Clint Mathis (born November 25, 1976) 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 who played as a forward or

midfielder 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 ...

. He appeared at the

2002 FIFA 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 ...

, scoring one goal. He also played 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 Cana ...

for the MetroStars, where he scored five goals during a game in August 2000, a league record.

Youth and college

Mathis was born in

Conyers, Georgia Conyers is an Atlanta suburb, the county seat of and only city in Rockdale County, Georgia, United States. The city is 24 miles (38.6 km) east of downtown Atlanta and is a part of the Atlanta Metropolitan Area. As of the 2010 census, th ...

and played club soccer at a young age for Rockdale Youth Soccer Association, and then for AFC Lightning, a Georgia powerhouse producing players such as former U.S. international

Ricardo Clark Ricardo Anthony Clark (born February 10, 1983) is an American retired soccer player who played as a midfielder. He appeared for MetroStars, San Jose Earthquakes, Houston Dynamo and Columbus Crew SC in the United States, Eintracht Frankfurt in ...

, in Fayetteville. He played school soccer for Heritage High School and won a state championship there. At the

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offerin ...

level, Mathis played for the

South Carolina Gamecocks The South Carolina Gamecocks represent the University of South Carolina in the NCAA Division I. The University of South Carolina uses "Gamecocks" as its official nickname and mascot. While the men's teams were traditionally known as the Fighti ...

, alongside future US national teammate

Josh Wolff Josh Wolff (born February 25, 1977) is an American soccer coach and former player. He is currently the head coach of Austin FC in Major League Soccer. Playing career College Born in Stone Mountain, Georgia, Wolff played three years of coll ...

. Mathis ranks third all-time in total points (121), third in career coals (53) and is the single-season leader in points (53) and goals (25). Mathis was a consensus first-team All-American in 1995 and a third-team selection in 1997, while he was a three-time finalist for the prestigious Hermann Trophy. Mathis, one of two South Carolina athletes to ever be featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated, helped lead the Gamecocks to the NCAA Tournament in

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nels ...

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

, and

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 ...

Club career

Mathis was drafted sixth overall by

Los Angeles 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 pla ...

in the first round of the

1998 MLS College Draft The 1998 Major League Soccer College Draft was held in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on January 31 and February 1, 1998. The College Draft was followed by the 1998 MLS Supplemental Draft. Format On Saturday, January 31, 1998, Major League Soccer held t ...

. After two and a half years with Los Angeles, Mathis was awarded to the MetroStars in the dispersal draft after the Galaxy signed Mexican forward Luis Hernández. Mathis immediately took his game to a new level, flashing an " I ♥ NY" shirt after scoring goals and breaking the MLS record by scoring five goals in a game against

Dallas Burn Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County wi ...

on August 26, 2000. He finished second in the league in scoring with 16 goals and 14 assists and was named to the MLS Best XI. 2001 saw Mathis score seven goals in his first six games, including the league's eventual Goal of the Year on a half-field run against Dallas. In June, he tore his ACL, which ended his season. He never recovered his pre-injury form and scored only 13 goals in his remaining two seasons with the MetroStars. After the 2002 MLS season, elite German club

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which pla ...

attempted to acquire Mathis but was blocked by MLS. On January 22, 2004, Mathis left the MetroStars to sign on a free transfer with

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 betw ...

of the German

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 footb ...

. Mathis left the Metros after playing in 67 games (66 starts), scoring 33 goals and contributing 21 assists. Mathis played well in his first season in Germany, scoring on his debut and went on to score four goals in his first five games. But soon after, his manager was fired and replaced by Ewald Lienen. In his second Bundesliga season, Lienen often kept Mathis on the bench. On September 25, 2004, upon entering Hannover's match against

Schalke Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as FC Schalke 04 (), Schalke 04 (), or abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional German football and multi-sports club originally from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North ...

as a very late substitute, Mathis scored the game-winning goal almost immediately. In celebration, he ran to the sideline and tapped his watch at Lienen. Mathis escaped being fined for the outburst and later confirmed the gesture was meant the way it was widely interpreted - that Lienen should have played him earlier. He started the next game but afterwards never played with the first team again. In December, he was transferred back to MLS, joining expansion club

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 ...

. Mathis said he returned to fulfill a promise made to RSL head coach

John Ellinger John Ellinger (born October 4, 1951) is a former American soccer coach of the Under-17 United States men's national soccer team, and former head coach of Real Salt Lake of Major League Soccer. Ellinger played collegiately at Frostburg State Univ ...

. His initial season in Utah was a major disappointment, as Mathis only managed to score three goals the entire year. However, when he did score he did so in style: all three goals earned praise as MLS Goal of the Week. In December 2005, he was traded to Colorado in exchange for

Jeff Cunningham Jeff Cunningham (born August 21, 1976) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a forward. He is Major League Soccer's third-all-time leader in regular-season goals scored with 134. Youth and college Cunningham was born ...

. On March 29, 2007, Mathis was traded from

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Founded in 1995, as part of the Anschutz Corporation, lat ...

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 ...

for a

2008 MLS SuperDraft The 2008 MLS SuperDraft took place on January 18, 2008 in Baltimore, Maryland. It was the ninth annual Major League Soccer SuperDraft. The first selection was made by the Kansas City Wizards, after acquiring the selection from the expansion San ...

fourth-round draft pick and a conditional draft pick in 2009. In his first home game, he notched a goal and an assist to lead New York to a 3–0 rout of

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes as a member of the Western Conference in Major League Soccer (MLS). The franchise began play in 1996 as a charter club of the le ...

