Thomas Dooley (born May 12, 1961) is a 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 and coach. He played as a defender and

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

and was a long-time member and former captain of the

United States national team The United States national team or Team USA may refer to any of a number of sports team representing the United States in international competitions. Olympic teams Additionally, these teams may compete in other international competitions such as ...

. Dooley currently is the technical director of The Cong-Viettel, playing in

V.League 1 The V.League 1 (), also called LPBank V.League 1 for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional football league in Vietnam, controlled by the Vietnam Professional Football Joint Stock Company (VPF). It is contested by 14 clubs who play each ...

Early life

Dooley was born in Bechhofen, West Germany to a German mother and a father who served in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

Club career

Dooley played as a forward with amateur team

FK Pirmasens FK Pirmasens is a German association football club in Pirmasens, Rhineland-Palatinate. The team was formed as the football section of the gymnastics and sports club TV Pirminia Pirmasens in 1903 and became independent in 1914. They took on thei ...

. He started his professional career in 1984 with third division club

FC Homburg Fußball-Club 08 Homburg or simply FC Homburg is a German association football club based in Homburg, Saarland, that competes in the Regionalliga Südwest. History The club was founded on 15 June 1908 as ''Fussball Club Homburg'' by a group o ...

. He moved to midfield with Homburg and helped the team move steadily up the German leagues, until they finally reached the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

. He moved to

1. FC Kaiserslautern 1. Fußball-Club Kaiserslautern e. V., also known as 1. FCK, FCK (), FC Kaiserslautern (), K'lautern or colloquially Lautern (), is a German sports club based in Kaiserslautern, Rhineland-Palatinate. In addition to Association football, football ...

in 1988 and helped them to the

German Cup The DFB-Pokal (), also known as the German Cup in English, is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundes ...

in 1990 and the Bundesliga title in 1991. He also played as they won the

1991 DFB-Supercup The 1991 DFB-Supercup was the fifth edition of the DFL-Supercup, DFB-Supercup. Uniquely, because Germany had just been German reunification, reunified, the competition featured four teams instead of the usual two: The previous season's Bundesliga a ...

. After the 1994 World Cup, he moved to

Bayer Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen, officially known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH () and commonly known as Bayer Leverkusen or simply Leverkusen, is a German professional football club based in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It competes in the B ...

, and to

Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as Schalke 04 (), and abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional sports club from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its football team, w ...

a year after that, helping them to the 1997 UEFA Cup title. At the end of the season, he moved to

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

(MLS), signing with the

Columbus Crew The Columbus Crew are an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The team began play in 1996 as one of the 10 cha ...

. Dooley spent three seasons in Columbus and was named to the

MLS Best XI The MLS Best XI is an annual acknowledgment of the best eleven players in Major League Soccer. The selection is determined by a collection of media, players, and MLS club technical staffs. Winners Appearances by player The following players ...

in both 1997 and 1998. In 2000, Thomas was traded to the MetroStars for

Mike Duhaney Mike Duhaney (born April 5, 1974) is an American retired professional Association football, soccer player who played in Major League Soccer (MLS) and the 2. Bundesliga. He was the 1997 MLS Rookie of the Year Award, Major League Soccer Rookie of ...

, partially to help support

Lothar Matthäus Lothar Herbert Matthäus (; born 21 March 1961) is a German association football, football pundit and former professional player and manager. He captained Germany national football team, West Germany to victory in the 1990 FIFA World Cup and was ...

' adjustment to the United States. Dooley played one year for the Metros before retiring from playing soccer.

International career

As U.S. Soccer started to look abroad for players eligible to play for its national team in advance of its hosting 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 w ...

, Dooley was discovered. He made his first international appearance on May 30, 1992, against

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. Dooley became a regular for the U.S. almost immediately, being named

U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year The U.S. Soccer Player of the Year is given by the United States Soccer Federation to the American soccer players judged best in the calendar year. It is considered the highest accolade for American soccer players. The U.S. Soccer Male Player o ...

in 1993 and then playing every minute at the 1994 World Cup, including the match against

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

which the U.S. won 2–1. After

John Harkes John Andrew Harkes (born March 8, 1967) is an American Association football, soccer coach and former professional player who last coached Greenville Triumph SC. A member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame, Harkes was the first American to pla ...

was dismissed from the U.S. national team, Dooley was named captain for the

1998 World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for the ...

, and started every game for the U.S. On February 21, 1999, Dooley was given a send-off match by the United States in a friendly against

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

. He ended his international career with 81 caps and seven goals.

