Top 5 Brad Guzan Atlanta United moments as legendary keeper retires

Brad Guzan, a name that became synonymous with Atlanta United over the years, is ending his legendary career after Saturday’s Decision Day match against D.C. United and boy, have the emotions hit hard. Tuesday’s announcement led to an outpouring of praise and support for the big, bald wall by everyone from David Beckham to former teammates, clubs, pundits, and fans on both sides of the pond. While Guzan’s legendary status doesn’t solely stem from his time with the Five Stripes, he’s been the one constant for Atlanta United fans since the Bobby Dodd days, an integral part of every Five Stripe moment that mattered. Let’s take a look at the top five Brad Guzan moments from his time as a Five Stripe.

5. The big, bald, m%&^$#$%@!ing wall

Let’s take a step back to 2019 for a moment. Atlanta United is riding the high of 2018 MLS Cup, but some integral, key pieces have moved on. Tata Martino, architect of the first championship in Atlanta since 1995, has moved on to Mexico’s El Tri, while the Ostrich himself, Miguel Almiron, made good on a record breaking transfer to Newcastle. Frank de Boer has taken the reins as Atlanta’s gaffer and Atlanta’s fiery, aggressive attacking play style has come to a standstill.

But the one constant? That bald dude at the back yelling and screaming his way into the history books. Brad Guzan set the Atlanta United single-season clean sheet record with 14 – which is tied for all time in MLS, by the way – and paved the way for a successful season that saw Josef Martinez doing the dirty work on the other side of the ball. Guzan and co would lead Atlanta United to two more pieces of silverware that year, the U.S. Open Cup (more on that later), and the Campeones Cup. Did he play in that Campeones Cup final? No, Alec Kann was the one between the sticks, but Guzan wasn’t just the product you saw on the pitch. Without Brad in the lineup, that Campeones Cup – which was already a full-on classic – doesn’t go the way of Atlanta. Guaranteed.

4. The beginning

Weirdly enough, Brad Guzan hasn’t actually been an active Atlanta United player for the club’s entire history. To be fair, the first couple of months of a franchise are awash with emotions, new memories, traditions, and more, so one would 100% be forgiven if you forgot the aforementioned Alec Kann was the original starting keeper. Guzan actually joined that summer in 2017, and if you remember correctly, Kann was actually playing…well. In fact – and here’s your Atlanta United trivia of the year – the Decatur, Georgia native tallied an assist in the game in which he got injured against Columbus Crew and lost the starting job to Guz and was on track to be an MLS All-Star.

Enter Brad.

The man took over against, fittingly, Orlando City, and held them to nothing in a 1-0 win for Atlanta United. He went on to lead MLS with a 79.2% save percentage and won MLS Save of the Week of a total of three times as the Five Stripes transitioned from Bobby Dodd Stadium over to the cathedral of soccer that is Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

“Alec was playing good at the time,” Michael Parkhurst said of the situation in 2017 when asked on our last podcast. “But he got hurt and that opened up the door for Brad.”

The rest is history.

3. The Open Cup

The silverware matters, at least to Atlanta United fans. The U.S. Open Cup is the oldest annual team sports tournament in United States history (1914), and Brad Guzan was a catalyst for the state of Georgia’s first ever Open Cup trophy.

What a game.

Leandro Gonzalez-Pirez, hereafter referred to as the walking yellow card, received a red card in the 74th minute, as Atlanta United battled to win their third trophy in only a few months – this time against fellow 2017 newcomers Minnesota United. Atlanta United led 2-1 at that moment, and simply needed to hold on for 16 minutes with ten men.

Then this bald polar bear decided to show up and piss off the entire city of Saint Paul by making three crucial saves, including a wild save against Ike Opara in stoppage time. If not for Brad Guzan, it’s highly likely Minnesota snags an equalizer in that match and sends the Open Cup final into blood pressure territory. Instead, Atlanta United hoisted the old trophy at 90 minutes to the echo of “Wonderwall” throughout the Benz.

