Edson Buddle

Edson Michael Buddle (born May 21, 1981) is an American soccer player who plays for Colorado Rapids in Major League Soccer.

Buddle began his career in North America in 2000 with the Long Island Rough Riders, who played in the A-League at that time. He then spent 2001–2010 in Major League Soccer, playing for the Columbus Crew, New York Red Bulls, Toronto FC, and Los Angeles Galaxy. After a one year stint with FC Ingolstadt 04 in Germany's 2. Bundesliga he returned to Los Angeles. Buddle has also played for the United States national team, including two appearances at the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Career

College and Minor-League Career

Born in New Rochelle, New York, Buddle played one year of college soccer at State Fair Community College, leading them to the 1999 NJCAA Division I National Championship. Buddle began his professional career in 2000, when he signed with Long Island Rough Riders of the A-League. Buddle helped the team win the Northeast Division, scoring eleven goals and four assists, and was a finalist for the A-League Rookie of the Year Award.

Columbus Crew

His performance in the A-League attracted the interest of MLS, and Edson was selected twenty-seventh overall in the 2001 MLS SuperDraft by Columbus Crew. Buddle played very little in his rookie year, only 556 minutes, but managed to show his talent in his brief playing time, scoring three goals and two assists. The next year, at the age of twenty-one, Buddle established himself as one of the league's best young strikers, scoring nine goals and five assists in only 1304 minutes while helping the Crew to a U.S. Open Cup win. Plagued by injury troubles, Buddle only started sixteen games for the Crew the next year, but again was a prolific scorer when healthy, registering nine goals and four assists. The same pattern repeated itself in 2004, as Buddle missed significant time to injury, but still scored eleven goals and two assists in twenty starts. His 2005 totals were nine goals and two assists, and he missed at least one month of action after violating the MLS Substance Abuse and Behavioral Health Policy when he was pulled over by Columbus police and refused to take a breathalyzer test.^[1]

New York Red Bulls

Before the 2006 season Buddle was traded to New York Red Bulls for Eddie Gaven and Chris Leitch.^[2] However he had a disappointing year in his tenure with the team only scoring six goals because he was battling a foot injury. On November 22, 2006, Buddle was traded to Toronto FC for Tim Regan.^[3] He failed to score in 10 appearances for the Reds but assisted on the club's first ever goal, setting up Danny Dichio to score against Chicago Fire in front of the south stand at BMO Field.

Los Angeles Galaxy

On June 13, 2007, Buddle was traded to Los Angeles Galaxy for Tyrone Marshall.^[4] He scored his first goal for the Galaxy against Real Salt Lake.

Buddle was not expected to be a starting striker as the 2008 MLS season began, as the Galaxy already had three attacking forwards in Carlos Ruiz, Landon Donovan and Alan Gordon. In spite of this, Buddle became a prominent striker on the Los Angeles Galaxy offense in 2008, filling in for the injured Guatemalan striker Ruiz or when Donovan and Ruiz were absent while on international duty.

He scored two hat tricks during his first season in Los Angeles: one in Week 8 against FC Dallas and one in Week 12 against San Jose Earthquakes,^[5] winning the MLS Player of the Week in both weeks.^[6] After his second hat trick, teammate David Beckham commented, "Edson is an individual who is getting better at the game. He's proved that tonight."^[7] After scoring his ninth goal against Columbus Crew on June 22, 2008, coach Ruud Gullit said he had become a "true professional" and that he was "very pleased" with him.^[8] ESPN's Andrea Canales noted that Buddle had once suffered from a reputation of being "maddeningly lazy at times, giving up on passes that didn't fall in his striking-sweet zone," but that he had improved due to guidance from Beckham and an improved self-confidence as he scored more goals.^[7] MLS Extratime's Shep Messing said, "I don't think there's a better tandem up top than Landon Donovan and Edson Buddle...They complement each other. They don't take away each other's space, making it better for each other."^[9]

