Michael Bradley nets hat-trick in Heerenveen romp

Michael Bradley cannot stop scoring.

The U.S. national team midfielder netted his first career hat trick on Sunday to lead Heerenveen to a 4-2 win against Groningen on Sunday. Bradley scored all three goals in the first half to help Heerenveen win its derby.

When was the last time an American scored a hat-trick in a top European league? Very good question. Bradley was already beginning to draw interest from bigger European clubs. His performance on Sunday should only serve to send more clubs on the trail of the 20-year-old former MetroStar.

Here are the goals:

Also, here is Bradley's post-match interview in Dutch. Okay, I know most of you don't know Dutch, but I figured you might want to see the interview anyway. Maybe someone can translate.)

What do you think of Bradley scoring a first-half hat-trick? Share your thoughts below.

Comments

[adam]

that's just great for michael! any idea of what big clubs may be interested ives?

[QJA]

Nope, not the first to score a hat trick in Europe. I don't know who is, but I do know that Charlie Davies scored one early in the season in Sweden. Anyone know of an American hat trick before Davies'?

[expat lumberjack]

i'm damned impressed that he can speak dutch, too!

[AJ]

Great news there.

I'm of the belief that Michael Parkhurst's national team (and European) position will be defensive mid. If Edu continues to develop and my Parkhurst prediction is right, do you think that Bradley would move his kid into a more attacking role?

[Ives]

I'm sure he's not the first American to score a hat-trick in Europe, but may be the first to score a hat-trick in one of Europe's top leagues. Let's get some historians on the case.

[eric]

Holy cr@p, it was 4 - 2 at the half! That's some football, glad to see Heerenveen still in the hunt for euro slots.

I had a vision last night just before falling asleep that has to happen - the England National Team (hopefully managed by Jose)... vs the MLS All-Stars (w. Beckham of course). With England out of the real party, isn't that the next most lucrative thing for them too?

Anyways, the usual video sites don't have Bradley up yet...

[ag nigrin]

I understand Dutch a bit and Michael sounds great! Congrats on the hat trick Mikey!

[Dannyc58]

What an incredible young man, in so many ways.

Nice job bringing that boy up, Mr. Bob Bradley.

[Leaky123]

Man, how long has he been in Holland? He's a smart kid, and I think that has and will continue to have as much impact on his success as his physical talent.

[Johnny]

Hey Ives, please find out which bigger clubs are interested in MB!

If only his dad had been wise enough to give him more freedom for the MetroStars. I can remember asking myself after many games what he was even doing on the pitch, and now he is a beast. Good for him.

[kpugs]

Well that was my previous post (kpugs), don't know why it didn't show up.

[jason]

the Anti-Donovan.

Amen.

[eric]

Thanks for the video link! What an interesting hat trick, one from the left, one from the center, one from the right. But in all of them he just continues his run all the way to the goal in the 2nd/3rd wave of attackers, finds his space without a man, and collects the pass/rebound.

[madison]

mike bradley is teh mannnn.

in the last month or so hes really been on fire.

[Brian]

I don't speak dutch, but I could understand most of the interview since dutch is pretty much German and English mixed together (and the fact that I speak german helps a bit).

Nothing to interesting was said, mostly generic post-game interview answers but it's still good to see Michael doing so well in and to see that he has picked up a good bith of dutch.

[Joe in ND]

I wasn't a huge fan of Bradley to begin with mainly because I thought his dad was giving him a little favoritism. But I have warmed to him, and he is now one of my favorite players along with Dempsey, Feilhaber, Gooch, and Howard.

[Ed Ho]

Teh best news out of this is that he really looks like he has much more rooms to grow and improve. His knowledge, work rate, and vision are tremendous. His passing, shooting, and occasionaly touch betray him. He could be a tremendous 2 way midfielder for the US over the next decade.

[Tim]

Congrats to Michael!!!

[Dominghosa]

Great stuff by MB. I don't speak Dutch but figured out that his post-game quotes were pretty basic and cliche-ish. Good for him though, to be comfortable in that situation. I know he takes Dutch classes but to even know what the interviewer was saying is impressive.
Anyway, US U-17s defeat Brazil, 2-0. !!!! Sure would like to see a post on that.
Brazil was in control early but the US picked up its attack and possession and frustrated Brazil for the last 70 minutes.
Brazil's players have so much skill, their passing was impressive and tremendously outshot the US. But there really weren't many shots that threatened US GK Edwards, who looks to be another elite player between the posts in the US pipeline.
Renken again impressed, so much so that Brazil tried to take him out of the game by fouling him hard in the second half. Gyau was also exceptional as was Martinez again for the second straight game. Duran again did good work.
Again, Jerome showed his ball skills, making up for his lack of accuracy in passing.
An exciting group of Americans just a few years younger than Bradley, one of the best Americans out there already.

[3 points of view]

unbelievable.I have had an extreme amount of confidence in him since the under 20 world cup but I didnt expect to see this type of performance out of him.
he is a world class player in the making.

[Lawrence]

I think Bradley's progress is wonderful, and I am very happy for him.

I do think he needs to make the next move up though, as that league falls off pretty good after his team. I thought maybe he should wait, but I don't want him to waste time beating up dutch light weights when he is so absorbent to aspects of the game.

[Tom]

No need to rush. Just let him keep playing and clubs will come. Picking the right situation and club is the most important thing.

I mentioned here that many in US land were over rating Benny F and under rating Mikey here a while back. Was mocked openly by some.

Guess what? Mikey's going to keep getting better and Mo Edu is going to also.

I know you wrote that "part fantasy" as you put it ESPN article on players we could use back in MLS.

IMO Benny needs to come back to salvage his US career. He just isn't good enough for the better leagues in Europe right now. Between Edu, Mikey, Rico Clark, and the myriad of promising younsters coming through he is in trouble if he doesn't find someplace he could play.

Mikey will make us all proud. He will be big time over there. Benny needs to take a step back, as well as most U Sfans who have him way over rated and come back home.

I'd take him over CR in heartbeat.

[jason]

Re: Tom's posting

2 bad moves don't make a right.

[KingSnake]

The #2 announcer on the U-17 friendlies blows. 60 seconds of the Turkey match is all I could stand before I went looking, fruitlessly, for the match on a Mexican channel.