Red Bulls kick off Michael Bradley era with visit to Orlando

Former MLS and U.S. men's national team star Michael Bradley is returning home ... in a sense.

The central midfielder, who logged 151 appearances for the national team while playing nearly 500 matches in his professional career, was hired as the new coach of the New York Red Bulls in December.

He will lead his new squad on Saturday evening as the 2026 MLS season kicks off with the Red Bulls visiting Orlando City.

"I am excited for the opportunity to be head coach of the club that I started my professional career with and also in the state that I call home," Bradley said after he was hired.

Bradley began his career with the MetroStars, the former nickname of New York's first MLS club, after being selected 36th overall in the 2004 MLS SuperDraft.

He made 30 appearances for his father, Bob, then the MetroStars' head coach, before moving to Europe in 2006, starting with Dutch side Heerenveen. He also would suit up for Borussia Monchengladbach, Aston Villa, Chievo and Roma and enjoyed a standout 10-year stretch back in MLS with Toronto FC.

He leads a Red Bulls contingent that failed to make the MLS Cup playoffs last season for the first time in 16 years, resulting in the ouster of coach Sandro Schwarz.

The club added two wingers: Cade Cowell, who had 12 goals and five assists in three years with Chivas Guadalajara, and Jorge Ruvalcaba, who registered 16 goals and nine assists in 100 appearances with Pumas UNAM.

They will join with Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, who finished second among MLS newcomers with 17 goals last season. His 22 total goal contributions tied for the club lead, as Emil Forsberg had 11 goals and 11 assists last season.

Defender Justin Che and goalkeeper Ethan Horvath joined the Red Bulls from abroad.

"The way Bradley's started everything and the ideas he has, how we want to play football, straightforward, attacking, intensive, everyone embraced that quite fast, and I like that style of play," Choupo-Moting said.

New York faces an Orlando side that also had a disappointing 2025 MLS campaign, finishing just ahead of the Red Bulls in ninth place in the Eastern Conference. The Lions were knocked out of the playoffs in the wild-card round, falling 3-1 to the Chicago Fire.

Coach Oscar Pareja, now in his seventh season, acknowledged the club's desire to improve its league standing.

"All of the players came in a good state, and we are ready to push," Pareja said. "We want to win titles as we did in the past when we won the (2022 U.S. Open) Cup."

The Lions added Canadian national team goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau as part of a busy offseason that included the addition of Paraguayan midfielder Braian Ojeda.

Orlando City did lose Alex Freeman, the 2025 MLS Young Player of the Year, to Villarreal.

Martin Ojeda and Marco Pasalic combined for 28 goals and 20 assists last year for the Lions, who are looking to reach the playoffs for the seventh straight season.

--Field Level Media