Former Liverpool goalkeeper to coach USA Under-19s

Former Liverpool goalkeeper Brad Friedel has been appointed coach of the USA Under-19s.

The 44-year-old, capped 82 times for the United States, spent 3 years at Anfield between 1997 and 2000.

He was signed from Columbus Crew for £1.7million by Roy Evans but made only 25 league appearances for us. He eventually left for Blackburn Rovers on a free transfer and spent 8 years there before moving on to Aston Villa and Tottenham.

Kenny Dalglish tried to bring Friedel back to Liverpool in 2011 to provide cover for Pepe Reina. The King offered Friedel a 2-year contract in 2011 with the option of a coaching position when his contract with Villa expired. Although he was tempted at the opportunity, he didn’t want to be sat on the bench at that stage of his career so he turned us down and opted for White Hart Lane instead.

Friedel, who retired his gloves in May 2015, has previously coached youngster at various USA soccer camps and has also helped out at the Spurs academy.

Speaking about his appointment, Friedel said: “I look forward to the opportunity to help develop our young players into professionals and full internationals.

“The last four years I have focused my coaching at the academy and development levels, and I’m excited to work with the entire group of committed youth national yeam staff members to increase our levels of development here in the United States.”