ANOTHER PIONEER IS CALLING IT QUITS.

Trailblazing goalkeeper Brad Friedel, one of the first and most-respected American players to achieve stardom in Europe, today announced his retirement from professional soccer though his current club, Tottenham Hotspur.

His decision ends a remarkable career that features incredible accomplishments both at the club and international level.

Friedel, who will turn 44 next week, has been a fixture of American soccer since before the inception of MLS and is a club legend at both Blackburn and Aston Villa, where he starred for many years. He will now shift his focus to broadcasting and coaching, where he is acquiring his licenses. He will also serve as an assistant to Tab Ramos for the U.S. U-20 World Cup team in New Zealand.

"I’m incredibly proud of what I’ve achieved in my career," Friedel told Tottenham's official site. "When I first started the journey I never imagined it would be this long, playing 23 seasons in total and representing some incredible clubs. One thing I will miss is that day-to-day interaction with the staff and players. There really is nothing like it but my 44th birthday is here so I think it is a good time to call it a day. I’ve got some wonderful opportunities in front of me working for Fox TV and I’m completing my pro license.”

A native of Bay Village, Ohio, where he was an all-state basketball and tennis player, Friedel was one of the first non-Californian American players recruited to play at perennial power UCLA. There he led the Bruins to a 1990 NCAA title and won the 1992 Hermann Trophy as the top player in college soccer. He and Tony Meola are the only goalkeepers to have ever won that award. 

Friedel’s play at UCLA earned him looks from the U.S. U-23 national team and he helped the U.S. both win the 1991 Pan Am Games and easily qualify for the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, where he started all three games.

He soon matriculated to the senior U.S. team and was part of World Cup teams in 1994, 1998, and the 2002 run to the quarterfinals, where he was one of the top goalkeepers in the tournament. In all, Friedel earned 82 caps before retiring from international soccer in 2003 to focus on his club career. He also played as an overage player at the 2000 Olympics and was part of the U.S. team that made the semifinals after posting a shutout over Japan in the quarterfinals.

While he had plenty of success with his country, his club career took a bit of time to gain momentum. Twice as a young player he was denied a work permit to play in England because he didn’t have enough caps at the time, preventing him from signing first with Nottingham Forest and then Newcastle. 

Instead, he signed with Brondby in Denmark and then in 1995 joined Galatasaray and led the club to the 1996 Turkish cup. In the summer of 1996 Friedel joined the Columbus Crew midway through the inaugural MLS season.

 “He completely changed the culture of our club, the locker room, training, on and off the field, when he joined us,” said current George Mason University head coach Greg Andrulis, who was an assistant with the Crew in 1996 and later became its head coach. “Suddenly we had a world-class player in our midst. The team was better and the league was better because Brad was in it.”

Andrulis had been part of the Ohio soccer scene for many years before joining the Crew and had coached Friedel at a young age.

“I had him at camps and (the Olympic Development Program) and things like that since he was 16,” Andrulis said. “He’s pretty much always been the same. Very professional hardworking, very ambitious, phenomenal athletic ability, and every day training with a serious attitude. He was the consummate professional even before he was a pro. There was never a doubt he was going to succeed.”

With the Crew, Friedel was named the 1997 MLS Goalkeeper of the Year and he still holds the league’s career record for best all-time save percentage at 75.6.

Friedel’s strong performance in MLS and with the national team again caught the attention of British teams and in December of 1997 he was finally approved for a work permit and joined Liverpool in a $2.5 million transfer. 

He had some initial success at Liverpool but eventually lost his starting job to England international David James. In 2000 Friedel transferred to Blackburn, then in the First Division, a step below the Premier League. He led the Rovers to promotion back to the EPL in 2001 then to a League Cup title a year later. In the League Cup final, Friedel was named Man of the Match.

The player who was once deemed unworthy of working in England ultimately became one of the most reliable players in it. Between 2001 and 2012 Friedel missed all of four Premier League starts and went eight straight seasons without missing a league game, first at Blackburn then in three seasons at Aston Villa and finally at Tottenham, which he joined in 2011. His 310 consecutive starts set a Premier League record.

His past two seasons with Spurs has been as a backup but it’s enabled Friedel to begin his transition to the next phase of his career in television and coaching.  

"I’ve also signed on as a club ambassador for Spurs focusing on the USA. I’ve got a great relationship with the staff and board, so I’ll certainly do my bit to help the club go further. I’ve had a tremendous time here and met a lot of great people along the way. This is a wonderful football club and I feel honored to have been a part of it for four years.

"The manager is great, while there is incredible talent in the changing room, both young and old and with time I see great things ahead."

Andrulis continues to expect great things from Friedel.

“He’s got all the attributes to be a great coach—the way he approaches the game, his work ethic, his knowledge of the game is unbelievable. Whatever he does, he’s going to be successful.”

Brooke Tunstall is an American Soccer Now contributing editor and ASN 100 panelist. Follow him on Twitter. Brian Sciaretta is too. Follow him on Twitter.