Gale Agbossoumonde (born November 17, 1991) is a retired

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 who played as a defender. Born in Togo but was raised in

Benin Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north ...

(and later the United States), he represented the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

at international level.

Early life

Agbossoumonde was born in Togo, but his family fled to Benin when he was an infant. At the age of eight, his family moved to

Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, Onondaga County, New York, United States. It is the fifth-most populous city in the state of New York following New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffa ...

with the help of a church charity. Agbossoumonde attended Christian Brothers Academy until the 9th grade, leading them to a NYS Soccer Championship runner-up finish that year.

Club career

After a semester with the U17 national team, Agbossoumonde was invited to join

U.S. Soccer Development Academy The U.S. Soccer Development Academy (DA) was an American soccer league. Formed in 2007, the league features youth academies and youth clubs from various organizations, including Major League Soccer and the United Soccer League. The DA's mission ...

club

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 ...

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 ...

. He emerged as a force at centerback, earning high praise for his soccer IQ and his ability to effectively use his already large frame. Agbossoumonde signed a three and a half year contract with

Traffic Sports Marketing Traffic Sports Marketing is a Brazilian sports marketing agency that runs Brazilian football clubs Desportivo Brasil, Ituano FC, G.D. Estoril Praia in Portugal and Fort Lauderdale Strikers in the USA. Desportivo Brasil was a club and company cre ...

and

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 ...

on August 6, 2009. His professional debut shortly followed and he made six appearances during the 2009 USL season. On January 7, 2010, he moved to

Sporting Braga Sporting Clube de Braga () (), commonly known as Sporting de Braga or just Braga, is a Portuguese sports club from the city of Braga. It is best known for the professional football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese ...

of the

Portuguese Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal, ...

on a six-month loan that included an option to buy. Braga declined the purchase option when the loan spell ended. Agbossoumonde was sent on loan to

Allsvenskan Allsvenskan (; en, the All-Swedish, also known as Fotbollsallsvenskan, en, the Football All-Swedish) is a Swedish professional league for men's association football clubs. It was founded in 1924 and is the top tier of the Swedish football lea ...

team

Djurgårdens IF Djurgårdens Idrottsförening, commonly known simply as Djurgårdens IF, Djurgården (), and (especially locally) Djurgår'n (), Dif or DIF – is a Swedish sports association with several sections, located in Stockholm. Name The club is named ...

in 2011. On April 15 he started his first match and went the full 90 minutes for Djurgårdens IF, against Malmö FF, having won "Man of the Match" honors. Agbossoumonde played eight games for Djurgårdens IF during spring 2011, but Djurgården decided not to use their option to buy him out of his contract, and Agbossoumonde left the club at the end of July 2011. In August 2011, Agbossoumonde was loaned to

2. Bundesliga The 2. Bundesliga ( ) is the second division of professional football in Germany. It was implemented 11 years after the founding of the Fußball-Bundesliga as the new second division for professional football. The 2. Bundesliga is ranked below ...

side

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The team is currently playing in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the Germa ...

. Gale received official clearance to play for Eintracht in the beginning of October 2011, and made his debut for the Eintracht reserve squad in a match on October 8 against SGS Großaspach. However, the loan to the German side proved short, too. In February 2012, Traffic Sports announced that Agbossoumonde was going on loan to

Carolina RailHawks North Carolina FC is an American professional soccer team in Cary, North Carolina, a suburb of Raleigh. Founded in 2006, the team plays in USL League One, the third tier of the American league system. The team has played its home games a ...

of the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...

. In December 2012, Agbossoumonde joined

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BMO ...

, after he was entered into a weighted lottery to allocate him to a team 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 ...

. Agbossoumonde made his debut for Toronto on April 6 due to an injury to starter

Danny Califf Daniel Benjamin Califf (born March 17, 1980 in Orange, California) is an American retired soccer player. Career Youth and College Califf (pronounced kāl'ĭ-f) started his youth career in soccer for Canyon Hills Soccer Association, playing on t ...

, the game ended in a 2-2 home draw to

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 ...

