United States men's national soccer team

United States
	Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s)	The Stars & Stripes; The Red, White and Blue; Yanks
Association	United States; Soccer Federation
Head coach	Bruce Arena, 1998-
Most caps	Cobi Jones (164)
Top scorer	Eric Wynalda (34)
First colours	Second colours
First international
	Unofficial: USA 0 - 1 Canada; (Newark, NJ, USA; November 28, 1885); Official: Sweden 2 - 3 USA; (Stockholm, Sweden; August 20, 1916)
Biggest win
	USA 8 - 1 Cayman Islands; (Mission Viejo, CA, USA; November 14, 1993); USA 7 - 0 El Salvador; (Los Angeles, CA, USA; December 5, 1993); USA 7 - 0 Barbados; (Foxborough, MA, USA; August 20, 2000)
Biggest defeat
	USA 0 - 10 England; (New York, NY, USA; May 27, 1964)
World Cup
Appearances	8 (first in 1930)
Best result	Semifinals, 1930
CONCACAF Gold Cup
Appearances	8 (first in 1991)
Best result	Winners, 1991, 2002, 2005

The United States men's national soccer team is the national association football team of the United States and is controlled by the United States Soccer Federation. The United States is currently the fifth ranked team in the world according to the FIFA World Rankings.

History

The United States is a side that enjoyed early competitive success. In the 1930 World Cup, the Americans won the first match in World Cup history, defeating Belgium 3-0 in Montevideo, Uruguay (occurring simultaneously with another "first game" across town where France defeated Mexico). In the next match, American Bert Patenaude alledgedly scored the first hat-trick in World Cup history as USA defeated Paraguay, again 3-0. FIFA officially maintains that Patenaude scored only two goals, the second of the three goals being an own goal^[1], but his teammates credited him with notching three^{[citation needed]}.

In that first Cup, USA advanced to the semifinals, and was eliminated in the semi-finals. No 3rd place match was played in the 1930 world cup. This is still the all-time best World Cup performance by the men's team.^[2] Some British football historians have claimed that the U.S. team at that competition was loaded with non-native players from British professional leagues. The facts do not support that assertion.^[3]

In the

, the U.S. team pulled off one of the greatest upsets in soccer history, handing England its first ever World Cup defeat 1-0, after England had recently beaten the rest of Europe 6-1 in an exhibition match. Some news agencies in England reported the match result as 10-1 to England, a result which would perhaps have been less surprising. However, the U.S. failed to advance from group play after losing to Spain. The United States struggled in international soccer for the next 40 years. In 1988 the United States was controversially awarded the

, even though it had not qualified for a World Cup since 1950. The U.S. did qualify for the

on a dramatic 1-0 road win over Trinidad and Tobago on a goal from Paul Caligiuri - termed the 'Shot Heard Round The World' in American soccer circles. Although they were eliminated from the 1990 World Cup without earning a point, the side rebounded to win the first ever CONCACAF Gold Cup in 1991.

The United States was picked by some to become the first host country to fail to advance to the second round in the 1994 World Cup, but a tie with Switzerland and a stunning 2-1 upset of Colombia put the U.S. in the knockout round, where they lost 1-0 to eventual champion Brazil.

In the

, the team struggled to an 0-3 record, including a disappointing loss to Iran, and a last-place finish. Head coach Steve Sampson received much of the blame for the performance.^[4] The team's best performance since 1930 came in the

, when the U.S. reached the quarterfinals. They were one of the major surprises at the 2002 event, stunning highly fancied Portugal 3-2 in group play, defeating continental rivals Mexico 2-0 in the second round, and narrowly losing to eventual runner-up Germany in the quarterfinals 1-0.

The U.S. men are now considered a highly competitive side. In recent years, USA has become known for producing goalkeepers; three U.S. keepers started in the English Premier League in the 2003-04 season. Two of the three combined to win back-to-back Goalkeeper of the Year awards, as voted by the players, with Brad Friedel in 2002-03 and Tim Howard in 2003-04.

