US extends Bradley’s soccer coaching contract

US extends Coach Bradley's soccer coaching contract

US national soccer team Bob Bradley signed a four-year contract extension to coach the team through the 2014 World Cup.

Coach Bradley and US Soccer began talks of an agreement last week which ended with the announcement made on Monday. The announcement ended more than two months of speculation about the job.

After leading the US team to the World Cup round of 16 in South Africa, Bradley faced an uncertain future with his career.

He earlier expressed an interest in assuming the vacant coaching position with English Premiere League team Aston Villa while waiting for the decision of US Soccer. The US national football authority was considering other coaching candidates that reportedly included Juergen Klinsmann, the head coach of Germany.

The 52-year old Bradley have been paid with $600,000 as base salary with his old contract, and it is believed that the new deal is worth much more.

Bradley is credited with improving the US national football team since he took over the coaching duties after a failed World Cup campaign by the team in 2006.

The highlight of his tenure was during the 2009 Confederations Cup, where the team beat World Cup champion Spain in a semifinal match before bowing to Brazil in the final.

Landon Donovan and other US players feared that their coach would move on and go to Europe.

Bradley will start coaching soon as the US team will play against Poland and Colombia in exhibition play on October 9 and 12.

Posted by Andre Monohan on Tuesday August 31 2010, 10:54 AM EST. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0