International goals

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

Managerial career

Saarbrücken

After retiring, Dooley went back to Germany and became the head coach of FC Saarbrücken in 2002, becoming the first American to coach a team in Europe.

United States

Dooley was appointed by U.S. national team coach

Jürgen Klinsmann Jürgen Klinsmann (; born 30 July 1964) is a German professional Association football, football manager and former player. He played for several prominent clubs in Europe including VfB Stuttgart, Inter Milan, AS Monaco FC, Monaco, Tottenham Hot ...

to be an assistant coach in the match against Mexico on August 10, 2011.

Philippines

In February 2014, Dooley signed a one-year deal with the

Philippine Football Federation The Philippine Football Federation (PFF) is the governing body of association football in the Philippines. Established as the Philippine Amateur Football Association (PAFA) in 1907, the PFF is one of the oldest national football associations in ...

to handle the Philippines national team. His first match was a friendly against

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

which ended 0–0, and a few days later, narrowly lost to European side

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

1–0. Dooley earned his first win for the Philippines after his charges defeated

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

3–0 in another friendly match in Qatar. Dooley earned national team coach

Dan Palami Dan Stephen Castillo Palami (born June 9, 1970) is a Filipino business and sports executive. He was the general manager of the Philippine men's national football team from 2009 to 2024. He is credited for his contributions to the revival of f ...

's praise after his first few matches in charge. Palami commended Dooley's ability to foster a better understanding of the game to his squad and give subs and reserves chances to step up in the absence of star players. "Our players have a better understanding of the role they have to play in their respective positions under Dooley's system that anyone can step up even if we don't have our stars playing," Palami said. The Philippine national team came close to qualifying to the

2015 AFC Asian Cup The 2015 AFC Asian Cup was the 16th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international association football, football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It was held in Australia from 9 to 31 January 201 ...

. They failed to qualify after they lost 0–1 to Palestine in the final of the

2014 AFC Challenge Cup The 2014 AFC Challenge Cup was the fifth and the final edition of the AFC Challenge Cup, an international Association football, football competition for Asian Football Confederation (AFC) member nations that are mainly categorized as "emerging co ...

. Two months after the tournament,

Stephan Schröck Stephan Markus Cabizares Schröck (; born 21 August 1986) is a football coach and professional player who plays as an attacking midfielder or winger. Born in Germany to a German father and Filipino mother, Schröck was a youth international f ...

and Dennis Cagara resigned from the national team over tensions with Dooley. Schröck had disagreement with the setup of the national team under Dooley but has made amends with the coach in 2015 and briefly played once again for the Philippines though undisclosed issues surfaced in 2016. In his first match coaching the Philippines in a

World Cup qualifier The FIFA World Cup qualification is a set of competitive matches that a national association football team plays in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the men's FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments ar ...

, Dooley's team defeated Bahrain 2–1. After an impressive run in qualifying that included a 3–2 win over

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

that was considered an upset, Dooley's contract was extended for two years. Dooley failed to get the Philippines past the group stage at the

2016 AFF Championship The 2016 AFF Championship, sponsored by Suzuki and officially known as the AFF Suzuki Cup 2016, was the 11th edition of the AFF Championship, the Association football, football championship of nations affiliated to the ASEAN Football Federation ...

, which the Philippines co-hosted with Myanmar. He managed to secure qualification for the Philippines for their first Asian Cup stint in the 2019 by winning 2–1 over Tajikistan in March 2018. The coach's contract with the Philippines ended on March 31, 2018 after the historic match. Dooley's contract was not renewed and the PFF announced

Terry Butcher Terry Ian Butcher (born 28 December 1958) is an English football manager and former player. During his playing career as a defender, Butcher captained the England national team, winning 77 caps in a ten-year international career that feature ...

as his successor in June 2018.

Viettel

In 2019, Dooley was appointed as sporting director of

club

Viettel The Military Industry and Telecoms Group (), Trade name, trading as Viettel or Viettel Group (), is a Vietnamese State-owned enterprise, state-owned multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications, technology and manufacturing C ...

