DaMarcus Lamont Beasley (; born May 24, 1982) is an American former professional

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 ...

player. A left-footed player, Beasley played both as a

left winger A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

and

left wingback In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

throughout his career. He retired from soccer after the

2019 MLS Season The 2019 Major League Soccer season was the 24th season of Major League Soccer. The regular season began on March 2, 2019 and ended on October 6. The MLS Cup Playoffs began on October 19 and concluded with MLS Cup 2019 on November 10, under a ...

. After starring at the

1999 FIFA U-17 World Championship The 1999 FIFA U-16 World Championship, the eighth edition of the tournament, was held in the cities of Auckland, Christchurch, Napier, and Dunedin in New Zealand between 10 and 27 November 1999. Players born after 1 January 1982 could participate ...

, Beasley emerged as a star with the Chicago Fire before making a move to Dutch club

PSV Eindhoven Philips Sport Vereniging (; en, Philips Sports Association ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional football department, whi ...

in 2004. He later spent time in the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

with

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

, in the

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football' ...

for Rangers and in the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

for

Hannover 96 Hannoverscher Sportverein von 1896, commonly referred to as Hannover 96 (), Hannover, HSV or simply 96, is a German professional football club based in the city of Hanover, Lower Saxony. They played in the Bundesliga for a total of 30 years betwe ...

. He finished his career with spells with

Puebla Puebla ( en, colony, settlement), officially Free and Sovereign State of Puebla ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Puebla), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its cap ...

and

Houston Dynamo Houston Dynamo FC (formerly officially, but still commonly, called the Houston Dynamo) is an American professional soccer club based in Houston. The Dynamo compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Establi ...

. Beasley is the only U.S. man to play in four

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

s, his first in

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

and his latest in

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, earning 126 caps during his 16-year international career.

Club career

Early career

Born in

Fort Wayne Fort Wayne is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Indiana, United States. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 as of the 2020 Censu ...

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

, Beasley joined

IMG Academy IMG Academy is a preparatory boarding school and sports training destination in Bradenton, Florida, United States. IMG Academy is set across over 600 acres and features programs consisting of sport camps for youth athletes, adult camps, a board ...

, the

United States Soccer Federation The United States Soccer Federation (USSF), commonly referred to as U.S. Soccer, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and the official governing body of the sport of soccer in the United States. Headquartered in Chicago, the federation is ...

's Residency program in

Bradenton, Florida Bradenton ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Manatee County, Florida, Manatee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the city's population is 55,698. History Late 18th and early 19th centuries ...

. Before moving to Florida, Beasley played at

South Side High School Southside High School or South Side High School may refer to: *Southside High School (Gadsden, Alabama) *Southside High School (Dallas County, Alabama), a school in the Dallas County Schools system * Southside High School (Batesville, Arkansas) * ...

for two years. Beasley starred in the 1999 Under-17 World Cup in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, winning the Silver Ball as the tournament's second best player, behind teammate

Landon Donovan Landon Timothy Donovan (born March 4, 1982) is an American former professional soccer player. Donovan is also the co-founder and vice-president of soccer operations for USL Championship side San Diego Loyal SC, and serves as strategic advisor fo ...

Chicago Fire

Beasley signed with MLS on March 16, 1999, and was allocated to the

LA Galaxy LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began pl ...

. However, before making any appearances with LA, he was traded in February 2000 to the Chicago Fire in exchange for first-round picks in the

2000 MLS SuperDraft The 2000 Major League Soccer SuperDraft was held on February 6, 2000 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and consisted of six rounds. One of the most successful draft picks was goalkeeper Nick Rimando, a third round pick, who went on to hold the record ...

and

2001 MLS SuperDraft The 2001 Major League Soccer SuperDraft was held on February 5, 2001, at the Signature Grand in Davie, Florida. Player selection Any player whose name is marked with an * was contracted under the Project-40 program. Round 1 Round 1 trade ...

. He would excel with Chicago, scoring 14 goals and recording 20 assists over 4.5 seasons while being named to the league Best XI in 2003. He was close to signing for

Southampton FC Southampton Football Club () is an English professional football club based in Southampton, Hampshire, which competes in the . Their home ground since 2001 has been St Mary's Stadium, before which they were based at The Dell. The club play in ...

in 2004, but MLS rejected the offer much to Beasley's displeasure. His stay with the Fire ended on July 19, 2004 when Dutch giants

agreed on a transfer fee with MLS worth $2.5 million. He signed a four-year contract.

