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Bob Bradley replaces Francesco Guidolin at Swansea.
Bob Bradley replaces Francesco Guidolin at Swansea. Photograph: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
Bob Bradley replaces Francesco Guidolin at Swansea. Photograph: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

Bob Bradley says Swansea job a 'special opportunity' for US football

This article is more than 7 years old
  • Former USA boss took charge of Le Havre for final time on Monday night
  • ‘The opportunity to go to the Premier League is special’

Bob Bradley has said his appointment as Swansea City coach is a special opportunity for him – but also for US football.

Bradley, 58, will become the first American to coach in the Premier League when it was confirmed on Monday he would replace Francesco Guidolin in south Wales.

Bradley took charge of Ligue 2 Le Havre for the final time on Monday night, and admitted he’d have preferred to wait until the end of the season to make the move. The lure of the Premier League, however, proved too strong.

The former USA and Egypt boss was asked whether he had any hesitation in making the move to Swansea. “Honestly, no,” he replied. “In a perfect world, I would finish this season, go right to the end just like last year. But in football, you don’t control timing.

“At this moment, the opportunity to go to the Premier League – on many levels – is special. I’m sorry to leave, especially at this moment, but it’s still an opportunity for me, my family and American football. That’s important.”

Bradley took over at Le Havre in November last year, and missed out on promotion to Ligue 1 on goals scored: his side finished level on points with third-placed Metz, with the same goal difference, but scored two fewer goals and had to settle for fourth.

He leaves Le Havre in fifth in Ligue 2 currently, three points off top spot. “I told the players before the match I’ll never forget the feeling of watching the team in the final game of last season. To miss out by one goal … to see a team playing with passion, commitment to go to Ligue 1,” Bradley said. “That picture is part of my football memory and will never go away.”

Jürgen Klinsmann, the man who replaced Bradley as USA coach in 2011 – despite Bradley leading his side to the last 16 of the 2010 World Cup and a runners-up spot in the Confederations Cup a year earlier – said he was thrilled for his fellow coach.

“I think this is super exciting, because he’s the first American coaching in the Premier League, and this is huge,” Klinsmann told fans in a Q&A on Facebook Live. “Huge compliment to him, and big congratulations to him and to Swansea City. We keep all our fingers crossed that things go well for him in his new adventure. I think he totally, totally deserves that opportunity.”

USA forward Jozy Altidore described Bradley’s appointment as a “great moment” for soccer in America.

“I think it’s terrific,” Altidore said from training camp, where the US national team are preparing for friendlies against Cuba and New Zealand. “Anybody that’s been a part of US Soccer for the past 10-20 years, I think you see from the inside how hard everybody has worked, and to have a coach now who I think paid his dues, he’s done well, he’s kind of climbed the ladder, so to speak … I think it’s a great moment for US Soccer, it’s a great moment for him, and we all hope he does a great job there.”

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