Jeffrey Adam Larentowicz ( ; born August 5, 1983) is an American former soccer player. He was a starting

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 ...

on 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 ...

' 2010 MLS Cup Championship team, and a starting defender for

Atlanta United Atlanta United FC, commonly known as Atlanta United, is an American professional soccer club based in Atlanta that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference. Founded in 2014, Atlanta United began pl ...

's 2018 Cup-winning side. During his career as a soccer player, Larentowicz was described as one of the most consistent

s in Major League Soccer, adept at passing and possession while well above average in tackling, tracking and defensive cover.

Youth and college

Born in Pasadena, California, to parents of Polish descent, Larentowicz played college soccer for Brown University from 2001 to 2004. In his four seasons there he played in 66 matches, amassing 7 goals and 6 assists, helping Brown to two

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight school ...

Championships. Before Brown, he helped lead traditional Philadelphia-area power

Chestnut Hill Academy Springside Chestnut Hill Academy (also known as SCH Academy or SCH) is an independent, non-sectarian Pre-K through grade 12 school located in Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, approximately 10 miles from Center City. SCH serves ove ...

to back-to-back Interacademic League championships in 2000 and 2001. He also captained the FC Delco Arsenal to two USYSA National Championships in 2002 and 2003.

Professional career

New England Revolution

Larentowicz was selected in the fourth round, 45th overall in the 2005 MLS Supplemental Draft by

New England Revolution The New England Revolution is an American professional soccer club based in the Greater Boston area that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), in the Eastern Conference of the league. It is one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, having compe ...

. He spent his first season on the bench, playing only one minute with the first team all year. However, in 2006 Larentowicz came into more playing time through injuries, starting 19 games and appearing in a further seven. He scored his first-ever MLS goal on August 27, 2006 at a home game against 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 ...

. In 2007, he firmly established himself as a regular starter for the Revolution, playing all but two games as defensive midfielder alongside Shalrie Joseph. Larentowicz has been known by various

nickname A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

s. He acquired ''Ginja'' (or ''Ginger'') ''Ninja'' after scoring an acrobatic goal against Chicago Fire on May 6, 2007. As a defensive midfielder who occasionally ventures into the offensive half of the pitch, he was called ''der Kaiser'' by

Paul Mariner Paul Mariner (22 May 1953 – 9 July 2021) was an English football player and coach. A centre forward during his playing days, Mariner began his career with Chorley. He became a professional player in 1973 with Plymouth Argyle, where he scored ...

, a reference to Franz Beckenbauer. He's also known as "Big Red."

Colorado Rapids

On January 21, 2010, he was traded to

along with Wells Thompson in exchange for Preston Burpo,

Cory Gibbs Cory Gibbs (born January 14, 1980) is an American former soccer player. He played professionally for clubs in Germany, the Netherlands and England. He also played 19 international matches for the U.S. national soccer team, including at the 2003 ...

, a

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 ...

pick, and allocation money. On November 17, 2011, it was announced that he was training with

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

club Bolton Wanderers following a recommendation by United States national team coach

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

Chicago Fire

On January 16, 2013, Larentowicz was traded with a second-round 2013 MLS SuperDraft pick to Chicago Fire in exchange for a first-round selection in the 2013 SuperDraft, allocation money, and a 2013 international roster slot. In the 2013 season, Larentowicz proved an effective addition to the Fire squad appearing in 32 games, scoring two goals, and contributing four assists. He was always entrusted with the captaincy in the absence of Logan Pause in the Fire's starting 11. He became the full-time captain of the Fire after Pause's retirement in 2014.

LA Galaxy

Larentowicz's option wasn't picked up by Chicago at the end of the

2015 MLS season The 2015 Major League Soccer season featured 20 total clubs (17 based in the United States, 3 based in Canada). The regular season was held from March 6 through to October 25, whereas the MLS Cup Playoffs began on October 28 and ended with MLS ...

. Larentowicz became a free agent and signed with LA Galaxy on January 6, 2016. He made his debut against

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 2 ...

on April 23, 2016, helping the Galaxy end the last undefeated streak of this season with a 5–2 victory. On July 4, 2016, Larentowicz scored his first goal for the Galaxy in a 2–0 win over

Vancouver Whitecaps Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Vancouver. They compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on Mar ...

Atlanta United

Larentowicz signed as a free agent with Atlanta United in December 2016, and began play with the team in their inaugural 2017 season. On September 24, 2017, he scored his first goal for the team in a 2–0 win over Montreal Impact. In December 2017, Larentowicz re-signed again with Atlanta United for the 2018 season. On November 24, 2020, Atlanta United announced the expiration of Larentowicz's contract and that he would not be returning to the roster for the 2021 season. Larentowicz announced his retirement from professional soccer on April 5, 2021.

International career

On December 22, 2010, Larentowicz received his first call up to train with the senior U.S. national team. He made his international debut a month later in a friendly match against

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

. On August 25, 2011, it was announced that Larentowicz would play for the U.S. national team in two friendly matches against Costa Rica and

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

Career statistics

''As of November 23, 2020'' ; Notes

Honors

Club

;New England Revolution *

Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States of America. It is the oldest ongoing national soccer competition in that country. The 2023 U.S. O ...

(1): 2007 *

North American SuperLiga The SuperLiga was an official North American association football competition between teams from the Liga MX of Mexico and Major League Soccer of the United States and Canada, the top divisions in each country. The competition was sanctioned by C ...

(1):

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

;Colorado Rapids *

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 ...

(1): 2010 ;Atlanta United *

(1):

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

* Campeones Cup (1):

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

* U.S. Open Cup (1):

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Larentowicz, Jeff 1983 births Living people American people of Polish descent American soccer players Association football midfielders Atlanta United FC players Brown Bears men's soccer players Chestnut Hill Academy alumni Chicago Fire FC players Colorado Rapids players LA Galaxy players LA Galaxy II players Major League Soccer All-Stars Major League Soccer players New England Revolution draft picks New England Revolution players People from West Chester, Pennsylvania Seacoast United Phantoms players Soccer players from California Soccer players from Pennsylvania Sportspeople from Chester County, Pennsylvania United States men's international soccer players USL Championship players USL Second Division players