PSV

PSV manager

Guus Hiddink Guus Hiddink (; born 8 November 1946) is a Dutch former football manager and professional player. He enjoyed a long career playing as a midfielder in his native Netherlands. Retired as player in 1982, Hiddink went into management, leading both c ...

brought Beasley in as the successor to

Arjen Robben Arjen Robben (; born 23 January 1984) is a Dutch former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Winger (football), winger. He was known for his Dribbling#Association football, dribbling skills, speed, ball control and long ...

(who went to

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

), and because of that, Beasley was granted the number 11 jersey. In his first season in the

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

, Beasley played 29 games, scored 6 goals in 34 domestic games of the Dutch season and helped PSV win their 18th league title. On May 28, 2005, PSV advanced to

the final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

of the

2004–05 KNVB Cup The 87th edition of the KNVB Cup (at the time called ''Amstel Cup'') started on 7 August 2004. The final was played on 29 May 2005. PSV beat Willem II 4–0, winning the trophy for the eighth time. Participants A total of 85 clubs participated ...

by defeating

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the club changed to various names before settling on being called after its ...

in a

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pen ...

after Beasley's goal in the final minute of regulation tied the match. In addition to making an impact on the domestic level, Beasley became the first American to play in the semi-finals of the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

, against

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

. In the first leg, PSV lost 2–0 at the

San Siro Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, commonly known as San Siro, is a football stadium in the San Siro district of Milan, Italy, which is the home of A.C. Milan and Inter Milan. It has a seating capacity of 80,018, making it one of the largest stadiums in ...

, while in the second leg, PSV won 3–1 at

Philips Stadion The Philips Stadion () is a football stadium in Eindhoven, Netherlands. As the home of PSV Eindhoven (Philips Sport Vereniging), it is therefore also known as PSV Stadion. With a capacity of 36,500, it is the third-largest football stadium in th ...

, though they were eliminated based on the

away goals rule The away goals rule is a method of tiebreaker, tiebreaking in association football and other sports when teams play each other twice, once at each team's home ground. Under the away goals rule, if the total goals scored by each team are equal, the ...

. Despite the loss, Beasley was an important player, leading his team with 4 goals in 12 Champions League matches. DaMarcus was fined

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...

1,500 ($1,852) for

driving under the influence Driving under the influence (DUI)—also called driving while impaired, impaired driving, driving while intoxicated (DWI), drunk driving, operating while intoxicated (OWI), operating under the influence (OUI), operating vehicle under the infl ...

of alcohol as a result of an incident on January 16, 2006. His Dutch driving privileges were suspended for the next three months, followed by a three-month probationary period.

Manchester City

After a disappointing individual season for Beasley in which PSV won their 19th championship, on August 31, 2006, he joined English

side

on a season-long loan fulfilling his ambition to play in England. However, his first few weeks with City were troubled by injury, limiting his ability to play. On December 30, Beasley scored his first goal for City, a match-winner in the 83rd minute against

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

. He went on to score three times more before returning to PSV after making 22 appearances in total.

Rangers

club Rangers signed Beasley for £700,000 in June 2007. He became the second American to play for the Rangers' first team, after

Claudio Reyna Claudio Reyna (born July 20, 1973) is an American former professional soccer player and current executive. He most recently served as sporting director of Austin FC. A former midfielder, he spent most of his professional career in Europe, pla ...

. On August 4, 2007, Beasley made his Rangers debut, playing a full 90 minutes in a 3–0 win against

Inverness Caledonian Thistle Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club, commonly known as Caley Thistle, is a professional football club based in Inverness, Scotland. The team currently competes in the Scottish Championship, the second tier of the Scottish Professional F ...

. Beasley scored his first goal for the club against

FK Zeta FK Zeta is a football club from Golubovci, a suburb of Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro. It plays in the Montenegrin Second League. The club was the inaugural champion of the Montenegrin First League in 2006–07 season. History Period 19 ...

in a Champions League qualifier on August 7, 2007, becoming the first American to score for two clubs in the competition. During the match, Beasley was subjected to racial taunting by Zeta fans, along with fellow black teammate,

Jean-Claude Darcheville Jean-Claude Jacques Ducan Darcheville (; born 25 July 1975) is a French Guianese former professional footballer who played as a striker. He played for various clubs in France, England, Scotland, and Greece. He represented French Guiana at the ...

