Thursday's Most Important American

Today's most important American is another of the young forwards Bob Bradley brought to South Africa, Edson Buddle. Previous readers of my work know the disturbing sports crush I have on Buddle, so it's no surprise that he makes the cut in the Most Important American series.

Buddle has actually been a professional since 2000, playing one season for the Long Island Rough Riders before moving up to Major League Soccer. Since 2001, he has been an MLS mainstay, playing for the Columbus Crew, New York Red Bulls, and Toronto FC before making his current home in Los Angeles with the Galaxy.

Injuries have kept Buddle from making a huge impact on both a club and country level, but this season's performance with the Galaxy is what caught Bradley's eye. For most of the MLS season, Buddle had been the league's leading scorer.

Buddle made his first appearance for the senior US team in 2003, but it wasn't until this year's World Cup preparations that his opportunity to shine really arose. He was given an opportunity to play for a half in the American's first warm-up game against the Czech Republic, and put in a lot of energy (if not a lot of result) in the US 4-2 defeat.

But when Jozy Altidore picked up an injury in training, Buddle got the call alongside Robbie Findley to start up front against Australia in the final warm-up game in South Africa. Buddle showed for the first time the scoring flair he had demonstrated in MLS, netting two goals for the US in their comprehensive 3-1 defeat of the Socceroos.

The emergence of Buddle and Findley (along with Herculez Gomez from the Mexican Primera league and owner of the coolest name on the American squad) had suddenly given Bradley options in the front he did not have previously. With threats like Buddle upfront, Bradley can keep stars Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey in their preferred positions on the wings and hopefully bring more diversity to the American attack. Given the defensive struggles for the US, the ability to score goals could be crucial as the US prepares for group play.