Anthony "A. J." Wood (born August 17, 1973, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is a retired American

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 ...

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

who played six seasons in

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

. He was a member of the United States U-16 men's national soccer team at the

1989 FIFA U-16 World Championship The 1989 FIFA U-16 World Championship, the third edition of the tournament, was held in the Scottish cities of Glasgow, Edinburgh, Motherwell, Aberdeen, and Dundee between 10 June and 24 June 1989. Players born after 1 August 1972 could participa ...

and also played for the U.S. at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Youth

Wood grew up in the Washington, D.C. area where he attended high school at the parochial Georgetown Preparatory School. He was a

on the boys soccer team and was the city high school player of the year in 1990. In 1991, he entered the University of Virginia where he played as a forward on the men's soccer team until 1994. Although never selected as a first or second team All American, he was named the 1994 ''SoccerAmerica'' Player of the Year. The Cavaliers won the NCAA championship each of the four years Wood played. He also holds the NCAA tournament record of 13 goals.
/sup>

International

In 1989, he was a member of the U.S. U-16 national team at the 1989 FIFA U-16 World Championship, U-16 World Cup. While the U.S. went 1–1–1 and failed to make the second round, it did defeat Brazil, making it the first U.S. team to do so. Beginning in 1994, Wood became a regular on the United States U-23 men's national soccer team as it prepared for the

. In 1995, he was a member of the U.S. team which went 0–3 at the

Pan American Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held ...

. Then in 1996, Wood was part of the

U.S. Olympic team United States of America (USA) has sent athletes to every celebration of the modern era Olympic Games, except for the 1980 Summer Olympics, during which it led a boycott to protest the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. American athletes have w ...

and saw time in all three games as the U.S. went 1–1–1 and failed to make the second round.

Professional

In 1996, the MetroStars of

(MLS) selected Wood in the 5th round (49th overall) of the

1996 MLS Inaugural Player Draft The MLS Inaugural Player Draft, held before Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United State ...

. This was the league's first draft and the team's began their first season of operation in 1996. Wood spent the 1996 season and thirteen games in 1997 with the MetroStars before being traded to the Columbus Crew for

Brian Bliss Brian Boyer Bliss (born September 28, 1965) is a retired American soccer defender and front office executive. He also serves as an assistant coach for the United States U-20 national team. Bliss played professionally in Europe and the United S ...

. At the end of the season, MLS expanded to two cities, Miami and Chicago. In order to build the new teams, MLS held an expansion draft. The Crew did not protect Wood and as a result, on November 6, 1997, the Chicago Fire took him with the 21st selection of the

1997 MLS Expansion Draft The 1997 MLS Expansion Draft was held November 6, 1997. Two teams participated, the Chicago Fire and Miami Fusion F.C., both expansion Major League Soccer clubs starting play in the 1998 season. Format Each team in the league made ten players, in ...

. However, Wood never played for the Fire as of January 6, 1998, the team traded him to

D.C. United D.C. United is a professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. that competes in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer, the top tier of American soccer. Domestically, the club has won four MLS Cups (league championships), four Suppo ...

for Jesse Marsch and an exchange of draft picks. On February 5, 2001, Wood was traded to the

Kansas City Wizards Sporting Kansas City, often shortened to Sporting KC, is an American men's professional soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The administrative offices are located in Downtown Kansas City, Missouri, and the team clubhouse and ...

for a third round draft pick, but was acquired back on May 9 after being waived.
/sup> On January 16, 2002, Wood retired from playing professional soccer.
/sup> Since his retirement, he has become active in coaching youth soccer and holds a position with

as a youth development coach.

External links

MetroStars bio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wood, A. J. 1973 births Living people American soccer coaches American soccer players New York Red Bulls draft picks New York Red Bulls players Columbus Crew players D.C. United players MLS Pro-40 players Olympic soccer players for the United States Footballers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Virginia Cavaliers men's soccer players Soccer players from Pittsburgh Major League Soccer players United States men's youth international soccer players United States men's under-23 international soccer players Pan American Games competitors for the United States Footballers at the 1995 Pan American Games A-League (1995–2004) players Men's association football forwards