. As of November 2014, Mathis is New York's third all-time goal scorer with 45 in all competitions. Mathis was traded to Los Angeles Galaxy on November 19, 2007 for a third round pick in the

. He made his debut for the Galaxy in a friendly at

Telstra Stadium Stadium Australia, currently known as Accor Stadium for sponsorship purposes, is a multi-purpose stadium located in the Sydney Olympic Park, in Sydney, Australia. The stadium, which in Australia is sometimes referred to as Sydney Olympic Stad ...

against

Sydney FC Sydney Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The club was f ...

in front of 80,000 fans. He scored the first goal in the Galaxy's match versus

Wellington Phoenix Wellington Phoenix Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wellington, New Zealand. It competes in the Australian A-League, under licence from Football Federation Australia. Phoenix entered the competition in the ...

. In January 2008, during the European transfer window he left the Galaxy, signing with

Ergotelis The Gymnastics Club «Ergotelis» Heraklion Crete ( el, Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος «O Εργοτέλης» Ηρακλείου Κρήτης, Γ.Σ. Εργοτέλης), commonly known simply as Ergotelis ( el, Εργοτέλης), ...

in Greece. Ergotelis sat at the bottom of the table in the Greek First Division. Down 2–1, Mathis came on to make his debut as a second-half substitute and in the 91 minute of stoppage time down a goal, the ball popped to Mathis outside the box and he struck a powerful left footed volley that the keeper could only deflect into the back of the net, earning a crucial point against fellow relegation battlers

Apollon Kalamarias Apollon Kalamarias (Greek: Απόλλων Καλαμαριάς) is a Greek sport's club from Thessaloniki founded in 1926. The club is named after Apollo, the mythical Greek god and its colors are red and black. History When thousands of Pontic ...

signed Mathis in August 2008 after acquiring his MLS rights from Los Angeles in exchange for a conditional draft pick, which became a third-round selection in the

2011 MLS SuperDraft The 2011 MLS SuperDraft was the twelfth annual SuperDraft presented by Major League Soccer. It was held on January 13, 2011 in Baltimore, Maryland, during the 2011 NSCAA Convention at the Baltimore Convention Center. The 2011 SuperDraft consiste ...

. After 11 years in

, Mathis won the

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 ...

with

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; Protests ...

, defeating Los Angeles Galaxy in a 1–1 draw that was decided in overtime by penalties, with Mathis scoring the first penalty kick goal. Mathis was traded back to Los Angeles on January 14, 2010 in exchange for a swap of first-round picks in the

2010 MLS SuperDraft 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

. On August 3, 2010, Mathis announced he would retire from professional soccer after the Galaxy's exhibition match against Real Madrid on Saturday August 7, 2010.

International career

Mathis earned his first cap for the United States national team on November 6, 1998, against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

. His first goal came on November 15, 2000, in a 4–0 win over

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estima ...

. He was a contributor for the United States national team in the early stages of qualifying for the

, scoring the game-winning goal against

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...

and setting up

's game-winning goal against

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 ...

. At the

, Mathis shaved his hair into a

mohawk Mohawk may refer to: Related to Native Americans * Mohawk people, an indigenous people of North America (Canada and New York) *Mohawk language, the language spoken by the Mohawk people * Mohawk hairstyle, from a hairstyle once thought to have been ...

and scored a goal in the United States' 1–1 draw with

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

Coaching career

On January 31, 2014, Mathis was announced as assistant coach of the MLS Chicago Fire and head coach

Frank Yallop Frank Walter Yallop (born 4 April 1964) is a British-Canadian professional soccer coach. Yallop is currently the head coach and sporting director of USL Championship side Monterey Bay FC. He played 13 years in England for Ipswich, including th ...

Personal life

In 1999, Mathis played himself in an episode of ''

The Jersey ''The Jersey'' is an American comedy television series based on the '' Monday Night Football Club'' books by Gordon Korman. The series aired on Disney Channel from January 30, 1999, to March 23, 2004. Premise Nick Lighter, Morgan Hudson, Colem ...

'' called "Be True to You" where Morgan Hudson (played by

Courtnee Draper Courtnee Alyssa Draper (born April 24, 1985) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Morgan Hudson in ''The Jersey'', Sam in '' The Thirteenth Year'', Megan Larson in ''Stepsister from Planet Weird'', Elizabeth in ''BioShock ...

) uses a magical jersey by jumping into his body. In 2002, Mathis became the first male soccer player in eight years to appear on the cover of ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence tw ...

'' in its World Cup preview issue. Mathis was also on the cover of ESPN MLS Extratime in 2002, and Backyard Soccer 2004.

Career statistics

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

Honors

Real Salt Lake *

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 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 ...

Individual * MLS Best XI:

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

* MLS Goal of the Year Award:

* Georgia Sports Hall of Fame Inductee * University of South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame Inductee * South Carolina Gamecocks Jersey Retired

References

External links

*
Clint Mathis profile on ESPN Soccernet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mathis, Clint 1976 births Living people People from Conyers, Georgia Sportspeople from the Atlanta metropolitan area Soccer players from Georgia (U.S. state) American soccer players Association football forwards Association football midfielders South Carolina Gamecocks men's soccer players All-American men's college soccer players LA Galaxy draft picks LA Galaxy players New York Red Bulls players Hannover 96 players Real Salt Lake players Colorado Rapids players Ergotelis F.C. players Major League Soccer players Major League Soccer All-Stars Bundesliga players Super League Greece players United States men's international soccer players 2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2002 FIFA World Cup players 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup players CONCACAF Gold Cup-winning players American expatriate soccer players American expatriate sportspeople in Germany American expatriate sportspeople in Greece Expatriate footballers in Germany Expatriate footballers in Greece American soccer coaches Chicago Fire FC non-playing staff