Local soccer icon Brian McBride will retire from the game at the end of the Fire's season. (Getty)
By Jack McCarthy
Brian McBride, the local soccer icon who showed that American players can excel against the world's finest, is calling it a career.
The Fire team captain announcedFriday that when the 2010 Major League Soccer season wraps up this fall, so will his playing days.
Perhaps the finest soccer talent to ever emerge from the Chicago area, the 38-year-old Arlington Heights native starred with the U.S. national team in World Cup, international and Olympics play.
"I feel very blessed to be able to announce my retirement in the city where I began playing this great sport," McBride said. "Soccer has given me the chance to travel to so many amazing places and experience so many emotions. I know it has helped to form so much of who I am."
He also made a big impression in the English Premier League and was a
critical part of two MLS teams during a 15-year professional career.
"To be able to have these experiences for 17 years was may more than I ever meant," he said. "Along the way I had the great fortune to be influenced by so many positive people."
The first pick in the inaugural MLS draft in 1996, McBride went on to play eight seasons with Columbus and nearly five seasons with Fulham in the Premier League before joining the Fire in 2008.
He's among the most decorated players in U.S. soccer history, having played in three World Cup tournaments, earned 96 caps in U.S. international competition. and captained the U.S. team in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
In England, McBride started 111 games for Fulham and scored 40 goals. He was team captain in 2007-08 and voted the club's player of the year in both 2005 and 2006.
He was so highly regarded that Fulham even named a hospitality pub after him.
McBride was a high school star at Buffalo Grove and won a state championship in 1988. He later earned All-American honors at St. Louis University. In 1996, was the first overall pick in the inaugural MLS draft and played eight seasons in Columbus where he scored a franchise record 62 goals.
McBride joined the Fire in August 2008 and was named team captain prior to the 2010 season.
An eight-time MLS all-star, McBride is also among MLS all-time Best XI named in 2005 as part of the league's 10th anniversary celebration.
"To be able to have these experiences for 17 years was may more than I ever meant," he said. "Along the way I had the great fortune to be influenced by so many positive people."
The first pick in the inaugural MLS draft in 1996, McBride went on to play eight seasons with Columbus and nearly five seasons with Fulham in the Premier League before joining the Fire in 2008.
He's among the most decorated players in U.S. soccer history, having played in three World Cup tournaments, earned 96 caps in U.S. international competition. and captained the U.S. team in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
In England, McBride started 111 games for Fulham and scored 40 goals. He was team captain in 2007-08 and voted the club's player of the year in both 2005 and 2006.
He was so highly regarded that Fulham even named a hospitality pub after him.
McBride was a high school star at Buffalo Grove and won a state championship in 1988. He later earned All-American honors at St. Louis University. In 1996, was the first overall pick in the inaugural MLS draft and played eight seasons in Columbus where he scored a franchise record 62 goals.
McBride joined the Fire in August 2008 and was named team captain prior to the 2010 season.
An eight-time MLS all-star, McBride is also among MLS all-time Best XI named in 2005 as part of the league's 10th anniversary celebration.
Brian McBride's legend has been cemented across both oceans. One of my great heroes in sport, both as a player and a man.
Still love the story how he was on a baseball team when he was a kid and the coach said to him "Why would you want to play soccer? You'll never make any money playing it"
Viva McBride!
Congrats on a great carrer!
You will be missed.