. He urged

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

and

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

to do something about the chants, which prompted an investigation intended to crack down on the crowds at soccer matches. Beasley scored his first Scottish Premier League goal in Rangers' 2–1 win over

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...

on August 25, 2007. DaMarcus Beasly

On October 2, 2007, Beasley was influential in Rangers 3–0 win against

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

in the Champions League group stage. He was involved in all three Rangers goals in a victory for the Scottish side. His inswinging corner was headed in by

Lee McCulloch Lee Henry McCulloch (born 14 May 1978) is a Scottish professional football coach and former player. He is the first team assistant manager at Scottish Premiership club Heart of Midlothian. McCulloch was capped on eighteen occasions by the Sc ...

to give Rangers a 1–0 advantage. Beasley's wide pass to

Alan Hutton Alan Hutton (born 30 November 1984) is a Scottish former professional association football, footballer who played as a right back (association football), right back. Hutton started his career with Rangers F.C., Rangers, and won the 2004–05 Sc ...

allowed him to spring free and set up

Daniel Cousin Daniel Michel Cousin (born 7 February 1977) is a Gabonese former professional footballer who played as a striker. He played for Martigues, Chamois Niortais, Le Mans Union Club 72, RC Lens, Rangers, Hull City, Larissa and Sapins, as well a ...

for the second. Finally, Beasley took a 50-meter aerial pass from Cousin while on the run, controlled, and finished. Beasley was named Man of the Match. During a Champions League match against

VfB Stuttgart Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V., commonly known as VfB Stuttgart (), is a German sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club's football team is currently part of Germany's first division, the Bundesliga. VfB Stu ...

, Beasley was hurt in a collision with goalkeeper

Raphael Schäfer Raphael Schäfer (Polish:'' Rafał Szafarczyk''; born 30 January 1979) is a German former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Biography Early years Raphael Schäfer was born in 1979 as a member of the German minority in the Uppe ...

. This left him unable to complete the match and he was substituted. The true extent of the injury meant that he was expected to miss the rest of the Scottish Premier League season. However, Beasley was named in the Rangers squad for the match against

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1 ...

on May 10. He made his return on May 19 against St Mirren. His first start for Rangers after his injury came in the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Queen of the South; he notched a goal and an assist in the 3–2 victory. On August 23, 2008, in a Scottish Premier League match against

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

Pittodrie Stadium Pittodrie Stadium, commonly referred to as Pittodrie, is an all-seater stadium in Aberdeen, Scotland. Used primarily for football, it has been the home ground of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) club Aberdeen F.C. since they were ...

, Beasley looked to have scored his first goal of the campaign, though the goal was wrongly ruled out for offside. Beasley helped Rangers win the SPL title for 2008–09, being awarded a championship medal after appearing in ten league matches during the season. DaMarcus Beasley

During the 2009–10 season, Beasley saw little playing time with Rangers. He stated in December 2009 that he would seek a move away from the club during the upcoming January transfer window in order to secure a place in the United States squad for the

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

. Shortly after this declaration, Beasley was given a run of games in the Rangers team during the month of December. He had some impressive performances, scoring in games against

and

Motherwell Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...

. After the Motherwell game Beasley expressed his desire to stay with Rangers and help them retain the Scottish Premier League title. Although Rangers won the title, Beasley was not entitled to a championship medal, having played in only eight games, less than the 25% required.

Hannover 96

On August 30, 2010, Beasley signed a two-year contract with German

club

. He made his debut on September 18, 2010, coming on as a substitute in the 77th minute in a 2–0 away loss to

VfL Wolfsburg Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg e. V., commonly known as VfL Wolfsburg () or Wolfsburg, is a German professional sports club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. The club grew out of a multi-sports club for Volkswagen workers in the city of W ...

Puebla

On June 22, 2011, Beasley joined

Mexican Primera División The Liga MX, officially known as the Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional football division in Mexico, holding 2 tournaments per year. The league is considered the strongest in North America, and among the strongest in al ...

side

. Beasley scored his first goal for Puebla in his unofficial debut against

Monterrey Monterrey ( , ) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León, Mexico, and the third largest city in Mexico behind Guadalajara and Mexico City. Located at the foothills of the Sierra Madre Oriental, the city is anchor ...

in the Copa Tijuana. On July 23, Beasley made his competitive debut for ''Los Camoteros'' in a 1–0 win over

Atlas An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of maps of Earth or of a region of Earth. Atlases have traditionally been bound into book form, but today many atlases are in multimedia formats. In addition to presenting geographic ...

in the opening match of the 2011 Apertura Season. He scored his first competitive goal for Puebla on August 21 in a 2–1 win over

Pumas UNAM Club Universidad Nacional, A.C., commonly referred to as UNAM, is a professional football club based in Ciudad Universitaria of Mexico City, Mexico. The club competes in the Liga MX, the top division in the Mexican football league system. Fo ...

