On July 11, 2008, Aston Villa agreed a transfer fee in the region of £600,000, or $1 million, with MLS and Chivas USA to sign Guzan, significantly less than the £2 million agreed to in Aston Villa's failed move for the keeper in January 2008, the difference this time being that Guzan would have been out of his contract at the end of the 2008 season in November, allowing him to sign for Aston Villa during the January transfer window on a free transfer.
On August 1, 2008, Guzan was granted a work permit by the Home Office, allowing him to complete his move to Aston Villa.[6] He was due to be officially introduced by Aston Villa after competing for the United States at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Guzan was the second American goalkeeper named Brad to be signed during the summer by Aston Villa, following the capture of Premier League veteran Brad Friedel.
Guzan made his Aston Villa debut in September 2008 in the League Cup at home to Queens Park Rangers. He made his European soccer debut in the UEFA Cup game away at Slavia Prague on November 6, 2008. The match finished 1–0 to Aston Villa, with Guzan making several saves to keep a clean sheet. His performance led to his manager Martin O'Neill describing him as a "class goalkeeper in the making." He also started in Aston Villa's first leg against CSKA Moscow in the round of 32 of the UEFA Cup at Villa Park on February 18, 2009, also later appearing as a substitute against Liverpool after Friedel's red card.
Guzan played in every game that Aston Villa won during their success in the 2009 Peace Cup, against Atlante, Porto and Juventus. He then helped Aston Villa overcome the Italians in the final, most notably in the penalty shootout during which he saved the attempts of Vincenzo Iaquinta and Alessandro Del Piero.[7] The only game that Aston Villa did not win (in the group stages against Málaga) was the one in which Guzan did not feature.
Despite having a successful pre-season period, Guzan was dropped from the first team in favor of Friedel for Aston Villa's opening game of the 2009–10 season against Wigan Athletic. On October 27, 2009, Guzan saved four penalties in one match, one in normal time and three more in a penalty shoot-out win over Sunderland at the Stadium of Light in the last 16 of the League Cup. Despite these heroics, however, Friedel replaced him in goal for the final against Manchester United.[8]
On December 31, 2010, Guzan was loaned to Football League Championship side Hull City on a one-month loan deal.[9] He made his debut for Hull on New Year's Day 2011, a 1–0 loss to Leicester City.[10] His second appearance for the club ended on a higher note, as his team went on to win 2–3 at Portsmouth.[11] He kept his first clean sheet for the club against Barnsley in a 2–0 win for Hull.[12]
On January 25, Guzan extended his loan until the end of February.[13] He made a total of 11 league appearances for Hull before returning to Aston Villa on February 28.[14]
On March 8, however, Hull re-signed Guzan on an emergency loan deal due to an injury to goalkeeper Vito Mannone.[15] Guzan's first appearance back at the club was in a home match against Burnley.[16] Guzan's last game for Hull City came in a 1–2 win away at Watford on April 9, 2011, after which he returned to Aston Villa.[17]
Return to Aston Villa
On December 3, 2011, Guzan made his second Premier League appearance for Aston Villa, coming on for the injured Shay Given against Manchester United. Given had been ruled out for a month with a torn hamstring so Guzan retained his place in the first team, giving him an extended run in Aston Villa's first team.
Guzan was released by Villa at the end of his contract in June 2012.[18] However, he was linked with a return to the club over the summer in a situation similar to that of fellow Aston Villa goalkeeper Andy Marshall in 2010. On July 16, 2012, Guzan was included in new manager Paul Lambert's 25-man squad for Aston Villa's tour of the United States and on the same day, the player confirmed via Twitter that he had renewed his contract and rejoined the club.[19][20]
He made his return for Aston Villa against Newcastle United putting in a Man of the Match performance in a 1–1 draw at St James' Park.[21] He kept Villa's first clean sheet of the season in a 2–0 win against Swansea City and performed well enough to keep his position in the starting lineup. At the end of the 2012–13 Premier League season, he was voted the Aston Villa Player of the Year thanks to his large contribution to Villa's bid to avoid relegation.[22] On July 6, 2013, Guzan was rewarded for his play and signed a four-year contract extension with the Midlands club.[23]
On July 18, 2013, Guzan stated that he hoped to give Aston Villa the best years of his career and said that signing a new contract was a "no-brainer."[24]
On September 28, 2013, Guzan remarkably earned an assist on an Andreas Weimann goal in a 3–2[25] win over Manchester City in which Paul Lambert praised Guzan's distribution technique for goal kicks.
During the 2014–15 season, Guzan was dropped by new Aston Villa manager Tim Sherwood after a high-profile error against Manchester City gifted Sergio Agüero the opening goal in a 3–2 defeat on April 25, 2015, with Shay Given taking his place for the final games of the Premier League season.[26] Guzan also missed out on Aston Villa's run to the 2015 FA Cup Final, with Given playing in every round.
Brad Guzan after the Atlanta United game on September 24, 2017
On January 26, 2017, it was confirmed that Guzan had signed a contract with recently formed MLS team Atlanta United on a free transfer, and would return to the United States following the conclusion of the 2016–17 Premier League season, after nine years in English football.[31] He left Middlesbrough on June 10, 2017.[32] For the remainder of the 2017 MLS season, Guzan wore the number 1 shirt.[33] Guzan made his Atlanta United debut on July 24, 2017, a 1–0 road victory against Orlando City SC.[34] During the 2017 MLS season, Guzan started 14 games, posted a 6–1–7 record, and kept eight clean sheets. He led the MLS in save percentage (79.2%) and won MLS Save of the Week three times.[35] In 2018 Guzan won the MLS Cup with Atlanta United after a 2–0 victory over the Portland Timbers.[36]
Guzan made his World Cup qualifying debut in the second leg of a second round qualifier against Barbados on June 14, 2008, in an 8–0 home victory. Weeks later, he was chosen for the Olympic team for the tournament in China, where he kept a shutout in an opening 1–0 win over Japan.[40] When the United States came runners-up at the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa, he played in a 3–0 group victory against Egypt that put the team into the semi-finals at the expense of their opponents and Italy.[41]
Guzan was unused at the 2010 FIFA World Cup[42] and played no international games between that November and May 2012, when he came on as a substitute for Tim Howard near the end of a 5–1 friendly win over Scotland in Jacksonville.[43] Howard took an international sabbatical after starting at the 2014 FIFA World Cup, during which Guzan was first-choice.[44] At the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup, in which the United States came fourth, Guzan and Michael Bradley were the only two Americans to start every game;[45] he won the Golden Glove.[46] Howard returned to the team for 2016's Copa América Centenario, but Guzan kept his place in a run to the semi-finals.[47]
Guzan is a Christian. Guzan has spoken about his faith, saying, "My personal life, my faith life and my sport life – they all come together. I think they have to. You don't have one without the others, and you have to have Jesus in your life. That is how I get through my personal life, how I get through my professional life – following Christ. ... we all need Christ in our lives. Money, fame, all those objects, they don't mean anything if you don't have Jesus in your life. All of those things can be gone in the blink of an eye. We can't get caught up in it."[50]
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