. On May 8, 2014, Agbossoumonde was involved in a three-team trade when the Colorado Rapids traded

Marvin Chávez Marvin Antonio Chávez (born November 3, 1983 in La Ceiba) is a Honduran footballer who played as a midfielder, most recently for C.D. Marathón in the Liga Nacional. Career Club Chávez – who is nicknamed "el hijo del viento" (''the son of ...

to Chivas USA for

Luke Moore Luke Isaacc Moore (born 13 February 1986) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. Moore represented England at England U21 level and is the younger brother of former professional footballer Stefan Moore. Club ca ...

, who was immediately traded by Colorado to Toronto FC for Agbossoumonde. At the conclusion of the 2014 season, Colorado declined Agbossoumonde's contract option for 2015. Agbossoumonde signed with

Tampa Bay Rowdies The Tampa Bay Rowdies are an American professional Association football, soccer team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The club was founded in 2008 and first took the pitch in 2010. Since 2017, the Rowdies have been members of the USL Champions ...

of the

in December 2014. He was released in October 2015. In December 2015, Agbossoumonde signed with

Fort Lauderdale Strikers Fort Lauderdale Strikers may refer to: *Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1977–1983), member of North American Soccer League from 1977 to 1983 *Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1988–1994), member of American Soccer League from 1988 to 1989 and American Profes ...

of the NASL. In 2017 he signed for

Pittsburgh Riverhounds Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC is an American professional soccer team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1999 and beginning play in 1999, the club plays in the Eastern Conference of the USL Championship, the second tier of the American so ...

. His contract was not renewed following the

2017 USL season Seventeen or 17 may refer to: *17 (number), the natural number following 16 and preceding 18 * one of the years 17 BC, AD 17, 1917, 2017 Literature Magazines * ''Seventeen'' (American magazine), an American magazine * ''Seventeen'' (Japanese ...

, and has since not played professionally.

International career

Agbossoumonde was a member of the United States U-20 team and participated in the

2009 CONCACAF U-20 Championship The 2009 CONCACAF U-20 Championship was the biannual CONCACAF youth championship tournament for under-20 national teams. The 2009 edition was held in Trinidad and Tobago. All matches were played at Dwight Yorke Stadium in Bacolet, Tobago and Mar ...

Trinidad & 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 Gr ...

, helping the U.S. to qualify for the

2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 17th edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, which was hosted by Egypt from 24 September to 16 October 2009. The tournament was initially going to take place between 10 and 31 July. However, the 2009 FIFA Confedera ...

in Egypt. In the tournament in Egypt, although only 17 at the time, he started all games for the Americans. Agbossoumonde received his first senior national team cap on his birthday, November 17, 2010, against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

in the Nelson Mandela Challenge Cup.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honors

United States U20 *

Milk Cup SuperCupNI, formerly called the Northern Ireland Youth Soccer Tournament and the Dale Farm Milk Cup, is an international youth football tournament held annually in Northern Ireland. The cup matches are mainly played in the North Coast area of ...

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

Individual * U.S. Soccer Young Male Player of the Year: 2010

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Agbossoumonde, Gale 1991 births Living people Soccer players from New York (state) African-American soccer players Miami FC (2006) players S.C. Braga players G.D. Estoril Praia players Djurgårdens IF Fotboll players Eintracht Frankfurt II players North Carolina FC players Toronto FC players Colorado Rapids players Tampa Bay Rowdies players Fort Lauderdale Strikers players Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC players American expatriate soccer players Expatriate footballers in Portugal Expatriate footballers in Sweden Expatriate footballers in Germany Expatriate soccer players in Canada Togolese emigrants to the United States Sportspeople from Lomé Sportspeople from Syracuse, New York United States men's under-20 international soccer players United States men's international soccer players USL First Division players Regionalliga players Allsvenskan players North American Soccer League players Major League Soccer players USL Championship players American soccer players Association football defenders American people of Togolese descent Sportspeople of Togolese descent 2009 CONCACAF U-20 Championship players 21st-century African-American sportspeople