Since its recent successes, the team has been consistently ranked in the top 15 of the FIFA World Rankings; its highest-ever rank was 4th, first obtained in April 2006. More Americans than ever now have successful careers in European leagues, and the country's youth team is strong, as shown by the under-19s winning the 2005 Milk Cup.

The USA has had more men reach 100 caps (international appearances) than any other country, with nine to date.

On September 3, 2005, they qualified for their 8th World Cup by beating Mexico 2-0 in Columbus, Ohio. The United States was drawn for Group E in the World Cup, and will face Italy, Ghana, and the Czech Republic in the group stage. Because of the high FIFA ranking of the sides in Group E, it has been frequently called this Cup's group of death along with Group C (Netherlands, Argentina, Serbia & Montenegro, and Cote d'Ivoire.)

World Cup record

File:US-Soccer-Dont-tread-on-me.gif

Nike's 2006 World Cup "Don't Tread on Me" logo for the men's national team.

1930 - Semifinals ^[1]
1934 - Round 1
1938 - Withdrew
1950 - Round 1
1954 - 1986 - Did not qualify
1990 - Round 1
1994 - Round 2 (lost to Brazil)
1998 - Round 1
2002 - Quarterfinals (lost to Germany)
2006 - Qualified

Gold Cup record

1991 - Champions
1993 - Second place
1996 - Third place
1998 - Second place
2000 - Quarterfinals
2002 - Champions
2003 - Third place
2005 - Champions

Copa América record

Starting from 1993, CONMEBOL has invited teams from other confederations to participate in their confederation championship, Copa América. USA has taken part as one of the invited teams twice, in 1993 and 1995.

1993 - Round 1
1995 - Fourth place
1997 to 2004 - Was invited but turned down due to MLS season schedule conflict

Head coaches

2006 World Cup roster

Head coach: Bruce Arena

Chris Albright was announced on 4 May as a replacement for Frankie Hejduk, who suffered a torn ACL in his right knee. ^[5]

Gregg Berhalter, who will join German club 1860 Munich next season, was announced on 25 May as a replacement for Cory Gibbs, who re-injured his right knee in a 1-0 loss to Morocco on 23 May.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Club
1	1GK	Tim Howard	6 March 1979	16	Everton (on loan from Manchester United)
2	2DF	Chris Albright	14 January 1979	20	Los Angeles Galaxy
3	2DF	Carlos Bocanegra	25 May 1979	40	Fulham
4	3MF	Pablo Mastroeni	26 August 1976	48	Colorado Rapids
5	3MF	John O'Brien	29 August 1977	31	Chivas USA
6	2DF	Steve Cherundolo	19 February 1979	35	Hannover
7	3MF	Eddie Lewis	17 May 1974	70	Leeds United
8	3MF	Clint Dempsey	9 March 1983	21	New England Revolution
9	4FW	Eddie Johnson	31 March 1984	18	Kansas City Wizards
10	3MF	Claudio Reyna	20 July 1973	109	Manchester City
11	4FW	Brian Ching	24 May 1978	20	Houston Dynamo
12	2DF	Gregg Berhalter	1 August 1973	44	Energie Cottbus
13	2DF	Jimmy Conrad	12 February 1977	15	Kansas City Wizards
14	3MF	Ben Olsen	3 May 1977	34	D.C. United
15	3MF	Bobby Convey	27 May 1983	39	Reading
16	4FW	Josh Wolff	25 February 1977	47	Kansas City Wizards
17	3MF	DaMarcus Beasley	24 May 1982	58	PSV
18	1GK	Kasey Keller	29 November 1969	93	Borussia Mönchengladbach
19	1GK	Marcus Hahnemann	15 June 1972	6	Reading
20	4FW	Brian McBride	19 June 1972	92	Fulham
21	4FW	Landon Donovan	4 March 1982	81	Los Angeles Galaxy
22	2DF	Oguchi Onyewu	13 May 1982	14	Standard Liège
23	2DF	Eddie Pope	24 December 1973	80	Real Salt Lake

Alternates

After the promotions of Albright and Berhalter, the eleven remaining alternate players are:

