Danny Szetela

Full name :	Daniel Szetela
Date of birth :	June 17, 1987 (1987-06-17) (age 22)
Place of birth :	Passaic, New Jersey, United States
Height :	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Playing position :	Midfielder

In 2002, Szetela entered USSF's Bradenton Academy, graduating in May 2004. He then signed with Major League Soccer. His 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 Szetela pick his team, instead putting him into the league-wide draft, with Columbus Crew ending up with his rights. Joining in mid-season, Szetela appeared in eight regular season and two playoff games, while recording a solitary assist. In 2005, Szetela struggled to get on the field with the Crew. During 2006, he was beset by injury troubles and only saw four games for Columbus.

On August 31, 2007, Szetela was signed by Racing de Santander, in the Spanish Primera División.[1] 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. He scored his first goal for Brescia, his first professional goal in league play, on October 18, 2008, against Triestina. He returned to Spain on July 13, 2009.[2] However, the Spanish side decided against renewing his contract.

Szetela opted not to continue a career in Europe and returned back to the States and signed a contract with Major League Soccer. His contract was picked up by D.C. United, who were second in the allocation placements to sign returning U.S. international players.
[edit] International

In 2003, Szetela 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 all four American games, scoring two goals. In 2005, he was called up to the U.S. U-20 national team for the 2005 2005 World Youth Championship in the Netherlands. He played two games in that tournament. 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.

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,"[3] he decided to play for the U.S. In July 2008, Szetela was named to the U.S. team that competed in the 2008 Beijing Olympics