Paul Bravo (born June 19, 1968) is an American former

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who was most recently head coach of NISA side

Oakland Roots SC Oakland Roots Sports Club is an American professional soccer team based in Oakland, California. The club was formed in 2018 by a group of Oakland natives, and began play in the National Independent Soccer Association in the fall of 2019. In 2021, ...

. He played six seasons in

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

, two in the

American Professional Soccer League The American Professional Soccer League (APSL) was a professional men's soccer league with teams from the United States and later Canada. It was formed in 1990 by the merger of the third American Soccer League with the Western Soccer League. It ...

and two in the

USISL United Soccer League (USL), formerly known as United Soccer Leagues, is a Association football, soccer league in the United States and Canada. It organizes several men's and women's leagues, both professional and amateur. Men's leagues curren ...

. He also earned four

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Jav ...

, scoring one goal, with the

United States men's national soccer team The United States men's national soccer team (USMNT) represents the United States in men's international soccer competitions. The team is controlled by the United States Soccer Federation and is a member of FIFA and CONCACAF. The U.S. team ...

. After his retirement from playing, Bravo served for several years as an assistant coach in both

and the NCAA and was most recently Technical Director for the

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Founded in 1995, as part of the Anschutz Corporation, la ...

Youth and college

Bravo was a student-athlete at Santa Teresa High School in

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popu ...

. He then played two years of college soccer at Foothill Community College and winning State Championships and while 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.

Playing career

Professional

In 1991, Bravo signed with the

San Francisco Bay Blackhawks San Francisco Bay Blackhawks were a professional soccer team which came into existence in 1989 as a team in the Western Soccer League (WSL). The Blackhawks spent time in the American Professional Soccer League (APSL) and the United States Interr ...

of the

(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

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 The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States of America. It is the oldest ongoing national soccer competition in that country. The 2023 U.S. Ope ...

in 1994. In 1995, he moved to the

Monterey Bay Jaguars California Jaguars were an American soccer team that played in Salinas, California at the Salinas Sports Complex. They joined the USISL in 1995 as the Monterey Bay Jaguars, but changed the name a year later. They played in the A-League A- ...

. The San Jose Clash of

(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 Eric Boswell Wynalda (born June 9, 1969) is an American soccer coach, television commentator, and retired player. He was formerly an analyst and color commentator for soccer coverage on Fox Sports 1 and ESPN. Previously, he served as head coach ...

, led the team with thirteen goals. He was an MLS All Star this year. On December 15, 1996, the Clash traded Bravo and Rafael Amaya to the

for

Dominic Kinnear Dominic Kinnear (born July 26, 1967) is an American soccer coach and former player. On January 18, 2022, he was named an assistant coach by FC Cincinnati, his first coaching role since serving as the interim head coach of the LA Galaxy. As a p ...

and a second round pick in the 1998 MLS Supplemental Draft. 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. After his retirement, Bravo continued to play for the amateur Hollywood United F.C. in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

National team

Bravo earned four

for the United States national team. His first cap came in a December 11, 1994 tie with

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...

. He did not play again until April 22, 1995, a 1-0 loss to

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to the ...

. In 1999,

Bruce Arena Bruce Arena (born September 21, 1951) is an American soccer coach who is the head coach and sporting director of the New England Revolution. He is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame and the NJCAA Lacrosse Hall of Fame. Arena has had ...

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 Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries by area, fifth-largest country in Asia ...

. The U.S. won that game on the strength of goals from both Bravo and

Brian McBride Brian Robert McBride (born June 19, 1972) is an American former soccer player who played as a forward for Columbus Crew, Fulham and Chicago Fire. He is the fifth-highest all-time leading goalscorer for the United States national team. For m ...

Coach

After retiring as a player, Bravo went into coaching. He began as an assistant with the

in 2002. In 2004,

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

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. On August 24, 2007, he became the Galaxy's Director of Soccer. On January 10, 2009, he was named as the Technical Director for the

. He signed a three-year contract extension with Colorado on February 1, 2012. In May 2019, Bravo was announced as the first head coach of

of the new

National Independent Soccer Association The National Independent Soccer Association (NISA) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States. The league is in the third tier of American soccer and began play in 2019. NISA initially used a fall-to-spring season format with a ...

. On October 31, 2019, the club announced that it and Bravo had mutually agreed to part ways.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bravo, Paul 1968 births 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup players American Professional Soccer League players American soccer coaches Colorado Rapids players Foothill Owls men's soccer players Hollywood United players Living people Major League Soccer All-Stars Major League Soccer coaches Major League Soccer players California Jaguars players Sportspeople from Santa Clara County, California People from Campbell, California San Francisco Bay Blackhawks players San Francisco Greek-American A.C. players San Jose Earthquakes players San Jose Hawks players Santa Clara Broncos men's soccer players UCLA Bruins men's soccer coaches United States men's international soccer players USISL players Santa Teresa High School alumni Colorado Rapids non-playing staff LA Galaxy non-playing staff Association football midfielders Association football forwards American soccer players Oakland Roots SC coaches National Independent Soccer Association coaches