Chris Gbandi (born April 7, 1979) is a retired

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who is currently the head coach of the

UConn Huskies men's soccer The UConn Huskies men's soccer team is an intercollegiate varsity sports team of the University of Connecticut. The team is a member of the Big East Conference of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). History Connecticut soccer ex ...

team.

Career

College

Gbandi played

college soccer College soccer is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. It is very prominent in United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and as well as in South Africa and the Philippines. The United Kingd ...

at the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from Hart ...

, where he was a finalist for the

Hermann Trophy The Hermann Trophy is awarded annually by the Missouri Athletic Club to the United States's top men's and women's college soccer players. History In 1967, Bob Hermann, the president of the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) and the ...

in 1999 and 2001, and a winner in 2000 (he was named First Team All-American during his last two years in college).

Professional

Gbandi was drafted with the first overall pick of the

2002 MLS SuperDraft The 2002 Major League Soccer SuperDraft was held on February 10, 2002 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. One month earlier, MLS had contracted two clubs: Tampa Bay Mutiny and Miami Fusion. In conjunction with the contraction, the league conducted bot ...

Dallas Burn Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

, but missed all of the 2002 season while rehabilitating a torn

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are also called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation ...

(ACL). He returned in the 2003 season, where he registered one goal and two assists after playing 22 games in a disappointing campaign for the Burn. Gbandi played in another 23 games in 2004. In 2005, Gbandi made 17 appearances, all starts, and scored what happened to be the last goal ever scored at the Cotton Bowl by an

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference in Major League Soccer (MLS). The franchise be ...

player. 2006 was his best season yet, Gbandi played in 28 games and earned FC Dallas's defender of the year honors. Over the off season, Gbandi had a trial with

IK Start Idrettsklubben Start (or simply IK Start, translates to The sports club Start ) is a Norwegian football club from the city of Kristiansand that currently plays in the 1. divisjon, the second tier of the Norwegian football league system. The clu ...

, but nothing became of it. 2007 was another good year for Gbandi, he made 21 appearances and scored a spectacular goal against

Real Salt Lake Real Salt Lake, often shortened to RSL, is an American professional soccer franchise based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The club competes as a member club of Major League Soccer (MLS) in the Western Conference. RSL began play in 20 ...

. On February 8, 2008, he completed a transfer to Norwegian club

FK Haugesund Fotballklubben Haugesund (English: ''Football Club Haugesund''), usually referred to as FK Haugesund or FKH, is a professional Norway, Norwegian association football, football club from the city of Haugesund, Rogaland, Norway. The club currently ...

, where he spent the next two seasons, scoring 5 goals in 37 appearances for the team. Gbandi returned to the United States in 2010 when he signed with

USSF Division 2 The USSF Division 2 Professional League (D2 Pro League) was a temporary professional soccer league created by the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) for the 2010 season. The twelve-team league was formed as a compromise between the feuding Un ...

club

Miami FC The Miami FC is an American professional soccer team based in Miami, Florida that competes in the USL Championship, the second tier of the American soccer pyramid. The club began play in the North American Soccer League (NASL) in the 2016 se ...

International

It was speculated that Gbandi might cap for the

United States national team The United States national team or Team USA may refer to any of a number of sports team representing the United States in international competitions. Olympic teams Additionally, these teams may compete in other international competitions such as ...

, but in 2004 he accepted an offer from the Liberian national team to compete in the 2006 World Cup qualifiers, making him ineligible for the US squad.

Coaching

Gbandi served as an assistant at UConn, Holy Cross, and Dartmouth before earning his first head coaching job at

Northeastern The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

. He was named head coach at UConn on December 17, 2021.

Personal

Gbandi's brother,

Sandy Gbandi Sandy Gbandi (born July 12, 1983 in Harbel) is a Liberian former footballer. Career Early life and college Born near the Firestone rubber plantation, Gbandi and his family fled from his native Liberia to Houston, Texas following the outbre ...

, is also a former professional footballer.

References

External links

Miami FC bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gbandi, Chris 1979 births Living people Liberian men's footballers Liberia men's international footballers FC Dallas players UConn Huskies men's soccer players FK Haugesund players Fort Lauderdale Strikers (2006–2016) players Major League Soccer first-overall draft picks American people of Liberian descent Expatriate men's footballers in Norway USSF Division 2 Professional League players Major League Soccer players People from Bong County FC Dallas draft picks Men's association football defenders All-American college men's soccer players Hermann Trophy men's winners Liberian football managers UConn Huskies men's soccer coaches Dartmouth Big Green men's soccer coaches Holy Cross Crusaders men's soccer coaches Northeastern Huskies men's soccer coaches