Danny Szetela
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Daniel Szetela | ||
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Brescia Calcio | ||
| Number | - | ||
| ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 3 December, 2006 | |||
Daniel (Danny) Szetela (born June 17, 1987 in Passaic, New Jersey), is an American soccer player of Polish descent who currently plays for Brescia Calcio on loan from Racing Santander.
Career
Szetela graduated from USSF's Bradenton Academy in 2003 and burst onto the world's stage during the Under-17 World Cup in Finland. The second-youngest player on the United States roster, he started every game for the Americans.
Szetela's desire to play for his hometown club, the MetroStars, went unfulfilled. Though the MLS accommodated a similar request from another highly-touted youngster, Freddy Adu, they refused to let Danny pick his team, instead putting him into the league-wide draft, with Columbus Crew ending up with his rights. Joining in midseason, Szetela appeared in eight regular season and two playoff games, while recording a solitary assist. Szetela then played an expanded role with the club in 2005, but he is still to score his first professional goal.
In 2005, Szetela struggled to get on the field with the Crew, but was part of the U.S. Under-20 team at the 2005 World Youth Championship in the Netherlands. During 2006, Danny was beset by injury troubles and only saw 4 games for Columbus.
On June 30, 2007, Szetela scored the opening goal in the United States' match against South Korea in the U-20 World Cup. Three days later he recorded two goals in a winning effort over Poland, the country of both his parents.
On August 31, 2007, Szetela was signed by Racing de Santander, in the Spanish Primera División. Szetela made his official debut with the Spanish club on November 14, in a scoreless draw against Málaga CF in the Copa del Rey. On January 29, 2008, Szetela was loaned out to Serie B side Brescia Calcio until June 30, 2008, with the option to purchase at the end. Szetela made his debut for Brescia Calcio on February 9, playing the last five minutes in a 4-2 comeback victory and made ten appearances total in Serie B.
Szetela extended his loan to Brescia Calcio through June 2009 on July 18, 2008.
International career
Szetela made his debut for the USA on October 17, 2007 as a late-match substitute against Switzerland, and set up Michael Bradley's game-winning goal. The win snapped a five-game losing streak for the national team, and provided their first win over Switzerland in seven matches. For a while, Szetela, who has a Polish passport and speaks Polish, was hesitating, as his parents wanted him to play for Poland. However, after former coach of Polish national team, Pawel Janas, stated publicly that "in Poland we have 200 players like Szetela,"[1] Danny changed his mind. In July, 2008 Szetela was named to the U.S. team that will compete in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Personal life
Danny's early career was marked by adversity, including losing his father, and moving far from home at a young age. Also, Szetela was childhood friends with Giuseppe Rossi who has chosen to play for the Italy national football team.
References
- 1987 births
- Living people
- People from Passaic County, New Jersey
- Americans of Polish descent
- Columbus Crew players
- Racing de Santander footballers
- Brescia Calcio players
- Expatriate footballers in Italy
- American expatriate soccer players
- United States men's international soccer players
- Footballers at the 2008 Summer Olympics
- Olympic soccer players of the United States