TORONTO – It’ll be a family reunion of sorts for Toronto FC captain Michael Bradley during the early portion of the club’s pre-season training camp.
The MLS Cup champs officially opened camp on Monday, with players reporting for their medicals before the team flew out to Los Angeles where it’ll train for 11 days. During their time in the Golden State, the Reds will play a number of exhibition matches, including against MLS expansion side Los Angeles FC, who, as it so happens, is coached by Bradley’s father Bob.
TFC will tangle with LAFC on Feb. 2 in Los Angeles, marking the first time, according to the Toronto midfielder, that he’ll ever go up against his dad.
“Unless I’m missing or forgetting something, no, I don’t think I’ve ever played against one of his teams. It’s pre-season, so it’ll be good,” Bradley said with a coy smile.
Bob Bradley is back in Major League Soccer after a 12-year absence. He was a college coach of some renown – he led the Princeton Tigers to two Ivy League titles and one NCAA Final Four appearance – before becoming an assistant coach with D.C. United.
He took charge of the Chicago Fire in 1998, leading the club to an MLS Cup title that season. He was also named MLS coach of the year. He then moved on to the New York MetroStars, where he drafted his 16-year-old son during the 2004 MLS college draft. From there, Bradley went to Chivas USA where he won a second MLS coach of the year honour before being named coach of the U.S. national team.
During Bob Bradley’s tenure, the U.S. won the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup and finished runners-up at the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup. After leaving the Stars and Stripes, Bradley held a number of jobs: Egypt’s national team, Norwegian club Staeback, Le Havre in France’s second division and Premier League club Swansea City. Then last summer, he was named coach of LAFC for its inaugural MLS season in 2018.
Bradley has wasted little time in building his roster. So far, LAFC has signed Mexican forward Carlos Vela as a designated player, traded for veteran defender Laurent Ciman and midfielder Benny Feilhaber, lured free agent fullback Steven Beitashour away from TFC, and used the No. 1 overall pick in the college draft on University of Akron defender Joao Moutinho.
“I’m excited to see him. I’m excited if we have a chance at some point to spend a little bit of time together,” Bradley said of hooking up with his father next week.
Bradley, his wife and their two young children recently visited his parents in California. His father took all of them to Banc of California Stadium, the team’s home that is currently under construction and slated to open in April, so they could get a first-hand glimpse of the venue.
“My kids were excited that they got to put on the hard hats and see everything up close,” TFC’s captain said.
LAFC and TFC will also face each other during the 2018 regular season, with the expansion club paying a visit to BMO Field on Sept. 1.
“I’m excited to see what his team looks like at that point in pre-season. From afar, for 33 games this year, I’ll be a big LAFC fan,” Bradley admitted.
“I’ll certainly be watching closely and paying attention, and rooting for them in a big way. [But] I’m so proud of what we have going on here, what we’re building, and that part will never change.”
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