Brian McBride

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Brian McBride
Personal information
Full name	Brian John McBride
Date of birth	June 19, 1972 (age 34)
Place of birth	Arlington Heights, Illinois, United States
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Nickname	Super Mac, Macca, Bake, bri bri, Runaway Bride, McHead
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Fulham
Number	20
Youth clubs
1990-1993	Scott Gallagher St. Louis University
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1994 1994-95 1996-2003 2000 2002 2004-present	Milwaukee Rampage VfL Wolfsburg Columbus Crew → Preston North End (loan) → Everton (loan) Fulham	018 (17) 018 0(2) 161 (62) 009 0(1) 008 0(4) 78 (28)
National team2
1993–2006	United States	095 (30)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17:47, 24 February 2007 (UTC). 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 7 December 2006. * Appearances (Goals)

Brian McBride (born June 19, 1972) is an American football (soccer) striker who has appeared in three World Cups for the United States national team and is currently playing for the club Fulham of the English Premier League.

Before joining Fulham, McBride had previously played in England for Everton in 2002 and Preston North End in 2000. Before that, McBride played for VfL Wolfsburg of the German 2 Bundesliga and the Columbus Crew of Major League Soccer, for whom he was a fan favorite. McBride was most recently named Fulham FC Player of the Season for 2005-06 by Fulham supporters.

Contents 1 High School 2 Saint Louis University 3 Milwaukee Rampage 4 Germany 5 Major League Soccer 6 Loan Spells in England 7 Fulham 8 National team 9 External links

[edit] High School

McBride, a native of Arlington Heights, Illinois, played varsity soccer at Buffalo Grove High School, under coach John Erfort, where he led the Bison to the Illinois state championship in 1988, his junior year. In his four years in high school, he scored 80 goals, 33 as a senior. He was All State, All Midwest and a Parade All American. Later, as a professional, he signed a contract with Nike with the condition that the boys' varsity soccer team receive new uniforms every two years. McBride's support of his old school team continued when he attended numerous training sessions there during a spell out from his professional team, Columbus Crew, with a blood clot.

[edit] Saint Louis University

McBride had an illustrious career with Saint Louis University, from which he graduated in 1993. In his four seasons with the Billikens, he played (and started) in 89 games, scoring 72 goals and assisting on another 40. He holds all of the school's individual scoring records, including season and career.

[edit] Milwaukee Rampage

McBride briefly played for the minor league Milwaukee Rampage. In 18 games, he scored 17 goals and assisted another 18. That year also saw Tony Sanneh playing with the Rampage. Both Sanneh and McBride would play professionally in Germany, in MLS and on the U.S. men's national team.

They linked up for a historic goal at the 2002 FIFA World Cup. In the game against Portugal, Sanneh, playing right back, played a cross into the box which McBride put into the top corner. After the game, McBride mentioned, "We joked about it in the locker room, it is a play we have done a thousand times (at the Milwaukee Rampage). I took a step in at the far post and lost my marker. He delivered a beautiful cross and I knocked it home."^[1]

[edit] Germany

In 1994, McBride left the United States to ply his trade in Germany. At the time, VfL Wolfsburg played in the German Second Division and provided several aspiring American players an opportunity to play football in Europe. These included Chad Deering, Claudio Reyna and Mike Lapper, as well as McBride. McBride struggled to find playing time with the club and also had difficulty scoring. However, one of his two goals came in an 2-1 upset victory over Bayern Munich in the German Cup quarterfinals. At the end of the season, McBride gained a release from Wolfsburg and when MLS was created, chose to return to play in the United States.

[edit] Major League Soccer

McBride returned to America in 1996 for the inaugural season of Major League Soccer, for whom he was the first overall pick of the MLS Inaugural Draft. McBride would proceed to play eight years with the Columbus Crew, amassing 62 goals (tied for the club record with Jeff Cunningham) and 45 assists in 161 league games, before his move to England. In 2005, he was named to the MLS All-Time Best XI.

[edit] Loan Spells in England

While playing for Columbus in the MLS, McBride spent two loan periods in England. The first came in 2000 when McBride played for Preston North End, then managed by David Moyes. While McBride played well for the club, he sat out several games after having a blood clot surgically removed from his arm. The clot came as a result of a hard collision McBride had suffered during his first game with Preston. As McBride's loan spell came to an end, Preston attempted to purchase his contract from MLS for $1.8 million. MLS rejected it, considering McBride to be worth twice that amount.^[2] Two years later, Premiership club Everton was beginning to slide down the table. David Moyes, now with Everton, remembered McBride's success with Preston and sought the forward's services to help Everton. During McBride's three months with the club, he did not disappoint Moyes, scoring four goals in eight games, including his first game with the club, a victory over Tottenham.^[3] Everton, unlike Preston, merely sought to extend McBride's loan period, but MLS rejected it, preferring a transfer over an extended loan for McBride.^[4]

[edit] Fulham

In January 2004, English Premiership club Fulham bought McBride's rights from MLS for $1.5 million. By this time, McBride was approaching the end of his contract with MLS and the league sought to profit from his transfer as much as possible. They had retained McBride in MLS in order to maximize on his appeal to the fans, but did not want another situation similar to Joe-Max Moore who left MLS for Everton for little more than a token transfer fee. Therefore, the league settled for less than even Preston had offered in 2000 to transfer McBride to Fulham. When McBride arrived in Fulham, he scored his first goal in his debut game - against Tottenham again.

