Bradley passes Dempsey to become third all time in USMNT caps

Michael Bradley moved further up the United States national team’s history books Tuesday night in its 1-1 draw against Peru.

The 31-year-old Toronto FC midfielder didn’t get to start the contest against the South American side, but came on as a substitute for Kellyn Acosta in the 79th minute.

In the process, Bradley earned his 142nd cap for the national team, which moved him into third place all time for the USMNT.

Bradley had briefly been tied with his long-time international teammate Clint Dempsey after the midfielder's outing against Colombia last week.

Landon Donovan sits second on that list with 157 caps and 1990’s USMNT star Cobi Jones is top with 164.

Bradley’s first cap with the United States came in 2006 in a May tune up for that year’s World Cup.

Though he did not make that squad, Bradley would go on to feature for a pair of World Cup sides in 2010 and 2014.

An assault on the top two on the list appeared to be well within Bradley’s grasp just over a year ago, but Bradley’s 140th cap saw him captain the USMNT side that lost to Trinidad and Tobago and was eliminated from the 2018 World Cup at the qualifying stage.

Bradley did not return to the national team until the match against Colombia, where he started and went the distance in a 4-2 loss.

The result was a little better against Peru, as a Josh Sargent goal put the USMNT up, only to have a late Edison Flores goal level matters for the CONMEBOL side. 

Bradley will hope to build on his 142 caps in November when the USMNT head to Europe to face England and Italy in a pair of friendlies.