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Bradley Edwin Guzan (; born September 9, 1984) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a goalkeeper.
A college soccer second-team All-American for the South Carolina Gamecocks, Guzan was second overall pick in the 2005 MLS SuperDraft, signing for Chivas USA, with whom he was the 2007 MLS Goalkeeper of the Year. In July 2008, he joined Premier League club Aston Villa for a fee of $1 million, where he made 171 total appearances across eight seasons. After a brief spell at Middlesbrough, he returned to Major League Soccer with Atlanta United in January 2017, becoming the club's record appearance holder and winning MLS Cup in 2018 before retiring from the sport in 2025.
Guzan made his senior debut for the United States national team in 2006, earning over 60 caps. He was named in their squads for two FIFA World Cups and four CONCACAF Gold Cups, winning the latter in 2007, 2017 and 2021. He also featured for them at the 2008 Olympics, the 2007 Copa América, the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup and the Copa América Centenario.
On August 1, 2008, Guzan was granted a work permit by the Home Office, allowing him to complete his move to Aston Villa. He was due to be officially introduced by Aston Villa after competing for the United States at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Guzan was the second American goalkeeper named Brad to be signed during the summer by Aston Villa, following the capture of Premier League veteran Brad Friedel.
Guzan made his Aston Villa debut in September 2008 in the League Cup at home to Queens Park Rangers. He made his European soccer debut in the UEFA Cup game away at Slavia Prague on November 6, 2008. The match finished 1–0 to Aston Villa, with Guzan making several saves to keep a clean sheet. His performance led to his manager Martin O'Neill describing him as a "class goalkeeper in the making." He also started in Aston Villa's first leg against CSKA Moscow in the round of 32 of the UEFA Cup at Villa Park on February 18, 2009, also later appearing as a substitute against Liverpool after Friedel's red card.
Guzan played in every game that Aston Villa won during their success in the 2009 Peace Cup, against Atlante, FC Porto and Juventus FC. He then helped Aston Villa overcome the Italians in the final, most notably in the penalty shootout during which he saved the attempts of Vincenzo Iaquinta and Alessandro Del Piero. The only game that Aston Villa did not win (in the group stages against Málaga) was the one in which Guzan did not feature.
Despite having a successful pre-season period, Guzan was dropped from the first team in favor of Friedel for Aston Villa's opening game of the 2009–10 season against Wigan Athletic. On October 27, 2009, Guzan saved four penalties in one match, one in normal time and three more in a penalty shoot-out win over Sunderland at the Stadium of Light in the last 16 of the League Cup. Despite these heroics, however, Friedel replaced him in goal for the final against Manchester United.
On March 8, however, Hull re-signed Guzan on an emergency loan deal due to an injury to goalkeeper Vito Mannone. Guzan's first appearance back at the club was in a home match against Burnley. Guzan's last game for Hull City came in a 1–2 win away at Watford on April 9, 2011, after which he returned to Aston Villa.
Guzan was released by Villa at the end of his contract in June 2012. However, he was linked with a return to the club over the summer in a situation similar to that of fellow Aston Villa goalkeeper Andy Marshall in 2010. On July 16, 2012, Guzan was included in new manager Paul Lambert's 25-man squad for Aston Villa's tour of the United States and on the same day, the player confirmed via Twitter that he had renewed his contract and rejoined the club.
He made his return for Aston Villa against Newcastle United putting in a Man of the Match performance in a 1–1 draw at St James' Park. He kept Villa's first clean sheet of the season in a 2–0 win against Swansea City and performed well enough to keep his position in the starting lineup. At the end of the 2012–13 Premier League season, he was voted the Aston Villa Player of the Year thanks to his large contribution to Villa's bid to avoid relegation. On July 6, 2013, Guzan was rewarded for his play and signed a four-year contract extension with the Midlands club.
On July 18, 2013, Guzan stated that he hoped to give Aston Villa the best years of his career and said that signing a new contract was a "no-brainer."
On September 28, 2013, Guzan remarkably earned an assist on an Andreas Weimann goal in a 3–2 Aston Villa – Manchester City : 3–2 (Lineups) ScoresPro.com win over Manchester City in which Paul Lambert praised Guzan's distribution technique for goal kicks.
During the 2014–15 season, Guzan was dropped by new Aston Villa manager Tim Sherwood after a high-profile error against Manchester City gifted Sergio Agüero the opening goal in a 3–2 defeat on April 25, 2015, with Shay Given taking his place for the final games of the Premier League season. Guzan also missed out on Aston Villa's run to the 2015 FA Cup Final, with Given playing in every round.
