Aston Villa News 24/7Writer: Mike Field 
Date:Tuesday July 29 2008
Time: 6:09PM
UK time is: 03:23:41
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Friedel Looking Forward To Euro Nights
Brad Friedel has admitted that one of the reasons for joining Villa was the European aspects.
Friedel watched on from the stands as Villa secured a UEFA Cup spot by beating Odense 3-2 on aggregate.
The draw for the second round takes place on Friday in Switzerland.
Speaking on the official site. our new goalkeeper said:
'I was at the game on Saturday and it was tremendous to see 31,000 people turn up for an Intertoto Cup tie. I was thankful for the reception that I got at half-time.
'The boys did well to get through into the UEFA Cup because I know they worked really hard all through last season to finish sixth.
'Sixth would generally get you into the UEFA Cup automatically but this year Villa had to enter the Intertoto Cup and it would have been a shame to have been knocked out in the first round.
'But the players did really well and now we can hopefully look forward to a decent European campaign.'
Speaking about the club in general and motivations for his move, he admitted:
'The European campaign was one of the things that appealed to me but there are a lot of things about this football club that were very appealing to me.
'When I started speaking with Aston Villa it was easy to see why a lot of people are talking about this club.
'People are becoming very inquisitive about the things that are going on around here. I think this is going to be a very exciting place to be.'
When it comes to the Villa, there's rarely a dull moment!
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Your Comments
Friedel is highly motivated and an impressive keeper. It was a shrewd signing considering his age, but he'll be good for you, I'm sure.
RadioactiveD
There's a clever bigger picture here, if Brad opens up some soccer schools in the future with Mr Lerners help, villa should have the pick of some excellent American talent in the future.
johnmurphy3112
Good signing, quality goalkeeper, will add that little bit more experience to what remains basically a young team.
glensider
Radio, well said.
Fan of Blues
Top Drawer Keeper for £2m , On last seasons form better than Cech and even shades James as he has fewer rushes of blood!
Villan57
Delighted with this signing. Loving some of these comments too. It's nice to know that people outside the club are sitting up and taking notice. "When I started speaking with Aston Villa it was easy to see why a lot of people are talking about this club."
Adam Deuce
Agree Adam Deuce. For way too long, virtually throughout the Ellis era, I fear that we were a far from attractive proposition for potential new signings.
glensider
He's one of the best keepers in the premiership, and I just cant wait to see us finally start to sneak some 1-0 wins! Being in Europe is a massive attraction for players, and maybe now is when we'll start to see other signings on board with the promise of UEFA Cup football.
romanianvillain
Agree with all the points above. Its been a while since we have signed someone that has really caught the imagination of the fans. Great bloke, great keeper and like one or two of the comments above, i do think this is the start of a long term relationship with Friedel, I think part of his decision was the Lerner affect although he wont admit it himself i think he has an eye on his post-playing career. And if the rumours are true about Lerner backing his soccer schools venture then we may see a few young americans coming our way for the next few years, albeit if they can obtain the Work Permits.
young_jonah
Davies and the man-god Laursen in centre defence with Friedel in goal, the main backbone of our defence is pretty sorted there, and very strong if you ask me. If we can just get in a few quality full backs, our back line will be great - and it'll only get stronger when Bouma returns in the winter. As you say Romanian, scrapping out the 1-0 wins when the occasion calls for it would make a change - but saying that, if we carry on like last season we're capable of scoring more than one goal against anyone.
Mayo_12
When you have someone as good as Friedel in goal, the defenders will be more confident. Just the experience we need at the back - won't be afraid to shout and lead as well - QUALITY
JOHN.CAREWS.CREW
He will certainley be a match winner for us as well, he could be the key between scraping out those 1-0 wins and drawing all those games we do!
JOHN.CAREWS.CREW
Yes, fingers crossed that we can get Curtis Davies back sooner rather than later, get GB to stay, and we've the makings now of a really good team. Certainly another top six finish would look a distinct possibility.
glensider
I am looking fwd to seeing Villa running out onto the pitch to compete with other European teams.
col8
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