Jeffrey Alan Agoos (born May 2, 1968) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a defender. He is one of the all-time appearance leaders for the United States national team. Agoos served as the Sporting Director for the

New York Red Bulls The New York Red Bulls are an American professional soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The club was established in October 1994 and be ...

, and currently is the Vice President of Competition for Major League Soccer. Agoos won a record five MLS championships: three with

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 Supp ...

, and two with the San Jose Earthquakes. He also won the 1996 U.S. Open Cup, and was the 2001 MLS Defender of the Year. He was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2009.

Early life

Agoos (nicknamed ''

Goose A goose ( : geese) is a bird of any of several waterfowl species in the family Anatidae. This group comprises the genera ''Anser'' (the grey geese and white geese) and '' Branta'' (the black geese). Some other birds, mostly related to the ...

'') was born in

Geneva , neighboring_municipalities= Carouge, Chêne-Bougeries, Cologny, Lancy, Grand-Saconnex, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Veyrier , website = https://www.geneve.ch/ Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevr ...

, Switzerland, as his father was working overseas there for Caterpillar Construction Company. He grew up in

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, and attended

J.J. Pearce High School J. J. Pearce High School is a high school located in Richardson, Texas, United States. It is named after Joseph Jones “J.J.” Pearce, the superintendent for the Richardson Independent School District (RISD) from 1946 to 1977. In 2018, it had an ...

Richardson, Texas Richardson is a city in Dallas and Collin counties in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 United States census, the city had a total population of 119,469. Richardson is an inner suburb of the city of Dallas. It is home to the University ...

. He was named a two-time ''Parade Magazine'' High School All-American as well as a Dallas All-Sports Athlete-of-the-Year. Agoos is Jewish, and during the summer of 1985, represented the United States at the

1985 Maccabiah Games The 12th Maccabiah Games brought over 4,000 athletes to Israel from 38 nations to compete in 28 sports. History The Maccabiah Games were first held in 1932. In 1961, they were declared a "Regional Sports Event" by, and under the auspices and super ...

and was at 17 the youngest player on the team.

Youth career

From 1986 to 1990, Agoos played soccer for

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 ...

at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...

. During his four seasons with the Cavaliers, earned First-Team All-American honors twice, in 1988 and 1990 and is the only 4-time All American in Uva's history. He finished second in

Hermann Award 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 th ...

voting his senior season. In 1989, his junior year, Virginia went to the

NCAA championship The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and ...

game where it fought the Santa Clara University to a 1–1 draw after 4 overtimes. While the teams wanted to continue to play, NCAA officials ended the game and declared the two teams co-champions. At the time there were no penalty kicks to end a tie. At the end of the season, Agoos represented the United States at the 1989 Maccabiah Games.

Club career

Upon graduating from college, Agoos played for the

Maryland Bays The Maryland Bays were an inaugural franchise of the third incarnation of the American Soccer League in 1988.They were based in Catonsville, Maryland, and played their games at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County. The team joined the Ameri ...

of the A-League in 1991. On February 13, 1991, the Dallas Sidekicks of the Major Indoor Soccer League drafted Agoos with the second overall pick of the 1991 draft. He played in thirty games in the 1991–1992 season, scoring seven goals. In 1992, he left the Sidekicks to play full-time for the U.S. national team, but Dallas again selected him in a draft, this time the 1993 Continental Indoor Soccer League (CISL) draft, but he did not re-sign with the team. On June 26, 1994, after being cut from the U.S. roster for the

1994 FIFA World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States ...

, Agoos signed with the Los Angeles Salsa for the

1994 American Professional Soccer League The 1994 season of the American Professional Soccer League (APSL) was the fifth in the history of the league, which was the top level of club soccer in the United States from 1990 to 1995. It was planned to be contested by eight teams in the U.S ...

season. The Salsa went to the playoff semifinals that season as Agoos was selected Second Team All League. In the fall of 1994, he moved to Germany, where he played for SV Wehen during the 1994–95 season.

Major League Soccer

Agoos returned from Germany in 1995 to sign with Major League Soccer. While waiting for the new league's first season, Agoos served as an assistant coach to

at the

. In order to create a league, MLS allocated various recognized players to each team. As part of this process, the league allocated Agoos to

where he joined Bruce Arena, the team's first coach. That year, Agoos won the first MLS Championship as well as the U.S. Open Cup. He followed it up the next year with his second MLS Championship. In 1998, D.C. United achieved its greatest accomplishment when it defeated

Vasco de Gama Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira (; ; c. 1460s – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and the first European to reach India by sea. His initial voyage to India by way of Cape of Good Hope (1497–1499) was the first to link ...

to take the

Interamerican Cup The Copa Interamericana ( en, Interamerican Cup) was an annual club football competition contested between a representative from North America (CONCACAF) and South America (CONMEBOL). Established in 1969, it was discontinued in 1998 after CONCACA ...

