"That’s one daughter," he said, putting his finger on one of the faces standing next to a goal and then moving it a fraction of an inch. "That’s another daughter."
Bradley allowed himself a prideful smile just for a moment as he looked at his girls watching his team. It was the only moment of reflection he allowed himself on Monday.
This campus feels like home to Bradley, who played his college soccer at Princeton and later returned to coach at his alma mater for 12 years from 1984-95. After winning two Ivy League titles and advancing to that Final Four, Bradley moved to Major League Soccer as Bruce Arena’s assistant with D.C. United. He took over the Chicago Fire and led the expansion franchise to the MLS Cup in 1998.
He returned to his home state in 2002 to coach the MetroStars, but was fired with three games left in the 2005 season. He led Chivas USA to a playoff berth in 2006 before being selected as Arena’s replacement for the National Team.
The United States is at Princeton for a week of training that started Monday. The Americans will play two exhibition matches – against the Czech Republic on May 25 in East Hartford, Conn., and against Turkey on May 29 in Philadelphia — before they depart for South Africa on May 30. The U.S. will face England in its first World Cup match on June 12.