Houston Dynamo

On July 23, 2014, Beasley joined

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 ...

club

as a

designated player The Designated Player Rule, nicknamed the Beckham Rule, allows Major League Soccer franchises to sign up to three players that would be considered outside their salary cap (either by offering the player higher wages or by paying a transfer fee ...

. He made his Dynamo debut on August 3, 2014, starting at left back against

DC 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 Su ...

in a 1–0 win. Beasley suffered a hamstring injury on October 12 that ended his 2014 season. He appeared in 10 games for the Dynamo in his first year with Houston. In 2015, Beasley was selected for his 4th MLS All Star game and was named the Dynamo team defender of the year. He scored his first goal for the Dynamo on August 8, 2015 in a 2–1 against the

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional soccer team based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete as a member club of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). Originally as the San Jose Clash, the franchise ...

. 2016 saw Beasley miss over a month due to knee surgery. After the season Beasley re-signed with the Dynamo, however he took a pay cut and no longer counted as a designated player. DaMarcus Beasley - Houston Dynamo - USMNT - MLS (47937979901)

DaMarcus Beasley - Houston Dynamo - USMNT - MLS (47937979901)

Beasley didn't miss significant time because of injury in 2017 and had a strong season, being named an MLS All Star and helping lead the Dynamo make the MLS Playoffs for the first time in 3 seasons. He received the MLS Fair Play Individual Award, which is given to the player who commits the fewest fouls and demonstrates good sportsmanship. In 2018, Beasley and the Dynamo missed out on the playoffs, but did win the

US Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in men's Soccer in the United States, soccer in the United States of America. It is the oldest ongoing nati ...

, which qualified them for the

2019 CONCACAF Champions League The 2019 CONCACAF Champions League (officially the 2019 Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League) was the 11th edition of the CONCACAF Champions League under its current name, and overall the 54th edition of the premier football club competition orga ...

. the first time the Dynamo had qualified for the competition since 2013. On December 30, 2018, Beasley signed a new contract to bring him back for the 2019 season. On February 19, Beasley and the Dynamo opened the 2019 season with a Champions League match against

Guastatoya Guastatoya is a city in Guatemala. It is the capital and largest city of the department of El Progreso. The Guastatoya Water Park is located in the city. It is situated 73 km from the city of Guatemala. The city was leveled in 1976 from a ...

. Beasley scored the only goal of the match hitting a weak foot volley from outside the box to give the Dynamo the win. On March 12, Beasley came off injured in a CCL match against Tigres. He underwent surgery on his knee on March 20 and was out for almost 2 months. Beasley returned from the injury and made his first MLS appearance of the season on May 15 in a 1–0 loss to the

Portland Timbers The Portland Timbers are an American professional men's soccer club based in Portland, Oregon. The Timbers compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The Timbers have played their home games at P ...

. On May 20, Beasley announced that he would be retiring after the 2019 season. Beasley would make 18 appearances across all competitions in 2019, his last coming on October 6 as the Dynamo defeated the

4–2 in the final game of the season and Beasley's career. Beasley was subbed off in the 89th minute to a standing ovation from the crowd. After the match the Dynamo showed a tribute on the videoboard and Beasley addressed the crowd, saying "I wouldn't think of another club to end my career with. Houston is my home. I'm not gonna say goodbye."

International career

Beasley was

capped In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the ea ...

over

100 times ''100 Times'' is Avail's first release on Fat Wreck Chords, done so in 1999. It is a re-recording of five songs (plus a recording of one song of which a different recording would appear on their first full-length album for Fat Wreck Chords in 20 ...

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 ...

, participating in four

s. He was also a key part of the United States team that won the

CONCACAF Gold Cup The CONCACAF Gold Cup ( es, Copa de Oro de la CONCACAF, french: Coupe D'or CONCACAF) is the main association football competition of the men's national football teams governed by CONCACAF, determining the continental champion of North Ameri ...

