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Edson Buddle

Edson Michael Buddle (born May 21, 1981 in New Rochelle, New York) is an American soccer player, who currently plays striker for Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer.

Buddle is named after Edson Arantes do Nascimento, better known as Pelé. His father, Winston Buddle, a former professional soccer player born in Jamaica, chose the name.

College and Minor-League Career

Buddle played one year of college soccer at State Fair Community College, where he led State Fair to the 1999 NJCAA Division I National Championship. Buddle began his professional career in 2000, when he signed with the Long Island Rough Riders of the A-League. Buddle helped the team win the Northeast Division, scoring 11 goals and 4 assists, and was a finalist for the A-League Rookie of the Year Award.

Columbus Crew

His performance in the A-League attracted the interest of MLS, and Edson was selected 27th overall in the 2001 MLS SuperDraft by the Columbus Crew. Buddle played very little in his rookie year, only 556 minutes, but managed to show his talent in his brief playing time, scoring three goals and two assists. The next year, at the age of 21, Buddle established himself as one of the league's best young strikers, scoring 9 goals and 5 assists in only 1304 minutes while helping the Crew to a U.S. Open Cup win. Plagued by injury troubles, Buddle only started 16 games for the Crew the next year, but again was a prolific scorer when healthy, registering 9 goals and 4 assists. The same pattern repeated itself in 2004, as Buddle missed significant time to injury, but still scored 11 goals and 2 assists in 20 starts. His 2005 totals were 9 goals and 2 assists, and he missed at least one month of action after violating the MLS Substance Abuse and Behavioral Health Policy when he was caught by Columbus police and refused to take a breathalyzer test.

Red Bull New York

Before the 2006 season, Buddle was traded to Red Bull New York for Eddie Gaven and Chris Leitch. On November 22, Edson Buddle was traded to Toronto FC for Tim Regan who was previously claimed in the 2006 MLS Expansion Draft by Toronto FC.

Los Angeles Galaxy

On June 13, 2007, Buddle was traded to the Los Angeles Galaxy for Tyrone Marshall. He scored in his first game against Real Salt Lake.

Buddle was not expected to be a starting striker as the 2008 MLS season began, as the Galaxy already had three attacking forwards in Carlos Ruiz, Landon Donovan and Alan Gordon. In spite of this, Buddle became a prominent striker on the Los Angeles Galaxy offense, filling in for the injured Guatemalan striker Carlos Ruiz or when Landon Donovan and Ruiz were absent while on international duty for the United States and Guatemala, respectively.

He scored two hat tricks: one in Week 8 against FC Dallas and one in Week 12 against the San Jose Earthquakes, winning the MLS Player of the Week in both weeks. After his second hat trick, teammate David Beckham commented "Edson is an individual who is getting better at the game. He's proved that tonight." After scoring his ninth goal against the Columbus Crew on June 22, 2008, coach Ruud Gullit said he had become a "true professional" and that he was "very pleased" with him. ESPN's Andrea Canales noted that Buddle had once suffered from a reputation of being "maddeningly lazy at times, giving up on passes that didn't fall in his striking-sweet zone," but that he had improved due to guidance from Beckham and an improved self-confidence as he scored more goals. MLS Extratime's Shep Messing said, "I don't think there's a better tandem up top than Landon Donovan and Edson Buddle...They complement each other. They don't take away each other's space, making it better for each other.

Although he may have been a promising player for the United States national team, Buddle's injuries have made it difficult for him to break into the squad. He has figured for the U-20 and U-23 teams, playing in the 2001 World Youth Championship. However, he currently only has one cap with the senior team, which he earned March 23, 2003 in a friendly against Venezuela