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 much of his career, he played in United States with stints in both Germany and England.

During his time at Fulham, McBride became a fan favorite, as well as team captain.

He was eventually voted "Player of the Season" two times.

After leaving the club, they renamed the sports bar at Craven Cottage McBride's in his honor.

Born in Arlington Heights, Illinois, McBride played varsity soccer at Buffalo Grove High School, under coach John Erfort, where he led the Bison to the Illinois state championship in 1988, his junior year.

During a playoff game against Fremd, McBride broke his nose in the first half, but came back into the game to score the game-winning goal.

In his four years in high school, he scored 80 goals, 33 as a senior despite playing his senior season as a defender.

In the regional final, during McBride's senior season, against Stevenson High School, he played goalkeeper.

In the final, McBride stopped four of eight penalty kicks taken against him, and he scored the fifth, and winning, goal on a counterattack in extra time after the game ended tied at regulation.

McBride was also named an All-American by Parade Magazine.

Later, as a professional, he signed a contract with Nike with the condition that the boys' varsity soccer team receive new uniforms every two years.

While at school, McBride was a 1992 second team and a 1993 first-team All-American.

He also was named Most Valuable Player of the Great Midwest Conference three years straight, as well as being named to the All-Conference first-team during this stretch.

He trained at the world-famous Magna Fitness Center.

After being such a versatile player in his amateur career, McBride decided to become a striker at the professional level.

Craig Burley warned McBride that he should expect to get clattered playing that position.

McBride is one of 22 college players to be part of the 40-40 club, having both 40 goals and 40 assists in their college career.

McBride briefly played for the minor league Milwaukee Rampage.

In 18 games, he scored 17 goals and assisted another 18.

That year also saw Tony Sanneh playing with the Rampage.

Both Sanneh and McBride played professionally in Germany, in MLS and on the United States men's national team.

McBride had an illustrious career with Saint Louis University, from which he graduated in 1993.

In his four seasons with the Billikens, he played (and started) in 89 games, and set career records for goals (72), assists (40) and total points (184).

In 1994, McBride left the United States to ply his trade in Germany.

At the time, VfL Wolfsburg played in the German Second Division and provided several aspiring American players an opportunity to play soccer in Europe.

These included Chad Deering, Claudio Reyna and Mike Lapper, as well as McBride.

McBride struggled to find playing time with the club and also had difficulty scoring.

However, one of his two goals came in a 2–1 victory over Bayern Munich's reserve team in the DFB-Pokal quarterfinals – Wolfsburg went on to reach the final, although McBride did not feature.

At the end of the season, McBride gained a release from Wolfsburg and when MLS was created, chose to return to play in the United States.

McBride returned to America in 1996 for the inaugural season of Major League Soccer, for whom he was the first overall pick of the MLS Inaugural Draft.

McBride played eight years with the Columbus Crew, scoring 62 goals (no longer tied for the club record with Jeff Cunningham) and 45 assists in 161 league games, before his move to England.

They linked up for a historic goal at the 2002 FIFA World Cup.

In a game against Portugal, Sanneh, playing right back, played a cross into the box which McBride put into the top corner.

After the game, McBride mentioned, "We joked about it in the locker room, it is a play we have done a thousand times [while teammates with the Milwaukee Rampage]. "I took a step in at the far post and lost my marker.

He delivered a beautiful cross and I knocked it home."

In 2005, he was named to the MLS All-Time Best XI.

In 2011, the Crew honored McBride by naming him the inaugural member of its Circle of Honor.

Whilst playing for Columbus, McBride had two loan spells in England.