NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Captaincy in and of itself isn't a new challenge for US national team midfielder Michael Bradley. He captains Toronto FC, and he wore the armband during June's successful national-team trip to Europe.
He'll wear it again during the upcoming Gold Cup, but the circumstances are far from normal.
Head coach Jurgen Klinsmann made the decision to name Bradley captain for the tournament and for Friday's warm-up against Guatemala (6:30 pm ET; Fox Sports 1, UniMás, Univision Deportes) even with Clint Dempsey's return to the Stars & Stripes.
After ripping up referee Daniel Radford’s notebook in a June 16 US Open Cup game between his Seattle Sounders and heated rival Portland Timbers, Dempsey – who once again declined to speak to media in the mixed zone ahead of Thursday’s training session – was suspended three games by MLS and given a two-year US Open Cup suspension by the U.S. Soccer Federation.
Obviously, that factored into Klinsmann's decision, though he said it was more about keeping Dempsey's focus aimed in one direction.
"It's important to take the heat off Clint,” Klinsmann said. “It's nothing you want to go through. It was his first red card ever, and at the age of 32, that's amazing. It's important to talk through that stuff, and with the Gold Cup coming up so quickly it was best to pass on the captaincy to Michael.
“He's excited about that and rightfully so. It's important to have Clint at his best condition for us. He's an exceptional player. We need him on board, we need him in a good mood and we need him enthusiastic. And we need him to score."
Klinsmann said the captaincy situation will be reassessed after the Gold Cup.
Bradley – who was told of the switch by Klinsmann after breakfast Thursday – said captaining his country is a "huge honor and big responsibility."
He added that with a veteran squad, there's plenty of leadership to go around.
"We're lucky we have a number of guys with big personalities,” he said. “Brad Guzan, Clint Dempsey, Jozy Altidore will all be there with me.”
Bradley did a good job echoing his coach's message: Games in CONCACAF are different from those in Europe, and friendly wins against the Netherlands and Germany are nice but they are only a means, not an end.
"Anything that's happened up until now doesn't matter,” he said. “It's a very, very difficult tournament.”
