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Nelson Akwari
Nelson Ndukwe Akwari (born February 4, 1982, in Houston, Texas) is a retired American soccer player. He began his career with the United States national team youth academy in Bradenton, Florida, and played for several professional clubs in various U.S. leagues. Career Youth and College Akwari attended Strake Jesuit College Preparatory, a private school in Houston, before attending USSF's Bradenton Academy, where he trained with other Under-17 national teamers like Landon Donovan, DaMarcus Beasley, and Bobby Convey. Although he considered turning pro, Akwari instead went to UCLA to play college soccer. He stayed at UCLA two years, starting every game as a freshman in 2000, and being named second-team All-Pac-10 as a sophomore. He returned to UCLA after completion of his soccer career and earned Bachelors, Masters, and Doctorate degrees in engineering. Professional Akwari left college after his sophomore year to pursue opportunities in Europe, but when nothing came of them, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Houston, Texas
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in 2020. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the seat and largest city of Harris County and the principal city of the Greater Houston metropolitan area, which is the fifth-most populous metropolitan statistical area in the United States and the second-most populous in Texas after Dallas–Fort Worth. Houston is the southeast anchor of the greater megaregion known as the Texas Triangle. Comprising a land area of , Houston is the ninth-most expansive city in the United States (including consolidated city-counties). It is the largest city in the United States by total area whose government is not consolidated with a county, parish, or borough. Though primarily in Harris County, small portions o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Strake Jesuit College Preparatory
Strake Jesuit College Preparatory (properly referred to as Strake Jesuit or Jesuit but often informally called Strake by students and alumni) is a Jesuit, college-preparatory school for boys, grades 9–12, in the Chinatown area and in the Greater Sharpstown district of Houston, Texas, United States.Chinatown " () Greater Sharpstown Management District. Retrieved on December 4, 2012 Map image It is near .Asin, Stephanie. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2004 MLS Expansion Draft
The 2004 MLS Expansion Draft was held on November 19, 2004 and consisted of 10 rounds. The two new teams, Chivas USA and Real Salt Lake, drafted players from the other 10 Major League Soccer teams. Existing MLS teams were allowed to protect 12 players on their senior roster, and players on the developmental roster were exempt from the draft. Teams were allowed to leave no more than one Senior International player unprotected. After each player was selected, his team was allowed to remove one exposed player from their list. Teams were not able to lose more than three players. Expansion Draft Team-by-Team breakdown Chicago Fire *Withdrew Evan Whitfield upon selection of Andy Williams (2) *Withdrew Scott Buete upon selection of Orlando Perez (3) *Reached maximum upon selection of D.J. Countess (4) Colorado Rapids *Withdrew Seth Trembly upon selection of Antonio de la Torre (9) *Withdrew Scott Vallow upon selection of Jeff Stewart (19) Columbus Crew *Withdrew David T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
MLS Supporters' Shield
The Supporters' Shield is an annual award given to the Major League Soccer team with the best regular season record, as determined by the MLS points system. The Supporters' Shield has been annually awarded at the MLS Supporters' Summit since 1999 (with the winners between 1996 and 1998 awarded retroactively), and has been recognized as a major trophy by the league. It echoes the practice of the top European leagues in which the team with the best record is the champion. Since 2006, the Supporters' Shield winner has earned a berth in the CONCACAF Champions League if they are an American-based team. D.C. United and LA Galaxy, with four Supporters' Shields each, have won the most shields of any MLS team. Los Angeles FC are the 2022 holders of the Supporters' Shield, winning it for the second time. History Conception and fundraising When Major League Soccer had its inaugural season in 1996, the league resembled its contemporary North American leagues. After the regular seas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
USL First Division
The USL First Division (usually referred to as USL-1) was a professional men's soccer league in the United States and Canada from 2005 to 2010. During its existence, it formed the second tier of soccer in the United States soccer league system behind Major League Soccer. It was operated by United Soccer Leagues (USL) and was known as the A-League, from 1997 until 2004. Several teams left the league in 2009 to form the new North American Soccer League, with the intent of running their own second-tier league. Following a brief legal dispute, the two leagues operated in tandem under United States Soccer Federation (USSF) mediation as the USSF Division 2 Professional League in 2010 before the split became final. The teams that remained in the First Division were merged with the USL Second Division in 2011 to form USL Pro. History When the A-League became the USL First Division in 2005, the league comprised 12 teams: Atlanta Silverbacks, Charleston Battery, Minnesota Thunde ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Project-40
Generation Adidas is a joint venture between Major League Soccer and U.S. Soccer aimed at raising the level of young professional soccer talent in the United States. The program, sponsored by Adidas, offers professional-ready players in the U.S. developmental system not yet eligible for the MLS SuperDraft early entry, allowing MLS to compete with foreign professional clubs without comparable restrictions on player signing. From its establishment in 1997 to 2005, the program was sponsored by Nike and was called ''Project-40''. Originally intended to improve the U.S. national team player pool, American national team eligibility is no longer required for program entry. Carlos Parra was the first Project-40 player when he signed with the league and was allocated to the New York/New Jersey MetroStars in 1997. Since then, the program has included players such as Tim Howard, DaMarcus Beasley, Maurice Edu, Carlos Bocanegra, Clint Dempsey, Jozy Altidore, Ben Olsen, Sacha Kljesta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