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Club
1GK	Tony Meola	21 February 1969	100	Red Bull New York
1GK	Matt Reis	28 March 1975	1	New England Revolution
2DF	Todd Dunivant	26 December 1980	2	Los Angeles Galaxy
3MF	Chris Armas	27 August 1972	65	Chicago Fire
3MF	Chris Klein	4 January 1976	22	Real Salt Lake
3MF	Pat Noonan	8 August 1980	12	New England Revolution
3MF	Steve Ralston	14 June 1974	31	New England Revolution
3MF	Kerry Zavagnin	2 July 1974	21	Kansas City Wizards
4FW	Conor Casey	25 July 1981	7	FSV Mainz 05
4FW	Chris Rolfe	17 January 1983	4	Chicago Fire
4FW	Taylor Twellman	29 February 1980	18	New England Revolution

Famous past players

References/Notes

^ "FIFA Infoplus - Hat Tricks" (PDF). FIFA. Retrieved 2006-06-08.
^ There was no official World Cup Third Place match in 1930; USA and Yugoslavia lost in the semi-finals.
^ There were six British-born players on the 1930 team, all of whom played every minute of the team's three World Cup matches. However, at the time of the 1930 World Cup, the combined experience of those six players in British professional leagues was two games, both by a single player in the English Third Division (equivalent to today's Football League One). Four of the six had come to the United States as teenagers or younger. Three of the six never played professionally in Britain; their pro careers were entirely in North America. In the 1920s, there was a thriving professional league in the United States, and the league survived into the mid-1930s. Two of the six did have significant professional careers in Britain, but not until after 1930. All 16 members of the 1930 World Cup team were living in the United States by 1928. For more details on this issue, see this article.
^ "Sampson destroyed U.S. unity with late changes to lineup". SoccerTimes.com. Retrieved June 8. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
^ "Albright Replaces Injured Hejduk on U.S. FIFA World Cup Roster". ussoccer.com. Retrieved May 6. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)

External links

Template:Fb start

Template:Fb end

[hattrick-1] "FIFA Infoplus - Hat Tricks" (PDF). FIFA. Retrieved 2006-06-08.

[table-2] There was no official World Cup Third Place match in 1930; USA and Yugoslavia lost in the semi-finals.

[1930wc-3] There were six British-born players on the 1930 team, all of whom played every minute of the team's three World Cup matches. However, at the time of the 1930 World Cup, the combined experience of those six players in British professional leagues was two games, both by a single player in the English Third Division (equivalent to today's Football League One). Four of the six had come to the United States as teenagers or younger. Three of the six never played professionally in Britain; their pro careers were entirely in North America. In the 1920s, there was a thriving professional league in the United States, and the league survived into the mid-1930s. Two of the six did have significant professional careers in Britain, but not until after 1930. All 16 members of the 1930 World Cup team were living in the United States by 1928. For more details on this issue, see this article.

[1998wc-4] "Sampson destroyed U.S. unity with late changes to lineup". SoccerTimes.com. Retrieved June 8. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)

[ussoccer.com-5] "Albright Replaces Injured Hejduk on U.S. FIFA World Cup Roster". ussoccer.com. Retrieved May 6. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)

[1]

[2]

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v t e National and regional football teams of North America, Central America, and the Caribbean (CONCACAF)
North America	Canada Mexico United States
Central America	Belize Costa Rica El Salvador Guatemala Honduras Nicaragua Panama
Caribbean	Anguilla Antigua and Barbuda Aruba Bahamas Barbados Bermuda¹ Bonaire³ British Virgin Islands Cayman Islands Cuba Curaçao Dominica Dominican Republic French Guiana^{2 3} Grenada Guadeloupe³ Guyana² Haiti Jamaica Martinique³ Montserrat Puerto Rico Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Saint Martin³ Sint Maarten³ Suriname² Trinidad and Tobago Turks and Caicos Islands U.S. Virgin Islands
Defunct	Netherlands Antilles
1: Inside the North American zone, but CFU member. 2: South American region, but affiliated to CONCACAF and CFU. 3: Full or associate CONCACAF member, but non-FIFA member.