Teal Bunbury

Teal Alexander Bunbury (born February 27, 1990) is a Canadian-American soccer player who currently plays for the New England Revolution in Major League Soccer.

Career

College and amateur

Bunbury was born in Hamilton, Ontario to an American mother of Polish and Swedish descent, Kristi, and Alex Bunbury, a Guyanese-born, Canadian professional soccer player who is the eighth most capped player for the Canadian men's soccer team. At the age of two, he left Canada to travel with his family, at first to England, where the elder Bunbury played briefly, and then to Portugal. When he was 10 years old.^[1] he moved to the United States with his family and has lived there since. He grew up in Prior Lake, Minnesota and attended Shattuck-St. Mary's High School.

Bunbury's first club was Apple Valley Juventus,^[2] followed by college soccer at the University of Akron. He made a total of 35 starts and appeared in 48 games with the Zips during the 2008 and 2009 seasons. In his first season, he made 23 appearances, starting ten games and scoring six goals, a total second only to future SuperDraft pick Steve Zakuani, who lead the NCAA in scoring with 20.^[3]

After Steve Zakuani was selected first overall in the 2009 MLS SuperDraft, Bunbury began to shine for Akron. As a sophomore, he started all 25 games for the Zips, including the 2009 Division I Men's College Cup final.^[4] Bunbury led the team and the nation in goals, scoring 17 during the year, led the team in shots (103) and tied with fellow forward, Darlington Nagbe, in game-winning goals (5). Bunbury earned many accolades during the 2009 season, including the Mid-American Conference's Player of the Week award three times and same award by College Soccer News, once. He was also named to Top Drawer Soccer's national Team of the Week during the season. At the end of the season he was named as the winner of the 2009 Hermann Trophy Award, honouring the best player in college soccer.

During his college years Bunbury also played with the Rochester Thunder in the USL Premier Development League^[5] and the Chicago Fire Premier in the USL Super-20 League.

Professional

After two years with the Zips, Bunbury decided to forgo the remainder of his collegiate career and signed with Generation adidas.^[6] He was drafted in the first round (4th overall) of the 2010 MLS SuperDraft by Kansas City Wizards.^[7]

He made his professional debut on March 27 in Kansas City's opening game of the 2010 MLS season against D.C. United,^[8] and scored his first professional goal on April 13 in a Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup game against the Colorado Rapids. He was handed a start on his first game in Canada versus Toronto FC and was subbed off in the 58th minute. He scored his first MLS goal in a 1–0 victory over Columbus Crew on July 14.

In December 2010, Bunbury joined English Premier League side Stoke City on trial and scored in a reserve match against Wigan Athletic.^[9]

In August 2012, he suffered a torn ACL during a match against New York Red Bulls, which kept him off the field for 10 months.^[10]

In February 2014, Bunbury was traded to the New England Revolution for a first round 2015 MLS SuperDraft pick and allocation money.^[11]

International career

Bunbury has played for the Canadian national U-17 and U-20 teams. Though he had said he would play for Canada and it would feel "wrong" to play for the US,^[1] he was called up to the full US team as part of the squad to face South Africa.^[12] Bunbury earned his first cap for the United States on November 17, 2010, coming on as a substitute at halftime in the Nelson Mandela Challenge Cup. He scored his first international goal against Chile from a penalty kick, in an exhibition match in Los Angeles.

Personal life

Teal is the son of Alex Bunbury, a former striker who is the third highest scorer and is fifth in caps won all-time for the Canadian men's soccer team. He also finished his career as one of C.S. Marítimo's all-time top goal scorers.^[13] Teal is the first son of a former MLS player to be drafted into the league.^[14] His sister, Kylie Bunbury, is an actress currently starring in Fox's Pitch. Bunbury also has a younger brother named Logan who is an aspiring rapper.

Honors

• Mid-American Conference Player of the Year: 2009^[15]
• Goal.com Player of the Year: 2009^[16]
• Hermann Trophy Winner: 2010^[17]
• NSCAA All-American: 2009^[18]
• Soccer America Player of the Year: 2009^[19]

See also

• List of current MLS players

References

External links

• MLS player profile
• Akron bio
• Official Twitter
• Teal Bunbury at National-Football-Teams.com