2. Netgate

Lol.

Screw Luis Suarez.

In what would turn out to be a massive middle finger to Inter Miami’s experiment of signing Messi and his entire kindergarten class, Brad Guzan was THE REASON Atlanta United knocked Miami out of the playoffs in 2024.

First, Atlanta wasn’t even supposed to be there. It all came down to Decision Day against Orlando City – in Orlando – and Atlanta not only needed to win, but they needed a couple of games to go their way.

“Think about it from my perspective,” said Dax McCarty, 2024 Atlanta teammate of Brad’s and now MLS Season Pass analyst. “Duncan McGuire scores…and then VAR overturns it.” No one on the team knew until the final whistle that the other results had gone fallen in Atlanta’s favor. The celebrations were epic. Interim head coach Rob Valentino hugged me in the breezeway of Orlando’s stadium. Brad Guzan came running up the ramp screaming all of the expletives in sheer joy. It was like they’d won another cup.

Then came the MLS Wildcard game against Montreal, in which Brad HANDLED BIZNESS against Tom Pearce’s penalty kick in the shootout. It was the moment that set up Atlanta United vs Lionel Messi and co.

The three game series, which started in Miami Fort Lauderdale, was actually much closer in that first match than one might remember. Atlanta lost, however, and they returned home to the Benz for the crucial second leg. It was there Guzan snagged a pair of saves and, along with a Xande Silva banger that blew the roof off the Benz, the Five Stripes took it to game three.

The game started off stupid. Miami went up 1-0 in the 17th minute before Jamal Thiare registered a brace in minutes 19 and 21, and Guzan already had a handful of saves in the first half. Things were looking well, but any team that fields Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez likely have a goal or two on the way. Messi’s second half magic came true, and as Brad Guzan tried to snag the equalizer ball from the back of the net, he was waylaid by The Teeth himself: Suarez. The Uruguayan, clearly upset at Guzan’s newfound Super Saiyan form, shoved Brad into the net and pointed at him while yelling something.

No card was given, thanks to pisspoor refereeing, but Guz didn’t let that stop him. Suarez clearly missed the memo on angering the polar bear, and Guz would go on to snag 9 saves against 28 total shots by Miami. Bartek Slisz would ultimately grab the winning goal thanks to a bit of confusion on Miami’s side and an arrow of a ball by Pedro Amador, thus cementing one of the most brilliant goalkeeping displays the modern game has ever seen. And yes, I do mean ever.

Did I say, screw Luis Suarez?

1. MLS Cup 2018

Yeah, that game. Take away your preconceived notions about MLS Cup’s format vs traditional soccer point structure. The MLS Cup is the Super Bowl and World Series of North American soccer, and without Brad Guzan, Atlanta United fans wouldn’t own one in the trophy case. Guzan’s save in the seconds before the half against Jeremy Ebobisse’s header was quite literally one of the most crucial points in the game. It kept a clean sheet alive and allowed Atlanta United to hoist the MLS Cup in only its second year of existence.

You might be asking, “why is that the shortest portion of the article?”

Because nothing else needs to be said. That moment and that game, which Brad noted in his final press conference that he had never watched back, was what cemented his legacy as an Atlanta legend – and I don’t say this lightly – up there with the likes of Chipper Jones, Matt Ryan, Dominique Wilkins, and Deion Sanders.

The honorable (and most important) mention

Beyond everything the man did on the pitch, first and foremost, Brad Guzan is a loving dad and warrior for childhood cancer. As a fellow dad of four – and speaking openly for a moment – this was perhaps the main reason I always felt a relatability to Brad. The lives he touched during his time at Atlanta and beyond with the Unified Team and Children’s Healthcare families is something to be immensely proud of. The city of Atlanta and the state of Georgia is better with his presence.

Guzan is the type of man the world needs more of, and I truly hope his final sendoff from the Benz and the beautiful game later today are something his family can celebrate and remember for the rest of their lives.

Congratulations Brad, we can’t wait to see what’s next!