Paul David Caligiuri (born March 9, 1964) is an American former soccer player who played as a

defensive 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 boundari ...

. Caligiuri's professional career spanned 16 years, during which he played for numerous teams in the United States and Germany, and for the U.S. national team. During his 14 years as a defender and defensive midfielder with the national team, he earned 110

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and scored five goals. Caligiuri is best remembered for his game-winning goal widely dubbed the "

Shot heard round the world "The Shot Heard 'Round the World" is a phrase that refers to the opening shot of the battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775, which began the American Revolutionary War and led to the creation of the United States of America. It was an ...

," which he scored in a 1–0

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 ...

qualifier victory over

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 ...

on November 19, 1989. The victory qualified 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 territori ...

for the 1990 FIFA World Cup in

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 ...

, its first World Cup berth since

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 crashes in a snowstorm. All 19 ...

. There Caligiuri notched the first World Cup goal for the U.S. national team in 40 years, scoring in a 5–1 defeat against

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

. He is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame.

High school and college

Caligiuri was born in

Westminster, California Westminster is a city in northern Orange County, California, known for its many Vietnamese refugees who immigrated to the city during the 1980s. They settled largely in Little Saigon, and the city is known as the "capital" of overseas Vietnam ...

. After graduating from

Walnut High School Walnut High School is a public high school located at Walnut, California, among the San Jose Hills of the San Gabriel Valley in Southern California. Ranked in the top 100 high schools in America by the Daily Beast Publication, Walnut High Schoo ...

, he attended

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

from 1982 to 1985. During his four seasons with the Bruins, he was twice named an

NCAA All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

. He also captained the Bruins to an

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 ...

his junior year.

Club career

San Diego Nomads

After graduating from UCLA, Caligiuri played the 1986 season with the

San Diego Nomads Nomads Soccer Club (formerly San Diego Nomads) is an American soccer club based in San Diego, California. From 1986 to 1990, the club fielded a professional senior team, but has since operated as an amateur and youth club. History The Nomads we ...

of the

Western Soccer Alliance Western Soccer Alliance was a professional soccer league featuring teams from the West Coast of the United States and Western Canada. The league began in 1985 as the Western Alliance Challenge Series. In 1986, it became the Western Soccer Alli ...

, earning the league's Most Valuable Player award. He was also named the 1986 U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year.

Germany

Caligiuri's rookie professional accomplishments attracted the attention of 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 footba ...

club

Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its football section. Though the current HSV was founded in June 1919 from a merger of three ...

, who signed him after his appearance in the 1986 FIFA/UNICEF All Star Game. In 1988, Hamburg transferred Caligiuri to SV Meppen of the German

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 ...

, where he played for two seasons. From Meppen, he moved to

FC Hansa Rostock FC Hansa Rostock () is a German association football club based in the city of Rostock, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The club is also called as "the cog" because of its club crest. They have emerged as one of the most successful clubs from the forme ...

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

, with whom he would win the East German professional championship. From 1991 to 1992 he played for Second Bundesliga club

SC Freiburg Sport-Club Freiburg e.V., commonly known as SC Freiburg () or just Freiburg, is a German football club, based in the city of Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg. It plays in the Bundesliga, having been promoted as champions from the 2. Bund ...

Los Angeles Salsa/St. Pauli

On May 4, 1995, Caliguiri returned to the United States from Germany to sign with the Los Angeles Salsa of the American Professional Soccer League to gain match fitness before the U.S. national team's games that summer. (The Salsa played the season however in the

USISL Pro League The USL Second Division (commonly referred to as USL-2) was a professional men's soccer league in the United States, operated by United Soccer Leagues (USL). It was at the third tier of soccer in the United States, behind Major League Soccer (t ...

.) Caligiuri donated his entire salary from the Salsa to the victims of the

Oklahoma City bombing The Oklahoma City bombing was a domestic terrorism in the United States, domestic terrorist truck bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, on April 19, 1995. Perpetrated by two anti-federal go ...

. In August, the Salsa loaned Caligiuri to

club

FC St. Pauli Fußball-Club St Pauli von 1910 e.V., commonly known as simply FC St Pauli (), is a German professional football club based in the St. Pauli district of Hamburg, that competes in the 2. Bundesliga. The football department is part of a larger sp ...

, where he appeared in 14 games. In January 1996, the team elected not to exercise an option in Caligiuri's contract.

Major League Soccer

Caligiuri returned to the United States, where he signed with the emergent Major League Soccer. Despite Caligiuri's stated position that a contract clause that dictated he play for his hometown

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 ...

