Pablo Mastroeni (born August 29, 1976) is an Argentine born American soccer coach and former player who is the head coach of

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 ...

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 ...

. He was formerly head coach of the

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 ...

, and assistant coach of the

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. Establish ...

Early life and education

Mastroeni moved to the United States from Argentina with his family at the age of four, settling in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...

. He attended

Thunderbird High School Thunderbird High School is a public high school located in northwestern Phoenix, Arizona. The school is a part of the Glendale Union High School District. Feeder schools Some schools in the Washington Elementary School District feed into Thunder ...

, and played youth soccer for the Santos Futbol Clube. Mastroeni attended

North Carolina State University North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The univers ...

where he played on the men's soccer team from 1994 to 1997. From 1995 to 1997, he spent the collegiate off season playing for the Tucson Amigos of the

USISL United Soccer League (USL), formerly known as United Soccer Leagues, is a soccer league in the United States and Canada. It organizes several men's and women's leagues, both professional and amateur. Men's leagues currently organized are the ...

Playing career

Professional

In February 1998, the

Miami Fusion The Miami Fusion was a professional soccer team based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. They played in Major League Soccer (MLS) for four seasons, from 1998 to 2001. Announced in 1997 as one of the league's first two expansion teams, their best seas ...

selected Mastroeni in the second round (thirteenth overall) 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 ...

. He played four seasons with the Fusion, becoming a regular starter in his second year with the team in either central defense or defensive midfield, and was named to the MLS Best XI in 2001. The Fusion was contracted after the 2001 season and Mastroeni was the first overall choice of the

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

, going to the

, whom he captained to their first title in 2010. Mastroeni scored his first MLS playoff goal against the Columbus Crew on October 28, 2010. Mastroeni was traded to the

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 June 2013 and retired at the end of the season. In 2021, Mastroeni's #25 was retired by the Colorado Rapids. This was the first number retired by the

International career

Mastroeni earned his first U.S. cap against

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...

on June 7, 2001. When

Chris Armas Christopher Armas (born August 27, 1972) is an American professional soccer coach and former player. He is currently sharing interim head coach duties at Leeds United with Michael Skubala and Paco Gallardo after the sacking of Jesse Marsch. ...

went out with an injury just weeks prior to the

2002 World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial football world championship for men's national teams organized by FIFA. It was held from 31 May to 30 June 2002 at sites in South Korea an ...

, Mastroeni found himself a starter in the opening game as the U.S. defeated

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 th ...

3–2. On January 10, 2005, it was reported that he tore the quadriceps in his left leg and would be out for six to eight weeks. The injury happened while training with the national team. Mastroeni was named to the 2006 U.S. World Cup squad. In a

FIFA World Cup 2006 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 ...

match 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 ...

on June 17, Mastroeni was given a red card for an aggressive tackle in the first half. Mastroeni was fined CHF 7,500 and received a three-game suspension, thus missing the last U.S. match of the World Cup and the first two matches of the

2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the ninth edition of the Gold Cup, the soccer championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean ( CONCACAF), and was won by the United States over Mexico. It was contested in the United States fr ...

. On February 7, 2007, during a friendly between the United States and

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

, Mastroeni was the team captain. Mastroeni was called up for the United States' first World Cup qualifying match of 2010 and two third-round matches, and started three of the first five

final round A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

matches for the United States. However, he was not named to the

Confederations Cup The FIFA Confederations Cup was an international association football tournament for men's national teams, held every four years by FIFA. It was contested by the holders of each of the six continental championships ( AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEB ...

roster nor any of the squads for the final five qualifiers for the United States.

Coaching

Colorado Rapids

2014

Mastroeni was named the interim head coach of the

after

Oscar Pareja Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology ...

left for

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 ...

in January 2014. He was named head coach of the Rapids on March 8, 2014, one week before the 2014 season began. In 2014, Mastroeni and the Rapids experienced the worst Rapid's season in the 34 game MLS era. Allowing the most goals in the MLS, 62, the Rapids finished second to last in the Western Conference with 32 points.

2015

2015 was another unsuccessful campaign for Mastroeni. The Rapids ended the season last in the Western Conference and second to last in the overall standings, receiving the second overall pick in the upcoming MLS Superdraft.

2016

During the offseason before the 2016 season, Mastroeni visited London, spending several days watching Arsenal and Tottenham train. While there, he analyzed the coaching styles of Tottenham's

Mauricio Pochettino Mauricio Roberto Pochettino Trossero (; born 2 March 1972) is an Argentine professional football manager and former player. He was most recently the head coach of Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain. Pochettino played as a central defender and be ...

and Arsenal's

Arsène Wenger Arsène Charles Ernest Wenger (; born 22 October 1949) is a French former association football, football Manager (association football), manager and football player, player who is currently serving as FIFA's Chief of Global Football Developme ...

, before he traveled to Orlando to attend a supplementary coaching course. Mastroeni helped the Rapids establish a team identity in 2016, a defensive based team which operated out of the 4-2-3-1 formation. This identity helped the Rapids to their best regular season record of all time, with a franchise low 6 losses and a franchise high of 58 points. The team allowed an MLS low 32 goals in 2016. Mastroeni finished second in voting for the annual MLS Coach of the Year award.

2017

In the offseason, Mastroeni signed a three-year contract extension, through 2019. On August 15, Mastroeni was fired as Head Coach and replaced by Steve Cooke.

Houston Dynamo

In 2020, Mastroeni was named as an assistant coach for the

Real Salt Lake

2021

In 2021, Mastroeni was named as an assistant coach for

On August 27, 2021, he was named the interim head coach upon Freddy Juarez's unexpected midseason departure. On December 13, 2021, Mastroeni was named permanent head coach of the club for the 2022 season.

Coaching statistics

Honors

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 ...

Champions:

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 ...

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 discover ...

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple Inc., Apple's first iPhone (1st generation), iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakis ...

Miami Fusion

Supporters Shield:

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 ...

Colorado Rapids

Western Conference Championship:

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 ...

MLS Cup:

Individual

* MLS Best XI: 2001 *

All-Tournament team:

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mastroeni, Pablo 1976 births Living people 2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2002 FIFA World 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 American people of Italian descent American soccer players Argentine emigrants to the United States Argentine footballers Argentine people of Italian descent Association football midfielders Colorado Rapids coaches Colorado Rapids players CONCACAF Gold Cup-winning players Houston Dynamo FC non-playing staff LA Galaxy players Major League Soccer All-Stars Major League Soccer coaches Major League Soccer players Miami Fusion draft picks Miami Fusion players MLS Pro-40 players NC State Wolfpack men's soccer players Soccer players from Phoenix, Arizona Sportspeople from Mendoza, Argentina Sportspeople from Phoenix, Arizona Tucson Amigos players United States men's international soccer players A-League (1995–2004) players USL League Two players Argentine football managers