. During his tenure, Viettel won the 2020 V.League 1 title.

Sri Pahang

In January 2021, Dooley was appointed as head coach of

Malaysia Super League The Malaysia Super League (), known simply as the Super League (), is the men's top professional Football in Malaysia, football division of the Malaysian football league system. Administered by the Football Malaysia Limited Liability Partnersh ...

club

Sri Pahang Shri (; , ) is a Sanskrit term denoting resplendence, wealth and prosperity, primarily used as an honorific. The word is widely used in South and Southeast Asian languages such as Assamese, Meitei ( Manipuri), Marathi, Malay (including Ind ...

, replacing

Dollah Salleh Dollah Salleh (born 10 October 1963) is a Malaysian Association football, football head coach, coach and former player. He is well-known to Malaysia Super League, MSL fans as Pablo Dollah. One of Malaysia's most decorated players, he has also ...

. Three months after his appointment, Dooley was sacked by Sri Pahang together with his assistant coach,

Christophe Gamel Christophe Gamel (born 11 August 1972) is a French football coach who is currently the assistant coach of the Vietnam national football team. Coaching career Gamel played semi-professionally for various French and Italian clubs while coaching ...

and was replaced by former head coach Dollah Salleh. After being sacked, he was immediately appointed as adviser of Sri Pahang U21 team while Gamel was appointed as head coach.

Return to Philippines

In May 2022, Dooley was reappointed as head coach of the Philippines national team ahead of the third round of 2023 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers, replacing Scott Cooper. He signed a short-term deal with an option to extend depending on the qualification of the Philippines to the

2023 AFC Asian Cup The 2023 AFC Asian Cup was the 18th edition of the AFC Asian Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It involved 24 national teams after its expansion in 20 ...

Managerial statistics

Honours

FC Homburg * Oberliga Südwest: 1984 1. FC Kaiserslautern *

: 1990–91 *

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal (), also known as the German Cup in English language, English, is a German knockout Association football, football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competiti ...

: 1989–90 *

DFL-Supercup The Franz Beckenbauer Supercup or ''German Super Cup'' is a one-off association football, football match in Germany that features the winners of the Bundesliga championship and the DFB-Pokal. The competition is run by the Deutsche Fußball Liga (E ...

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

FC Schalke 04 *

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

: 1996–97 Individual *

: 1993 *

MLS All-Star The Major League Soccer All-Star Game is an annual Association football, soccer game held by Major League Soccer featuring selected players from the league against an international club or selected players from another league. MLS initially ado ...

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 Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

MLS Fair Play Award The Fair Play Award in Major League Soccer was the award that was given to an individual player and a team who presented best overall sportsmanlike behavior in addition to receiving one of the lowest numbers of yellow Yellow is the color ...

National Soccer Hall of Fame The National Soccer Hall of Fame is a public-private partnership among FC Dallas, the City of Frisco, Frisco Independent School District, and the U.S. Soccer Federation, and currently located in Toyota Stadium (Texas), Toyota Stadium in Frisco, T ...

: 2010

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dooley, Thomas Living people 1961 births People from Südwestpfalz American soccer coaches American men's soccer players United States men's international soccer players German men's footballers American people of German descent German sportspeople of American descent FK Pirmasens players FC 08 Homburg players 1. FC Kaiserslautern players Bayer 04 Leverkusen players FC Schalke 04 players Columbus Crew players New York Red Bulls players 2. Bundesliga players Bundesliga players Major League Soccer players Major League Soccer All-Stars German emigrants to the United States Footballers from Rhineland-Palatinate 1993 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 1994 FIFA World Cup players 1995 Copa América players 1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 1998 FIFA World Cup players 1. FC Saarbrücken managers Philippines national football team managers Men's association football defenders American expatriate soccer coaches UEFA Europa League–winning players National Soccer Hall of Fame members West German men's footballers German expatriate sportspeople in the Philippines American expatriate sportspeople in the Philippines German expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in the Philippines Expatriate football managers in Malaysia German expatriate sportspeople in Malaysia American expatriate sportspeople in Malaysia 20th-century American sportsmen