Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Date of birth | June 19, 1968 | ||
Place of birth | Campbell, CA, United States | ||
Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||
Playing position | Midfielder / Forward | ||
Youth career | |||
1988–1989 | Santa Clara University | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1991–1992 | San Francisco Bay Blackhawks | 25 | (3) |
1993 | San Jose Hawks | ||
1994 | San Francisco Greek-Americans | ||
1995 | Monterey Bay Jaguars | 19 | (19) |
1996 | San Jose Clash | 31 | (13) |
1997–2001 | Colorado Rapids | 135 | (39) |
National team | |||
1994–1999 | United States | 4 | (1) |
Teams managed | |||
2002–2003 | Colorado Rapids (assistant) | ||
2004–2005 | UCLA (assistant) | ||
2006–2008 | Los Angeles Galaxy (assistant) | ||
2009–2016 | Colorado Rapids (Technical Director) | ||
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
Paul Bravo (born June 19, 1968 in Campbell, California) is a former American soccer midfielder and forward who played six seasons in Major League Soccer, two in the American Professional Soccer League and two in the USISL. He also earned four caps, scoring one goal, with the United States men's national soccer team. After his retirement from playing, Bravo served for several years as an assistant coach in both Major League Soccer and the NCAA and was most recently Technical Director for the Colorado Rapids.
Bravo was a student-athlete at Santa Teresa High School in San Jose, California. 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.
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 and Rafael Amaya to the Colorado Rapids for Dominic Kinnear 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.