Jonathan Patrick O'Brien (born August 29, 1977) is an American former

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player. After retiring, he pursued a career in psychology. O'Brien was one of the first Americans to earn a starting spot with a major European team, with

Ajax Amsterdam Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (), also known as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam, or commonly Ajax, is a Dutch professional Association football, football Football team, club based in Amsterdam, that plays in the , the top tier in Dutch football. ...

in the late 1990s.O'Brien was the second American ever to play for the 1st team of Ajax, the first being Eddy Hamel who played for the club from 1922 to 1930. At the peak of his career,

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

national teammate

Landon Donovan Landon Timothy Donovan (born March 4, 1982) is an American former professional association football, soccer player and coach who was most recently the interim head coach of San Diego Wave FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Often co ...

called O'Brien the "best soccer player in the USA."

Club career

O'Brien grew up in

Playa del Rey, California Playa del Rey ( Spanish for "Beach of the King") is a seaside neighborhood on the westside of Los Angeles in the Santa Monica Bay region of Los Angeles County, California. It has a ZIP Code of 90293 and area codes of 310 and 424. As of 2018, ...

and attended Brentwood School. After being brought to attention of youth director

Co Adriaanse Jacobus "Co" Adriaanse (born 21 July 1947) is a Dutch association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player who played as a centre-back. Playing career As a professional player, Adriaanse played for six seasons ...

, he had his first trial with

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...

at the age of 14 and signed an amateur contract with the Dutch giants in 1994 as a 17-year-old. After two years on their youth teams, Ajax offered O'Brien a professional contract in 1998. He spent the 1998–99 season on loan to

FC Utrecht Football Club Utrecht () is a Dutch professional association football, football club based in Utrecht. The club competes in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football league system, Dutch football, and plays its home matches at the Stadion ...

and made his Ajax debut in 1999. He became a regular for the team, usually playing at

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

, winning the

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

in 2002 and 2004. Unfortunately, chronic injuries limited O'Brien's playing time. He left Ajax for

ADO Den Haag Alles Door Oefening Den Haag (), commonly known by the abbreviated name ADO Den Haag (), is a Dutch association football club from the city of The Hague. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following relegation ...

in February 2005. After one injury-riddled season, in which he only played three games for the club, O'Brien came to MLS for the first time, to sign with hometown club

Chivas USA Chivas USA (pronounced ''CHEE-vahs'') was an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The club competed in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conf ...

. O'Brien played only one game with Chivas before suffering an injury with the U.S. national team during the 2006 World Cup, and was released by the club following the 2006 season. O'Brien stated that he was done playing in an interview on June 11, 2008.

International career

With the United States, O'Brien earned his first cap against

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

on April 22, 1998, but was an alternate for the U.S. squad for the

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 1 ...

. He played in the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

, helping to lead the U.S. to a fourth-place finish. O'Brien became a regular with the senior team under

Bruce Arena Bruce Arena (born September 21, 1951) is an American soccer coach who currently serves as the head coach and sporting director of the San Jose Earthquakes. He is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame and the NJCAA Lacrosse Hall of Fame. ...

, and came into his own 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 ...

. Playing in defensive midfield, he scored the opener in the 3–2 win over

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

, assisted on

Clint Mathis Clint Mathis (born November 25, 1976) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a forward or midfielder. He appeared at the 2002 FIFA World Cup, scoring one goal. He also played in Major League Soccer for the MetroStars, wh ...

' goal against

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

, and played every minute of every game for the United States. Four years later, O'Brien was named to the U.S. roster for the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to FIFA World Cup hosts ...

in Germany. On June 12, 2006, he played the second half of the U.S.'s opening game against the Czech Republic, albeit with a nagging injury, which kept him out for the duration of the tournament.

Personal life

O’ Brien lives with his wife, son, and daughter near

Boulder, Colorado Boulder is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule city in Boulder County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the most ...

. After retiring from soccer, O’Brien returned to college and completed a doctorate in clinical psychology from

Alliant International University Alliant International University is a Private university, private For-profit higher education in the United States, for-profit university with its main campus in San Diego, five additional campuses in California (San Francisco, Los Angeles, Irv ...

. Dr. O’Brien has two separate practices, one providing mental health counseling to the general public and one working as a sports psychologist.

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Honors

Ajax * Dutch Eredivisie: 2001–02, 2003–04 *

KNVB Cup The KNVB Beker (; ), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organised by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Outside the N ...

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

* Johan Cruijff Shield:

United States *

CONCACAF Gold Cup The CONCACAF Gold Cup () is an association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for men's senior national teams from North America, Central America and the Caribbean. The tournament is held every two ...

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

Individual *

Best XI (Honorable Mention):

Notes

References

External links

* *
"What Ever Happened To: John O'Brien"
. MLSsoccer. February 22, 2011. {{DEFAULTSORT:Obrien, John 1977 births Living people American men's soccer players Men's association football defenders Men's association football midfielders AFC Ajax players FC Utrecht players ADO Den Haag players Chivas USA players Eredivisie players Major League Soccer players United States men's international soccer players Olympic soccer players for the United States CONCACAF Gold Cup–winning players Footballers at the 2000 Summer Olympics 2002 FIFA World Cup players 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2006 FIFA World Cup players American expatriate men's soccer players Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands American expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Soccer players from Los Angeles 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 20th-century American sportsmen