College Soccer
College soccer is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. It is very prominent in United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and as well as in South Africa and Philippines, the Philippines. The United Kingdom also has an university league. The institutions typically hire full-time professional coaches and staff, although the student athletes are mostly amateur and are not paid. History The 1869 Princeton vs. Rutgers football game, first ''de facto'' college football game held in the U.S. in 1869 college football season, 1869 between Rutgers University and Princeton University, Princeton was contested, at Rutgers captain John W. Leggett's request, with rules mixing soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ... and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
UCLA
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California State Normal School (now San Jose State University, San José State University). This school was absorbed with the official founding of UCLA as the Southern Branch of the University of California in 1919, making it the second-oldest of the 10-campus University of California system (after UC Berkeley). UCLA offers 337 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in a wide range of disciplines, enrolling about 31,600 undergraduate and 14,300 graduate and professional students. UCLA received 174,914 undergraduate applications for Fall 2022, including transfers, making the school the most applied-to Higher education in the United States, university in the United States. The university is or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bobby Convey
Robert Francis Convey (; born May 27, 1983) is an American former football player who last played for New York Red Bulls in Major League Soccer. In addition to several MLS clubs, Convey spent five years in England with Reading, whom he helped into the Premier League for the first time. He played in 46 international matches for the United States, and made their squads for the 2003 Gold Cup and 2006 World Cup. Career Youth Convey attended the William Penn Charter School in Philadelphia and played club soccer for the Philadelphia Soccer Club Coppa. He was a member of the initial class of the Bradenton Academy that also included current and former national team members Landon Donovan, Oguchi Onyewu and DaMarcus Beasley. Together they helped lead the Under-17 squad to a fourth-place finish in the 1999 U-17 World Cup in New Zealand. Professional D.C. United Convey was drafted in 2000 in the first round by D.C. United of Major League Soccer. That year, he became the youngest ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
DaMarcus Beasley
DaMarcus Lamont Beasley (; born May 24, 1982) is an American former professional soccer player. A left-footed player, Beasley played both as a left winger and left wingback throughout his career. He retired from soccer after the 2019 MLS Season. After starring at the 1999 FIFA U-17 World Championship, Beasley emerged as a star with the Chicago Fire before making a move to Dutch club PSV Eindhoven in 2004. He later spent time in the Premier League with Manchester City, in the Scottish Premier League for Rangers and in the Bundesliga for Hannover 96. He finished his career with spells with Puebla and Houston Dynamo. Beasley is the only U.S. man to play in four FIFA World Cups, his first in 2002 and his latest in 2014, earning 126 caps during his 16-year international career. Club career Early career Born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Beasley joined IMG Academy, the United States Soccer Federation's Residency program in Bradenton, Florida. Before moving to Florida, Beasley played at ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Landon Donovan
Landon Timothy Donovan (born March 4, 1982) is an American former professional soccer player. Donovan is also the co-founder and vice-president of soccer operations for USL Championship side San Diego Loyal SC, and serves as strategic advisor for English side Lincoln City. He was voted as the best U.S. soccer player of all time by a poll conducted by ESPN, along with Major League Soccer having ranked Donovan as the greatest American soccer player of all time. A former forward, he holds numerous individual records in Major League Soccer (MLS) and for the United States national team and is regarded as the greatest U.S. men's soccer player of all time. Donovan signed for Bayer 04 Leverkusen in 1999. In 2005, after six years with Leverkusen, the majority of which were spent on loan with the San Jose Earthquakes of MLS, Donovan moved back to the United States permanently to sign with the Los Angeles Galaxy. He later returned to Germany for a loan with Bayern Munich, and twice went ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United States Men's National Soccer Team
The United States men's national soccer team (USMNT) represents the United States in men's international soccer competitions. The team is controlled by the United States Soccer Federation and is a member of FIFA and CONCACAF. The U.S. team has appeared in eleven FIFA World Cups, including the first in 1930, where they reached the semi-finals to finish third, the best result ever by a team from outside UEFA and CONMEBOL. They returned in 1934 and 1950, defeating England 1–0 in the latter, but did not qualify again until 1990. As host in 1994, the U.S. received an automatic berth and lost to Brazil in the round of sixteen. They qualified for the next five World Cups (seven consecutive appearances (1990–2014), a feat shared with only seven other nations), becoming one of the tournament's regular competitors and often advancing to the knockout stage. The U.S. reached the quarter-finals in 2002, and controversially lost to Germany. In the 2009 Confederations Cup, the A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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