New Swansea City manager Bob Bradley believes that becoming the first American coach in the English Premier League will increase the profile and popularity of soccer in the United States. Bradley, the former U.S. and Egypt national teams manager, replaced Italian Francesco Guidolin at Swansea on Monday. "In this moment, the opportunity to go to the Premier League on many levels is special," he said after leaving French second tier club Le Havre. "I am sorry to leave, especially at this moment, but it's still an opportunity for me, for my family and for American football. That's important," the 58-year-old added. "In a perfect world I would go right to the end with this team just like last year. But football does not control timing." Bradley was hired as the Egyptian national team manager in November 2011 with the target of taking the Pharaohs to the 2014 World Cup for the first time since 1990, but he failed. Egypt had a perfect run during the group stage, claiming six wins out of six games, but stumbled against Ghana, who went through with a 7-3 aggregate in the play-off. Bradley has been tasked with improving a struggling Swansea side, who are fourth-bottom of the table after seven games. His first game in charge is against third-placed Arsenal on Oct. 15. (For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at @AO_Sports and on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports.)
