diversion is futbol, but not US National Teams

former USMNT, however

Fans of US soccer know Bob Bradley as the former coach of the men’s national team and the father of Michael, the bedrock of that team at midfield. I know that coaches at this level are nomads, going where the opportunities are around the world. You know … a job is a job. But I had not realized Bradley now coaches the men’s national team of Egypt.

Nor had I paid much attention to him as a person before, but reading the piece about him and his team in Sports Illustrated on line this week will lead me to pay more attention to both, going forward. I am not going to try to even summarize the dangerous situation he and members of his team have been in, but they certainly include issues beyond the Morsi / Muslim Brotherhood / Military Junta conflicts and they include violence. To say that being an American coach newly in country in this situation is challenging is to be guilty of laughable understatement.

Impressive stuff. A national team is not, automatically, a force for unity. A coach is not, automatically, a leader. Doing things “right” is a necessary but not sufficient predicate for success, as fate plays a huge role.

Read the article to get, as they say, the measure of the man. And his wife. Best of luck to the Bradleys and the Pharaohs.