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

as a viewer. For the 2013 Gold Cup, Beasley was the team's

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

. Beasley played for the Under-20 team at the

2001 FIFA World Youth Championship The 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship took place in Argentina between 17 June and 8 July 2001. The 2001 championship was the 13th contested. The tournament took part in six cities, Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Mendoza, Rosario, Salta, and Mar de ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. He received his first senior cap on January 27, 2001 age 18, against

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. At age 20, he was named in the United States' squad for the

2002 World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

in Japan and South Korea, playing in all three group matches as the team achieved its best performance in over half a century by reaching the quarter-finals. Beasley, along with fellow young midfielder

, was criticized by fans and U.S. coach

Bruce Arena Bruce Arena (born September 21, 1951) is an American soccer coach who is the head coach and sporting director of the New England Revolution. He is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame and the NJCAA Lacrosse Hall of Fame. Arena has had ...

for poor play during the

2006 World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...

. He set up the U.S.'s only goal (scored by

Clint Dempsey Clinton Drew Dempsey (; born March 9, 1983) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a forward and midfielder. During his career, he played in the Premier League for Fulham and Tottenham Hotspur and in Major League Soccer ...

) against

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

and had a potential game-winning goal disallowed against

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

when

Brian McBride Brian Robert McBride (born June 19, 1972) is an American former soccer player who played as a forward for Columbus Crew, Fulham and Chicago Fire. He is the fifth-highest all-time leading goalscorer for the United States national team. For mu ...

was adjudged to be screening

Gianluigi Buffon Gianluigi Buffon (; born 28 January 1978) is an Italian professional footballer who captains and plays as a goalkeeper for the club Parma. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time. He is one of the few recorded pl ...

in an offside position. In a

2010 World Cup qualification Qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. Each confederation — the AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa), CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean), CONMEBOL (South America), OFC (Oce ...

fourth-round game against

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

, Beasley played the full 90 minutes at

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. Beasley remarked that this was the first time in his career he had played an entire game at the position. 20131119 AT-USA DaMarcus Beasley IP2O3150

20131119 AT-USA DaMarcus Beasley IP2O3150

As Beasley struggled with injuries and playing time at Rangers, he saw his national team form drop considerably. During the second match of the

2009 FIFA Confederations Cup The 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup was the eighth Confederations Cup, and was held in South Africa from 14 June to 28 June 2009, as a prelude to the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The draw was held on 22 November 2008 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Joh ...

, against

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, Beasley lost the ball on a short corner kick, creating a Brazil counter-attack that resulted in a goal. He was substituted shortly after and did not make an appearance for the rest of the tournament. Beasley was named by U.S. coach

Bob Bradley Robert Frank Bradley (born March 3, 1958) is an American soccer coach who is the head coach and sporting director of Toronto FC. A native of New Jersey and graduate of Princeton University, Bradley coached in the American college game and Maj ...

to the nation's 23-man roster for the

2010 World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

, but made only one substitute appearance in a group stage match, against

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

. After making four substitute appearances in the next two-and-a-half years, Beasley was called for up

2014 World Cup qualifiers The 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. The 2014 FIFA World Cup featured 32 teams, with one place reserved for the host nation, Brazil. The remaining 31 places were determined b ...

in March 2013. He started at left back and received strong reviews in a victories over

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

, and a draw against Mexico. In July 2013, United States national team manager

Jürgen Klinsmann Jürgen Klinsmann (, born 30 July 1964) is a German professional football manager and former player. Klinsmann played for several prominent clubs in Europe including VfB Stuttgart, Inter Milan, Monaco, Tottenham Hotspur, and Bayern Munich. He ...

named Beasley captain for the

2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 12th CONCACAF Gold Cup competition and the 22nd CONCACAF regional championship overall in CONCACAF's fifty years of existence. The United States was the host nation. The competition began on 7 July 2013 at the ...

, where he started at left-back for five of the six matches the U.S. played. The U.S. won the tournament. With his inclusion in the United States'

2014 World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting righ ...

squad, Beasley joined Claudio Reyna and

Kasey Keller Kasey C. Keller (born November 29, 1969) is an American former professional soccer player who played in Europe and the United States, as well as being the starting goalkeeper for the U.S. national team. He is a four-time FIFA World Cup partici ...

as the only American players to be a member of four World Cup squads. By appearing against Ghana in the team's opening match of the tournament, he became the first player to play in four World Cup tournaments for the United States. He played all four matches for the United States, including a match against

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

in the round of 16. Beasley announced his retirement from the national team on December 15, 2014. However, he returned to the national team for the

2015 Gold Cup The 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 13th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup competition and the 23rd CONCACAF regional championship overall in the organization's fifty-four years of existence. It was held in the United States, with two matches bein ...

at the request of United States coach Jürgen Klinsmann. He only made one appearance in the competition, playing only in the third-place play-off match against Panama. He entered the game in extra time and missed the last penalty. With a start at left wingback in a June 2017 World Cup qualifier at Mexico, Beasley became the first American to play in five World Cup qualifying cycles.