Following the conclusion of the 2025 regular season on October 18, Guzan officially retired from professional soccer at the age of 41, finishing his time in Atlanta with 225 appearances, the most in the club's history, as well as being their longest serving captain.
Guzan made his World Cup qualifying debut in the second leg of a second round qualifier against Barbados on June 14, 2008, in an 8–0 home victory. Weeks later, he was chosen for the Olympic team for the tournament in China, where he kept a shutout in an opening 1–0 win over Japan. When the United States came runners-up at the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa, he played in a 3–0 group victory against Egypt that put the team into the semi-finals at the expense of their opponents and Italy.
Guzan was unused at the 2010 FIFA World Cup and played no international games between that November and May 2012, when he came on as a substitute for Tim Howard near the end of a 5–1 friendly win over Scotland in Jacksonville. Howard took an international sabbatical after starting at the 2014 FIFA World Cup, during which Guzan was first-choice. At the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup, in which the United States came fourth, Guzan and Michael Bradley were the only two Americans to start every game; he won the Golden Glove. Howard returned to the team for 2016's Copa América Centenario, but Guzan kept his place in a run to the semi-finals.
Guzan was in the American side that won the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup. He played the first two group games before Bill Hamid took his place for the third, then he and Sean Johnson were replaced in the squad by Howard and Jesse González. He was unused as the Americans won again in 2021.
!National team!!Year!!Apps!!Goals
Chivas USA
Aston Villa
Atlanta United
United States
Individual
After football
In January 2026, Atlanta United announced that Guzan was returning to the club as Club Ambassador and Sporting Advisor.
Personal life
Guzan is a Christianity. Guzan has spoken about his faith, saying, "My personal life, my faith life and my sport life – they all come together. I think they have to. You don't have one without the others, and you have to have Jesus in your life. That is how I get through my personal life, how I get through my professional life – following Christ. ... we all need Christ in our lives. Money, fame, all those objects, they don't mean anything if you don't have Jesus in your life. All of those things can be gone in the blink of an eye. We can't get caught up in it."
Career statistics
Club
+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
!rowspan="2" Club
!rowspan="2" Season
!colspan="3" League
!colspan="2" National cup
!colspan="2" League cup
!colspan="2" Continental
!colspan="2" Other
!colspan="2" Total Chicago Fire Reserves 2004 PDL 0 Chivas USA 2005 Major League Soccer 0 2006 Major League Soccer 0 2007 Major League Soccer 0 2008 Major League Soccer 15||0||1||0||colspan="2"|—||colspan="2"|—||colspan="2"|—||16|0
Aston Villa Premier League 0 2009–10 Premier League 0 2010–11 Premier League 0 2011–12 Premier League 0 2012–13 Premier League 0 2013–14 Premier League 0 2014–15 Premier League 0 2015–16 Premier League 0 Hull City (loan) 2010–11 EFL Championship 0 Middlesbrough 2016–17 Premier League 0 Atlanta United 2017 Major League Soccer 0 2018 Major League Soccer 0 2019 Major League Soccer 0 2020 Major League Soccer 0 2021 Major League Soccer 0 2022 Major League Soccer 0 2023 Major League Soccer 0 2024 Major League Soccer 0 2025 Major League Soccer 0
International
+ Appearances and goals by national team and year
United States 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Honors
Chicago Fire Reserves
External links
Categories: 1984 Births, Living People, American People Of Polish Descent, Sportspeople From Evergreen Park, Illinois, Soccer Players From Cook County, Illinois, American Men's Soccer Players, Men's Association Football Goalkeepers, South Carolina Gamecocks Men's Soccer Players, Chicago Fire U-23 Players, Chivas Usa Draft Picks, Chivas Usa Players, Aston Villa F.c. Players, Hull City A.f.c. Players, Middlesbrough F.c. Players, Atlanta United Fc Players, Usl League Two Players, Major League Soccer Players, Major League Soccer All-stars, Premier League Players, English Football League Players, United States Men's Under-23 International Soccer Players, Olympic Soccer Players For The United States, United States Men's International Soccer Players, 2007 Concacaf Gold Cup Players, 2007 Copa América Players, Footballers At The 2008 Summer Olympics, 2009 Fifa Confederations Cup Players, 2010 Fifa World Cup Players, 2014 Fifa World Cup Players, 2015 Concacaf Gold Cup Players, Copa América Centenario Players, 2017 Concacaf Gold Cup Players, 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup Players, Concacaf Gold Cup–winning Players, American Expatriate Men's Soccer Players, American Expatriate Sportspeople In England, Expatriate Men's Footballers In England, 21st-century American Sportsmen
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