Brad Friedel (born May 18, 1971 in Lakewood, Ohio) is an American international football (soccer) goalkeeper currently playing for Blackburn Rovers in the English Premier League.

Club career

Friedel studied at UCLA (where he was a NCAA champion in 1990 and won the Hermann Trophy in 1992) and has been contracted to Danish side Brøndby, Turkish power Galatasaray, the Columbus Crew of MLS, and Liverpool. At Liverpool he had a terrible time managing just over 30 games in almost three years. In 2000 he was signed to Blackburn Rovers by Graeme Souness on a free transfer after a work permit was secured. Due to his American nationality, Friedel has had problems securing a work permit to play in England on several occasions; this caused a move to Newcastle to fall through in 1995. Friedel is currently the first choice goal keeper at Blackburn and is regarded as one of the best keepers in the league.

International career

Friedel is the second most-capped goalkeeper in U.S. national team history and gained his first international cap against Canada in 1992 in which he managed to keep a clean sheet. He was the first choice goal keeper for the U.S 1992 Olympic team; however, he was unable to beat out Tony Meola as first choice keeper for the U.S. team at the 1994 World Cup. However his chance came, and Friedel made his World Cup debut in France '98 where he conceded one goal as the U.S. lost to Yugoslavia. He lived up to his growing reputation in Korea and Japan as the U.S. went on a surprising run to the quarterfinals, which included a 3-2 defeat of Portugal in group play and a 2-0 second-round win over archrival Mexico before a loss to Germany (the eventual runner-up). He also became the first keeper to save two penalty kicks during regular play (as opposed to penalty shootouts) in a World Cup finals tournament since 1974. He was dubbed "The Human Wall" by fans during the spectacular 2002 World Cup run.

On February 7, 2005, Friedel announced his retirement from international soccer.

Statistics and Honours

Statistics

• Blackburn Rovers - 159 appearances (as of March 30 2004)
• Liverpool 31 appearances
• Columbus Crew - 38 appearances
• USA National Team - 81 appearances

Honours

• NCAA Champion 1990 with UCLA
• MLS Goalkeeper of the Year - 1997
• Bronze medal at 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup with the U.S
• Won Worthington Cup in 2001/02 with Blackburn
• U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year - 2002
• Member of the 2002/03 PFA Premiership XI