Personal life

Beasley's older brother Jamar was a member of the

Cedar Rapids Rampage The Cedar Rapids Rampage was an American professional indoor soccer franchise based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Founded in June 2015, the team made its debut in the Major Arena Soccer League with the 2015–16 season. The team's name and logo were r ...

United States national futsal team The United States national futsal team represents the United States at international competitions. It is governed by the United States Soccer Federation and affiliated with CONCACAF. The U.S. Futsal Federation was founded in 1981 and the first ...

, and former player in MLS and for the US under-20 team. DaMarcus and Jamar got involved with soccer as children due to their father wanting them to be involved in sports. He also played

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

as a kid. He has also launched a

jewellery Jewellery ( UK) or jewelry (U.S.) consists of decorative items worn for personal adornment, such as brooches, rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks. Jewellery may be attached to the body or the clothes. From a wester ...

collection in collaboration with The Diamond Studio, a Scottish jewellery suite. On February 1, 2010, Beasley's car was firebombed in front of his house in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

. On October 28, 2020,

Fort Wayne FC Fort Wayne Football Club is a pre-professional soccer club in Fort Wayne, Indiana, United States. The club currently competes in the Valley Division of the USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. Fort Wayne FC played hom ...

announced Beasley's addition to their ownership group as co-owner of the club. The teams has announced plans to self-promoted from

USL League Two USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league syste ...

USL League One USL League One (USL1) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that had its inaugural season in 2019. The Division III league is operated by United Soccer League, the same group that operates the Division II USL Championshi ...

beginning in the 2023 season.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list the United States' goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Beasley goal.''

Honors

Chicago Fire *

Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in men's Soccer in the United States, soccer in the United States of America. It is the oldest ongoing nati ...

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

Supporters' Shield The Supporters' Shield is an annual award given to the Major League Soccer team with the best regular season record, as determined by the MLS points system. The Supporters' Shield has been annually awarded at the MLS Supporters' Summit since 19 ...

PSV Eindhoven *

: 2004–05, 2005–06 *

KNVB Cup The KNVB Beker (; en, KNVB Cup), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organized by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Ou ...

: 2004–05 Rangers *

: 2008–09, 2009–10 *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,2007–08, 2008–09 *

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existen ...

: 2007–08, 2009–10 Houston Dynamo * Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup:

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

United States *

Individual * CONCACAF Gold Cup: 2005 Golden Boot * CONCACAF Gold Cup All-Tournament team:

* CONCACAF Gold Cup All-Tournament team (Honorable Mention):

* 1999 U-17 World Cup: Silver Ball *MLS All Star:

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

MLS Best XI The MLS Best XI is an annual acknowledgment of the best eleven players in Major League Soccer. Winners *Players in bold were awarded the Landon Donovan MVP Award for that season. Most appearances by a player The following players have appeared ...

: 2003 *Houston Dynamo defensive player of the year: 2015, 2018 *MLS Fair Play Individual Award: 2017 *Dynamo Players' Player of the Year: 2019 *

National Soccer Hall of Fame The National Soccer Hall of Fame is a private, non-profit institution established in 1979 and currently located in Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. The Hall of Fame honors soccer achievements in the United States. Induction ...

: 2023

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Beasley, Damarcus 1982 births Living people 2002 FIFA World Cup players 2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2006 FIFA World Cup players 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2010 FIFA World Cup players 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2014 FIFA World Cup players 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup players CONCACAF Gold Cup-winning players African-American soccer players American soccer players American expatriate soccer players American expatriate sportspeople in the United Kingdom American expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands American expatriate sportspeople in Germany American expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Scotland Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands Expatriate footballers in Germany Expatriate footballers in Mexico FIFA Century Club Association football wingers Sportspeople from Fort Wayne, Indiana LA Galaxy players MLS Pro-40 players Chicago Fire FC players PSV Eindhoven players Manchester City F.C. players Rangers F.C. players Hannover 96 players Club Puebla players Houston Dynamo FC players A-League (1995–2004) players Major League Soccer players Eredivisie players Premier League players Scottish Premier League players Bundesliga players Liga MX players Soccer players from Indiana Major League Soccer All-Stars Designated Players (MLS) United States men's youth international soccer players United States men's under-20 international soccer players United States men's under-23 international soccer players United States men's international soccer players 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American people Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States Footballers at the 1999 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1999 Pan American Games Pan American Games medalists in football