David Regis (, born December 2, 1968) is a retired professional

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 who played as a defender. He was most recently the assistant coach of US Mondorf-les-Bains. Born in Martinique, he played for the

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 ...

at the

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 ...

and 2002 World Cups.

Club career

Regis was born in

La Trinité, Martinique La Trinité (, literally ''The Trinity''; Martinican Creole: ) is a town and commune in the French overseas region and department of Martinique. Geography Climate La Trinité has a tropical rainforest climate (Köppen climate classification ' ...

, and began his pro career in 1988 with

Valenciennes FC Valenciennes Football Club (; commonly known as Valenciennes, VA or VAFC) is a French professional football club based in Valenciennes. The club was founded in 1914 and currently play in Championnat National, the third tier of French footbal ...

and played there until 1993. He was transferred to

RC Strasbourg Racing Club de Strasbourg Alsace, commonly known as RC Strasbourg (, ; RCS) or simply just Racing, is a French professional association football club founded in 1906 and based in the city of Strasbourg, Alsace. It became a professional club in ...

in 1993 where he won the

1995 UEFA Intertoto Cup The 1995 UEFA Intertoto Cup was the first edition of the tournament administered by the UEFA. It saw Strasbourg and Bordeaux win their semi-finals to advance to the first round of the UEFA Cup, the latter eventually finishing runners-up. It also ...

. He then moved to

RC Lens Racing Club de Lens (), commonly referred to as RC Lens or simply as Lens, is a French professional football club based in the northern city of Lens in the department of Pas-de-Calais. The club's nickname, ''Les Sang et Or'' (), comes from i ...

in 1996, and

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( ; ; ; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, third-largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, after its capital Stuttgart a ...

in 1997. He transferred to

FC Metz Football Club de Metz () is a Football in France, French association football club based in Metz, Lorraine. The club was formed in 1932 and plays in Ligue 1, the highest division in the French football league system, for the 2025–26 Ligue 1, ...

, leaving after the 2002 FIFA World Cup, spent four years there, and spent a season at

Troyes AC Espérance Sportive Troyes Aube Champagne (ESTAC), commonly known as Troyes, is a football in France, French professional association football club based in Troyes that competes in Ligue 2. It plays its home matches at the Stade de l'Aube. Foun ...

. From the 2004–05 season, Regis played at the lower levels of the Belgian Leagues with FC Bleid respectively and retired in the summer of 2008.

International career

Since Regis's wife was an American citizen, an option to play for the United States appeared.

Steve Sampson Mark Stephen Sampson (born January 19, 1957) is an American soccer coach. He is also the former head coach of both the United States men's national team and the Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer. Collegiate career Sampson attended UCL ...

, the U.S. national coach, jumped at the chance of having an experienced left back on the World Cup squad (though Regis's preferred position was always center back – where he was most successful in his club career), and promised Regis a starting position on the team if he became a U.S. citizen. Regis was

naturalized Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...

on May 20, 1998, and received his first

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

against

Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

just three days later. Regis received the starting spot from Sampson, in front of long-time starter

Jeff Agoos Jeffrey Alan Agoos (born May 2, 1968) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a defender. He is one of the all-time appearance leaders for the United States national team. Agoos won a record five MLS championships: three ...

. Regis played all three matches in the World Cup, and despite being one of the more effective players for the US, the Americans lost all three of their group matches. Regis made the U.S. roster for 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 ...

as well, but did not play at the tournament. He retired with 27 caps.

Coaching career

After his retirement from playing, he worked as head coach in

Djibouti Djibouti, officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Somalia to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden to the east. The country has an area ...

with Royal Racing Athlétic Florenvillois and Royale Espérance Rossignol. In January 2017, he took over as sporting director of the Martinique national team.

References

External links

* 1968 births Living people People from La Trinité, Martinique American men's soccer players United States men's international soccer players French men's footballers Martiniquais men's footballers American people of Martiniquais descent RC Strasbourg Alsace players RC Lens players Karlsruher SC players FC Metz players ES Troyes AC players Valenciennes FC players Ligue 1 players Bundesliga players Expatriate men's footballers in France American expatriate men's soccer players in Germany 1998 FIFA World Cup players 2002 FIFA World Cup players French emigrants to the United States Men's association football defenders 20th-century American sportsmen 20th-century French sportsmen {{US-footy-defender-1960s-stub