He played 18 games during the last half of the 2003-04 season, scoring a total of 5 goals. His scoring pace remained steady through the next two seasons. In 2004-05, he played 31 league games and 6 cup games, scoring 6 league and 3 cup goals. In 2005-06, he played 39 league and 1 cup games, scoring 10 league and 1 cup goal. McBride's original contract with Fulham continued only through the 2005-06 season. However, on March 10, 2006, he signed a one year extension which took him through the end of the 2006-07 season. On February 2, 2007, he signed yet another one year extension, taking him through the 2007-2008 season. He has a reputation as a battler with a high work rate, a trait prized in English football. He is known as one of the best in the world in the air, with his leaping ability and powerful frame allowing him to battle with big central defenders.

McBride is currently Fulham's top scorer for their 2006-07 Premiership campaign with 12 goals to his name.

[edit] National team

McBride has been a significant player for the United States national team, earning 95 caps and scoring 30 goals for the national team. He made his international debut in 1993.

He appeared in the 1998, 2002, and 2006 World Cups, and is the only American ever to score goals in more than one World Cup, doing so in the tournaments of 1998 and 2002. Both of the goals he scored in the 2002 tournament were game-winners for the United States (versus Portugal and Mexico). McBride is second behind Bert Patenaude for the most World Cup goals for an American with three.

On May 2, 2006, McBride was named to the US roster for his 3rd consecutive World Cup. At the 2006 World Cup finals, McBride was severely bloodied against the Group Play match against Italy. Daniele De Rossi elbowed McBride in the face, requiring the American to get three stitches. De Rossi later apologized to McBride (who subsequently praised De Rossi as "classy" for approaching him after the match). De Rossi was banned for four matches and fined CHF 10,000.^{[citation needed]}

McBride announced his retirement from international soccer on July 26, 2006.[5] He is the first-ever spokesperson for the Central Ohio Diabetes Association. He donated $100 to the association for every goal and assist he tallied for the U.S. National Team.

[edit] External links

• from Yanks Abroad
  • Player profile
  • Game reports and other articles
• Brian McBride career stats at Soccerbase
• Fulham bio
• SLU Bio
• The Brian McBride Site
• Brian McBride's bio on usolympicteam.com
• FulhamUSA (group that sponsors Brian McBride's kit)

Preceded by Mark Chung

MLS Fair Play Award Winner 2003

Succeeded by Eddie Pope

	United States squad - 1998 FIFA World Cup
1 Friedel | 2 Hejduk | 3 Pope | 4 Burns | 5 Dooley | 6 Regis | 7 Wegerle | 8 Stewart | 9 Moore | 10 Ramos | 11 Wynalda | 12 Agoos | 13 Jones | 14 Preki | 15 Deering | 16 Sommer | 17 Balboa | 18 Keller | 19 Maisonneuve | 20 McBride | 21 Reyna | 22 Lalas | Coach: Sampson

	United States squad - 2002 FIFA World Cup Quarter-finalists
1 Friedel | 2 Hejduk | 3 Berhalter | 4 Mastroeni | 5 O'Brien | 6 Regis | 7 Lewis | 8 Stewart | 9 Moore | 10 Reyna | 11 Mathis | 12 Agoos | 13 Jones | 14 Cherundolo | 15 Wolff | 16 Llamosa | 17 Beasley | 18 Keller | 19 Meola | 20 McBride | 21 Donovan | 22 Sanneh | 23 Pope | Coach: Arena

	United States squad - 2006 FIFA World Cup
1 Howard | 2 Albright | 3 Bocanegra | 4 Mastroeni | 5 O'Brien | 6 Cherundolo | 7 Lewis | 8 Dempsey | 9 Johnson | 10 Reyna | 11 Ching | 12 Berhalter | 13 Conrad | 14 Olsen | 15 Convey | 16 Wolff | 17 Beasley | 18 Keller | 19 Hahnemann | 20 McBride | 21 Donovan | 22 Onyewu | 23 Pope | Coach: Arena

Fulham F.C. - Current Squad
2 Volz | 3 Bocanegra | 4 Queudrue | 5 Christanval | 6 Knight | 7 Rosenior | 8 Brown | 9 Helguson | 11 Montella | 12 Laštůvka | 13 Radzinski | 14 Bouba Diop | 15 John | 16 Jensen | 17 Elliott | 19 Pearce | 20 McBride | 21 Bullard | 22 Routledge | 23 Dempsey | 24 Pembridge | 25 Davies | 26 Collins | 27 Elrich | 28 Milsom | 29 Niemi | 32 Omozusi | 37 Smertin | Manager: Coleman

Major League Soccer | MLS All-Time Best XI
Tony Meola | Jeff Agoos | Marcelo Balboa | Eddie Pope | Landon Donovan | Marco Etcheverry Piotr Nowak | Preki | Carlos Valderrama | Brian McBride | Jaime Moreno