After scoring just five goals in the 2009 season, Buddle opened the 2010 season on fire, scoring seven goals in the first four matches of the year. By mid-May, he had scored nine times, earning a surprising call-up to the national team roster for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. He continued his strong form after returning from the World Cup, continuing to lead the league in scoring when the 2010 MLS All-Star Game rosters were announced despite having missed several matches on international duty. On October 24, 2010, Los Angeles Galaxy won the Western Conference and the Supporter's Shield, with Buddle winning the Galaxy's MVP, golden boot, and Humanitarian of the Year.^[10]

FC Ingolstadt 04

Buddle signed with 2. Bundesliga club FC Ingolstadt 04 on January 10, 2011.^[11] He debuted for Ingolstadt on January 21, 2011 in a 1–1 draw against MSV Duisburg. He scored his first goal for the Bavarian side, in the 78th minute of that game.^[12] Buddle was released by FC Ingolstadt 04 on January 31, 2012, making him a free agent.^[13]

Return to Los Angeles Galaxy

Despite trialing with Everton^[14] the day after being released by Ingolstadt, Buddle re-signed with Los Angeles Galaxy.^[15] His second stint with the club proved disappointing and short-lived. Buddle started only 10 league games in 2012 and scored only 3 goals, his lowest season tally in MLS since his rookie year of 2001.

Colorado Rapids

On December 14, 2012, Colorado Rapids acquired Buddle from Los Angeles in exchange for allocation money and a first-round pick in the 2013 MLS Supplemental Draft.^[16]

International

Although he may have been a promising player for the United States national team, Buddle's injuries have made it difficult for him to break into the squad. He has figured for the U-20 and U-23 teams, playing in the 2001 World Youth Championship. Buddle earned his first senior team cap on March 29, 2003, in a friendly against Venezuela, but would not see the field for the U.S. again for seven years. On May 11, 2010, he was named to the preliminary squad of the United States national team for the 2010 World Cup, and on May 25, started in a 4–2 friendly loss to the Czech Republic. On May 26, 2010, Buddle was named to the US National Team bound for the 2010 World Cup. After his selection to the squad, Buddle contributed two first-half goals in a friendly match versus Australia on June 5, 2010. In the 2010 FIFA World Cup he appeared as a substitute in matches against England and Algeria.

International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	June 5, 2010	Ruimsig Stadium, Roodepoort, South Africa	Australia	1–0	3–1	Friendly
2.				2–1
3.	November 15, 2011	Stožice Stadium, Ljubljana, Slovenia	Slovenia	1–0	3–2	Friendly

Career statistics

Club

As of December 14, 2012.

International

As of February 29, 2012.

Personal

Buddle is named after Edson Arantes do Nascimento, better known as Pelé.^[17] His father, Winston Buddle, a former professional soccer player born in Jamaica, chose the name. Buddle attended Port Chester High School in Westchester County, New York.

Honors

Los Angeles Galaxy

• MLS Cup: 2012
• Supporters' Shield: 2010
• Western Conference
  • Regular Season: 2009, 2010
  • Playoffs: 2012

Columbus Crew

• Supporters' Shield: 2004
• Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup: 2002
• Eastern Conference: 2004

Individual

• Los Angeles Galaxy MVP: 2010
• Los Angeles Galaxy Golden Boot: 2010
• Los Angeles Galaxy Humanitarian of the Year: 2010
• MLS Player of the Month: August 2002, April 2010
• MLS Best XI: 2010

References

External links

• MLS player profile
• Edson Buddle at fussballdaten.de (German)
• Edson Buddle at National-Football-Teams.com

v t e United States squad – 2010 FIFA World Cup 1 Howard 2 Spector 3 Bocanegra (c) 4 M. Bradley 5 Onyewu 6 Cherundolo 7 Beasley 8 Dempsey 9 Gomez 10 Donovan 11 Holden 12 Bornstein 13 Clark 14 Buddle 15 DeMerit 16 Torres 17 Altidore 18 Guzan 19 Edu 20 Findley 21 Goodson 22 Feilhaber 23 Hahnemann Coach: B. Bradley