, MLS allocated Caligiuri to the

Columbus Crew The Columbus Crew, formerly known as Columbus Crew SC, is an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The Crew competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference and began play in 1996 as one ...

. During his lone season with the Crew, he scored 3 goals. Caligiuri sued Major League Soccer to play for the L.A. Galaxy, and in March 1997 was placed with Los Angeles for the 1997 season, despite his high salary and the fact that the Galaxy were close to the salary cap. He played there until his 2001 retirement, finishing his MLS career with nine goals and 14 assists accumulated during 135 games, including 123 starts. Paul Caligiuri's final professional appearance (October 27, 2001) was in the 2001 U.S. Open Cup Final, where Caligiuri's LA Galaxy defeated the New England Revolution 2–1 in extra time.

International career

Caligiuri represented the U.S. at the

1983 Pan American Games The 1983 Pan American Games were held in Caracas, Venezuela from August 14 to August 29, 1983. The games were the first major international competition to include relatively accurate steroid testing.Taylor, William N., ''Anabolic Steroids and the ...

. While at UCLA Caligiuri had earned his first

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for the national team, playing October 9, 1984 against El Salvador. Caligiuri eventually tallied 110 appearances for the United States, and scored five goals from his position in the midfield. Perhaps his biggest goal was in a 1989 World Cup qualifier in Trinidad and Tobago that gave the U.S. a 1–0 victory and sent the Americans to the World Cup finals for the first time in 40 years. On March 14, 1990, Caligiuri signed a contract with USSF making him a full-time national team member. He remained on contract with USSF for several years. In 1993, he briefly considered moving to a British or German club after being omitted from the U.S. team's Gold Cup roster, but ultimately chose to dedicate himself to the national team as it prepared for the 1994 World Cup. Caligiuri was a central figure in the national team from the 1980s through the mid-1990s, and started every U.S. match in both the

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicist ...

and

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; Nelson ...

World Cups. In 1997, he played his final game for the national team. Caligiuri played with the U.S.

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 in 1996, earning four

and scoring one goal.

International goals

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

Post-soccer career

Caligiuri was appointed head coach of both the men and women's soccer teams at

Cal Poly Pomona California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona, CPP, or Cal Poly"Cal Poly" may also refer to California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo in San Luis Obispo. See the ''name'' section of this article for more infor ...

before the beginning of their 2001 fall seasons, although he did not take over until 2002. He held the women's team's coaching position through the 2005 season and the men's team's coaching position through the end of the 2008 season.

Personal life

In 2004, Caligiuri was inducted into the U.S. National Soccer Hall of Fame. He serves as an athlete representative on the board of directors of 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 ...

. Caligiuri coached a BU-19 and GU-14 team for California Football Academy in Mission Viejo, California. He is currently an Area Director for the Pateadores Soccer Club. He is also the Head Coach for the Orange County Football Club, Men's Semi-Pro soccer team in the NPSL (National Premier Soccer League). This was OCFC's first season in the league where they ended the season in a 1–0 loss in the Western Conference Final of the NPSL.

References

External links

Video of goal versus Trinidad and Tobago

{{DEFAULTSORT:Caligiuri, Paul 1964 births Living people People from Westminster, California All-American men's college soccer players 1990 FIFA World Cup players 1991 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 1992 King Fahd Cup players 1993 Copa América players 1994 FIFA World Cup players 1995 Copa América players 1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup players CONCACAF Gold Cup-winning players American soccer players American men's futsal players American soccer coaches American expatriate soccer players American expatriate sportspeople in Germany American people of Italian descent Expatriate footballers in East Germany Expatriate footballers in Germany UCLA Bruins men's soccer players Nomads Soccer Club players Hamburger SV players SV Meppen players FC Hansa Rostock players SC Freiburg players Los Angeles Salsa U-23 players FC St. Pauli players Columbus Crew players LA Galaxy players FIFA Century Club NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament Most Outstanding Player winners Association football defenders Association football midfielders Association football utility players Footballers at the 1988 Summer Olympics National Soccer Hall of Fame members Olympic soccer players of the United States Soccer players from California United States men's international soccer players USL Second Division players Western Soccer Alliance players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players Major League Soccer players Pan American Games competitors for the United States Footballers at the 1983 Pan American Games United States men's under-20 international soccer players Columbus Crew draft picks California State Polytechnic University, Pomona alumni California State Polytechnic University, Pomona faculty DDR-Oberliga players People from Walnut, California College men's soccer coaches in the United States College women's soccer coaches in the United States United Premier Soccer League coaches