David Joseph Brcic (born January 21, 1958) is an American former professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who played as a

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in the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...

and Major Indoor Soccer League. He also competed at the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...

and earned four

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with the

United States men's national soccer team The United States men's national soccer team (USMNT) represents the United States in men's international soccer competitions. The team is controlled by the United States Soccer Federation and is a member of FIFA and CONCACAF. The U.S. team ha ...

Youth career

In 1976, Brcic graduated from

Bishop DuBourg High School Bishop DuBourg High School is a private, Roman Catholic high school in St. Louis, Missouri. It is located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Louis. Notable alumni * Norbert Leo Butz (1985), Tony Award winning American stage, musical th ...

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

where he played on the school's soccer team. He has been inducted into the school's Hall of Fame. After high school, Brcic attended St. Louis University where he played a single season of

college soccer College soccer is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. It is very prominent in United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and as well as in South Africa and the Philippines. The United Kingd ...

Outdoor soccer

In 1977, he left the university to sign with the

New York Cosmos New York Cosmos may refer to * New York Cosmos (1970–1985), a team in the North American Soccer League (then the top-tier soccer league in the United States and Canada) * New York Cosmos (2010), a team playing since 2020 in the National Independe ...

of the

. Brcic remained a back-up with the Cosmos through the 1979 season. Through that year, he had played only eight games in goal. During the 1978-79 off-season, the Cosmos loaned Brcic to

Greenock Morton Greenock Morton Football Club is a Scottish professional football club, which plays in the Scottish Championship. The club was founded as Morton Football Club in 1874, making it one of the oldest senior Scottish clubs. Morton was renamed Greeno ...

of the Scottish First Division, then the top league in Scotland. After injuries hit Greenock Morton's goalkeepers, the team brought Brcic into its first team where he played six league games, including a win at

Aberdeen F.C. Aberdeen Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in Aberdeen, Scotland. They compete in the Scottish Premiership and have never been relegated from the top division of the Scottish football league system since they were ...

on December 20, 1978 during which Brcic stopped a penalty kick. Brcic returned to the Cosmos for the 1980 season and remained with the team until it folded during the 1984-1985 indoor season.

National team

Brcic did not only return to the Cosmos in 1979, he also earned his first

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with the U.S. national team when he came on for

Arnie Mausser Arnold "Arnie" Mausser (born February 28, 1954) is an American former soccer goalkeeper who played with eight different NASL teams from 1975 to 1984. He is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame. Mausser may be considered one of the fines ...

in a May 2, 1979, loss to

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. Brcic did not play again for the senior team until 1984. That year he was the starting goalkeeper for the U.S. team at the

1984 Los Angeles Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...

. That year, he also appeared in a May 30 scoreless draw versus

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

and a 4-0 World Cup qualifying win against the

Netherlands Antilles nl, In vrijheid verenigd"Unified by freedom" , national_anthem = , common_languages = Dutch English Papiamento , demonym = Netherlands Antillean , capital = Willemstad , year_start = 1954 , year_end = 2010 , date_start = 15 December , ...

on October 6. He played one more game with the senior national team, a 2-1 World Cup qualification victory over

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

on May 15, 1985.

Indoor Soccer

By this time Brcic was ending his outdoor professional career and had embarked on his indoor years. He gained his first indoor soccer experience during the 1981-1982 NASL indoor season. He played fourteen games for the Cosmos as they finished with the league's second worst record. Brcic and the Cosmos did much better in the second NASL indoor season, which didn't take place until 1983-1984. He started twenty-six games as New York made it to the championship game before falling to the

San Diego Sockers San Diego Sockers may refer to: *San Diego Sockers (1978–1996), a soccer team in the North American Soccer League *San Diego Sockers (2001–2004), a soccer team in the World Indoor Soccer League and second Major Indoor Soccer League *San Diego S ...

. The next year, the Cosmos entered the Major Indoor Soccer League. However, they were a shell of the team they were a few years prior and folded thirty-three games into the forty-eight game season. Brcic began the season with the Cosmos, but when they collapsed, he moved to the

Wichita Wings The Wichita Wings were a professional indoor soccer franchise based in Wichita, Kansas. The Wings were admitted to the Major Indoor Soccer League as an expansion team on August 21, 1979.

. At the end of the season, he moved again to the

Pittsburgh Spirit Pittsburgh Spirit were an indoor soccer team based in Pittsburgh and were one of the original six teams that played in the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL). The Spirit were founded in 1978, suspended operation for the 1980–81 season, then ret ...

for the 1985-1986 season. Although the Spirit finished in the bottom of the standings, Brcic was selected to the first team All MISL list. For the 1986-1987 season, he was with his fourth team in three seasons, the

Los Angeles Lazers The Los Angeles Lazers were an indoor soccer team that played in the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) from 1982 to 1989. History Jerry Buss, the owner of California Sports, the parent company of the Los Angeles Lakers, Kings and Strings of Tea ...

. Once again, he found himself with a struggling team. Brcic also played with the Kansas City Comets and St. Louis Storm. Since retiring from playing, Brcic graduated from Maryville University in 1996 has run soccer camps and is President of Soccer Master. He resides in St. Louis with his wife Cindy and two children Emily and Alex.

References

External links

MISL stats

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brcic, David 1958 births Living people American men's soccer players American expatriate men's soccer players American expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Men's association football goalkeepers Footballers at the 1984 Summer Olympics Greenock Morton F.C. players Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Scottish Football League players Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players Wichita Wings (MISL) players Pittsburgh Spirit players Los Angeles Lazers players Kansas City Comets (original MISL) players St. Louis Storm players Soccer players from St. Louis North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players American people of Serbian descent North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players New York Cosmos (1970–1985) players Olympic soccer players for the United States United States men's international soccer players Saint Louis Billikens men's soccer players Maryville University alumni