Bradley named first coach of MLS expansion club
LOS ANGELES » Bob Bradley has been named the first coach of the Los Angeles Football Club, the MLS expansion franchise due to begin play next year.
Bradley is the former coach of the U.S. men’s national team and the most accomplished American coach in international club soccer history. He had long been rumored to be a target of the deep-pocketed LAFC ownership group, which hopes to make an immediate MLS splash when it enters the nation’s second-largest market to compete with the LA Galaxy, the five-time MLS Cup champions.
LAFC will formally introduce Bradley on Friday at the Natural History Museum in downtown Los Angeles, next door to the site of the club’s under-construction new stadium.
The 59-year-old Bradley has no players just yet on his new team, but he has a lengthy list of coaching accomplishments. He became the first American coach to lead a Premiership team last season, although his tenure in charge of Swansea City lasted just 11 games.
Bradley coached the U.S. team from 2006-11, winning a CONCACAF Gold Cup title in 2007 before becoming the only coach in 80 years to win a World Cup group and reach the knockout rounds in South Africa in 2010.
After leaving the U.S. team, Bradley eschewed MLS jobs and embarked on an international career. He successfully coached the Egyptian national team and club teams in Norway and France before landing with Swansea late last year.
Galaxy fire coach Onalfo, re-hire Schmid
CARSON » The LA Galaxy are running out of time to save their season, so they’ve brought back a familiar face to lead their playoff charge.
The Galaxy fired coach Curt Onalfo on Thursday just 20 games into his first season and re-hired veteran coach Sigi Schmid to run the struggling MLS powerhouse.
A few hours after their coaching change, the Galaxy also signed Mexican midfielder Jonathan Dos Santos as their third designated player. Dos Santos leaves Villarreal of Spain’s La Liga to join his brother, Galaxy star Giovani Dos Santos.