Paul Bravo

Infobox Football biography
playername= Paul Bravo


fullname = Paul Bravo
nickname =
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1968|6|19
cityofbirth =Campbell, CA
countryofbirth = United States
height =
currentclub =
clubnumber =
position = Midfielder / Forward
youthyears = 1988-1989
youthclubs = Santa Clara University
years = 1991-1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997-2001
clubs = San Francisco Bay Blackhawks
San Jose Hawks
San Francisco Greek-Americans
Monterey Bay Jaguars
San Jose Clash
Colorado Rapids
caps(goals) = 025 0(3)
019 (19)
031 (13)
135 (39)
nationalyears = 1994-1999
nationalteam = United States
nationalcaps(goals) = 004 0(1)
manageryears = 2002-2003
2004-2005
2006-
managerclubs = Colorado Rapids "(assistant)"
UCLA "(assistant)"
Los Angeles Galaxy "(assistant)"
pcupdate = 17:47, 24 February 2007 (UTC)
ntupdate = 7 December 2006

Paul Bravo (born June 19 1968 in Campbell, California) is a former American soccer midfielder and forward.

Youth and college

Bravo played two years of college soccer at Santa Clara University and helped his team to the NCAA co-championship in 1989. While he left college early, he continued to work on his education and earned a bachelor's degree in political science from Santa Clara in 1993.

Professional

In 1991, Bravo signed with the San Francisco Bay Blackhawks of the American Professional Soccer League (APSL). He earned Rookie of the Year honors that season as the Blackhawks took the APSL championship. In 1993, the Blackhawks ownership moved the team to the lower division USISL and renamed the team the San Jose Hawks. Despite the reduced team costs, the Hawks folded at the end of the 1993 season. Bravo then remained in the San Francisco area with the San Francisco Greek-Americans, winning the U.S. Open Cup in 1994. In 1995, he moved to the Monterey Bay Jaguars. The San Jose Clash of Major League Soccer (MLS) drafted Bravo with the eighth overall pick of the MLS Inaugural Player Draft.

Bravo spent just a season with San Jose, and, despite the presence of Eric Wynalda, led the team with thirteen goals. He was an MLS All Star this year. On December 15, 1996, the Clash traded Bravo to the Colorado Rapids for Dominic Kinnear and a second round draft pick. Bravo spent the next five years with Colorado, and would retire with a club record 39 league goals (he added five in the playoffs). In November 2001 the Rapids waived Bravo, but as no team chose to offer him a contract, he retired from playing professionally. In his six-year MLS career, Bravo scored 52 goals and added 27 assists. He repeated as an All Star in 1998 and 1999.

National team

Bravo earned four caps for the United States national team. His first cap came in a December 11, 1994 tie with Honduras. He did not play again until April 22, 1995, a 1-0 loss to Belgium. In 1999, Bruce Arena called up Bravo for the 1999 Confederations Cup. He started the July 30, 1999 game against Germany, then earned his last cap in the third-place 2-0 victory against Saudi Arabia. The U.S. won that game on the strength of goals from both Bravo and Brian McBride.

Coaching

After retiring as a player, Bravo went into coaching. He began as an assistant with the Colorado Rapids in 2002. In 2004, UCLA hired Bravo as an assistant to its men's soccer team. On June 15, 2006, he became an assistant coach with the Los Angeles Galaxy of MLS. [ [http://www.pac-10.org/sports/m-soccer/spec-rel/061506aaa.html Paul Bravo Named Assistant Coach For LA Galaxy] June 15, 2006. Retrieved 2007-10-01.]

Paul Bravo now plays for Hollywood United Football Club in Los Angeles, California. [ [http://www.evenison.com/love-of-the-game/hollywood-united-football-club Hollywood United] evenison.com, Feb 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-01.]

References