

Guzan, who is of Polish-American ancestry, played his youth soccer at the Chicago Magic Soccer Club, and for the varsity soccer team at Providence Catholic High School in Illinois, from which he graduated in 2003. He went on to play two seasons of college soccer at the University of South Carolina (USC), and was a second-team All-American in his sophomore season.

Guzan had an impressive freshman campaign at USC, starting all eighteen matches in his first season at South Carolina. He finished the year with a 0.96 goals against average that was aided by eight shutouts; tied for the sixth-most in a season in school history. He was named to College Soccer News' All-Freshman team and was one of just two freshmen named to the NSCAA All-South team. He recorded 69 saves on the year, finishing with a 9–7–2 record.

After spending two years with the Chicago Fire Reserves in the USL Premier Development League he chose to forgo the rest of his college years, signing a Generation Adidas contract with Major League Soccer (MLS). Chivas USA drafted Guzan with the second overall pick of the 2005 MLS SuperDraft.

Guzan has played for the Under-18 United States national team. He got his first cap for the senior national team on February 19, 2006, against Guatemala. On November 7, 2007, Guzan was named MLS Goalkeeper of the Year.

On July 11, 2008, Aston Villa agreed a transfer fee in the region of £600,000, or $1.2 million, with MLS and Chivas USA to sign Guzan, significantly less than the £2 million agreed to in Aston Villa's failed move for the keeper in January 2008. This was because Guzan would have been out of his contract at the end of the 2008 season in November, allowing him to sign for Aston Villa during the January transfer window on a free transfer.

On August 1, 2008, Guzan was granted a work permit by the Home Office, allowing him to complete his move to Aston Villa. He was due to be officially introduced by Aston Villa after competing for the United States at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Guzan was the second American goalkeeper called Brad to be signed during the summer by Villa, following the capture of Premier League veteran Brad Friedel.

Guzan made his Villa debut in September 2008, in the League Cup, at home to Queens Park Rangers.

He made his European debut in the UEFA Cup game away at Slavia Prague on November 6, 2008. The match finished 1–0 to Aston Villa with Guzan making several saves to keep a clean sheet. His performance led to his manager, Martin O'Neill, describing him as a "class goalkeeper in the making." He also started in Villa's first leg against CSKA Moscow in round 32 of the UEFA Cup at Villa Park on February 18, 2009.

He came on as a substitute against Liverpool after Brad Friedel's red card.

Guzan played in every game that Villa won during their successful Peace Cup campaign of 2009, against Atlante, Porto and Juventus. He helped Villa overcome the Italians in the final, notably in the penalty shootout where he saved the attempts of Vincenzo Iaquinta and Alessandro Del Piero. The only game that Villa did not win (in the group stages against Málaga) was the one in which Guzan did not feature. Despite having a successful pre-season period, Guzan was dropped from the first team in favour of compatriot and Premier League veteran Brad Friedel for Villa's opening game of the 09/10 season, against Wigan Athletic.

On 27th October 2009, Guzan saved four penalties in one match, one in normal time and three more in a penalty shoot-out win over Sunderland at the Stadium of Light in the last 16 of the Carling Cup. Despite these heroics, Brad Friedel replaced him in goal for the final against Manchester United.

Since 2006, Guzan has established himself as the second-choice goalkeeper for the United States national team behind Everton's Tim Howard. He made his World Cup debut in the second leg of a second round qualifier against Barbados (with the US up 8-0 and having all but secured advancement). He later started in two semifinal matches after the U.S. had secured advancement to the final round-- a 2-1 loss at Trinidad and Tobago and a 2-0 win over Guatemala. When Howard was suspended for a match at El Salvador due to accumulated yellow cards, Guzan started and helped earn a critical 2-2 draw. Guzan also started the USA's 3-0 win over Egypt in the 2009 Confederations Cup. On May 11, 2010, Guzan was named to the U.S. national team's provisional 30-man World Cup roster.

Read more