. Agoos then won his third MLS Championship with D.C. United in 1999. He spent 2001 through 2004 with the San Jose Earthquakes, and proceeded to win his fourth and fifth MLS Championships. Agoos was named

MLS Defender of the Year 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 th ...

in 2001 and earned a place in the

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 ...

three times (1997, 1999, and 2001). In 2005, Agoos was named to the league's tenth anniversary All-Time Best XI. He was traded to the MetroStars after the 2004 season for a fourth-round draft pick. In ten years in MLS, Agoos scored 11 regular-season goals and added 25 assists in 244 matches. In 2005, he was named to the MLS All-Time Best XI, before retiring December 8, 2005.

International career

Agoos represented Team USA at the

in Israel. At 17 years of age, he was the youngest player on the team. Agoos made his debut with the United States national team on January 10, 1988, against Guatemala. His first national team goal came just three days later on January 13, 1988, also against Guatemala. He was the last member to be cut from the U.S. squad for the

and he burned his uniform upon hearing the news. He made the squad for the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France but did not play a single minute, in favor of

David Regis David Regis (born December 2, 1968) is a retired professional soccer player and coach who played as a defender. He was most recently the assistant coach of US Mondorf-les-Bains. Born in Martinique, an Overseas Department of France, he played ...

. In the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

in South Korea/Japan at the age of 34, Agoos started the first three games (he scored an

own goal An own goal, also called a self goal, is where a player performs actions that result in them or their team scoring a goal on themselves, often resulting in a point for the opposing team, such as when a football player kicks a ball into their own ...

to finish the scoring in the surprising win against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

) until he suffered a calf injury against

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

. He later missed the rest of the tournament. He was capped a total of 134 times for the U.S. Agoos earned his last cap against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

on May 26, 2003. Agoos was also a member of the 1992 Team USA

Futsal Futsal is a football-based game played on a hard court smaller than a football pitch, and mainly indoors. It has similarities to five-a-side football and indoor football. Futsal is played between two teams of five players each, one of whom is ...

team which won a silver medal at Hong Kong. He earned ten caps and scored two goals with the futsal team.

Post-playing career

Agoos was named as

' Technical Director on September 28, 2006, serving under head coach Bruce Arena. He officially joined the Bulls organization on January 1, 2007. On January 7, 2008 he was promoted to Sporting Director. In 2009 Agoos was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame. On March 28, 2011, Agoos was hired by the MLS as their Technical Director of Competition. He will work on planning and competition strategies.

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Honors

D.C. United *

MLS Cup The MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Cup Playoffs. The game is held in November and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Conferen ...

: 1996,

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

MLS 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 ...

* U.S. Open Cup: 1996 * CONCACAF Champions' Cup:

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

InterAmerican Cup The Copa Interamericana ( en, Interamerican Cup) was an annual club football competition contested between a representative from North America (CONCACAF) and South America (CONMEBOL). Established in 1969, it was discontinued in 1998 after CONCACA ...

San Jose Earthquakes *MLS Cup: 2001, 2003 United States *

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 ...

: 2002 Individual * MLS 25 Greatest *

: 1997, 1999, 2001 *

MLS Defender of the Year Award Major League Soccer — the highest professional soccer league in the United States and Canada — has handed out a Defender of the Year award since the league's inception in 1996.

: 2001 * MLS All-Time Best XI * National Soccer Hall of Fame: 2009 Inductee

References

External links

Dallas Sidekicks profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Agoos, Jeff 1968 births Living people Soccer players from Texas 1993 Copa América players 1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 1998 FIFA World Cup players 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2002 FIFA World Cup players All-American men's college soccer players American soccer players American expatriate soccer players American Professional Soccer League players Expatriate footballers in England American expatriate sportspeople in Germany American expatriate sportspeople in England American expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland American men's futsal players Association football defenders Dallas Sidekicks (original MISL) players D.C. United players CONCACAF Gold Cup-winning players Expatriate footballers in Germany FIFA Century Club Maccabiah Games footballers Footballers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Jewish American sportspeople Jewish footballers Los Angeles Salsa players Maccabiah Games competitors for the United States Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players Maryland Bays players Major League Soccer players Major League Soccer All-Stars New York Red Bulls players National Soccer Hall of Fame members Olympic soccer players of the United States People from Richardson, Texas San Jose Earthquakes players Swiss men's footballers Swiss people of American descent Swiss expatriate sportspeople in England United States men's international soccer players Virginia Cavaliers men's soccer coaches Virginia Cavaliers men's soccer players 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 West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Competitors at the 1985 Maccabiah Games Competitors at the 1989 Maccabiah Games Footballers from Geneva American soccer coaches