Brian Bliss
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| Brian Bliss | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Brian Bliss | |
| Date of birth | September 28, 1965 | |
| Place of birth | Webster, New York, United States | |
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) | |
| Playing position | Coach | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | Kansas City Wizards | |
| Youth clubs | ||
| 1983-1986 | Southern Connecticut State University | |
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1987-1988 1989 1990 1990-1991 1991 1992-1996 1996-1997 1997 1998 |
Cleveland Force (indoor) Albany Capitals Boston Bolts Energie Cottbus Chemnitzer FC FC Carl Zeiss Jena Columbus Crew MetroStars Kansas City Wizards |
51 (4) 5 (0) 13 (1) 12 (0) 83 (1) 31 (2) 16 (0) 3 (0) |
| National team | ||
| 1984-1995 | United States | 44 (2) |
| Teams managed | ||
| 1999 2006-2007 |
Connecticut Wolves Kansas City Wizards (interim) |
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1 Senior club appearances and goals |
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Brian Bliss (born September 28, 1965 in Webster, New York) is a retired U.S. soccer defender and former coach of the Kansas City Wizards of Major League Soccer.
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[edit] Early career
Bliss attended HW Schroeder High School in Webster, New York. After high school, he attended Southern Connecticut State University from 1983 to 1986. On December 2, 1984 Bliss earned his first cap in a 2-2 tie with Ecuador. He would not play again until 1987 when he would play two of the three U.S. games. That year, the Cleveland Force of the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) drafted Bliss with the top pick. He would play a single season with the Force in 1987-1988. In 1988, he played in the Summer Olympics. In 1989, Bliss played five games with the Albany Capitals of the American Soccer League. However, by that time he was a regular with the national team, playing nearly every game in the team's qualification campaign for the 1990 FIFA World Cup. He played only one of the team's three games in that cup, as a substitute in the loss to Italy. In 1990, he was on the roster of the Boston Bolts of the American Professional Soccer League.[1]
[edit] European career
After the World Cup, Bliss went to Germany to play with Energie Cottbus of the 2. Bundesliga. He later went on to play for Chemnitzer FC and then FC Carl Zeiss Jena. Bliss was cut from the final 1994 FIFA World Cup roster when he tore cartilage in his knee [1].
[edit] Major League Soccer
As Major League Soccer prepared for its first season, it began a process of equitably distributing known players to each of the league's teams. As part of this process, Bliss was allocated to the Columbus Crew. He played a season and a half for Columbus, being traded 12 games into the 1997 season to the MetroStars for A.J. Wood. Bliss finished the 1997 season with the MetroStars, but was traded by the team to the Kansas City Wizards for a first round college draft pick during the 1998 off-season. He retired after playing only 3 games of the 1998 season. Bliss now lives in Colombus and serves as the Technical Director for the Columbus Crew. He and his wife have a beautiful daughter (Stella) that was born on March 10, 2006. He and wife, Jacki are now expecting another baby boy.
[edit] Coaching
After retirement, he went on to coach the Connecticut Wolves of the A-League in 1999. The next year, Gansler selected him again, this time to be the assistant coach for the Wizards. On July 19, 2006, Gansler stepped down as head coach, allowing Bliss to become interim head coach for Kansas City. In March 2007, Curt Onalfo replaced Bliss as the Wizards head coach, and Bliss joined Kansas Youth Soccer as State Director of Coaching.
[edit] Coaching Positions
- Connecticut Wolves (1999)
- Kansas City Wizards (2006)
- Kansas Youth Soccer (2007-present)
- Olathe Northwest High School JV Coach (2007-present)
[edit] Note
- ^ U.S. Roster Selected For the World Cup (June 2, 1994). New York Times
[edit] External links
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