Desmond Kevin Armstrong (born November 2, 1964) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

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 ...

defender and

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

, who was a member 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 ...

from 1987 to 1994. He played three seasons in the Major Indoor Soccer League, part of one in the Brazilian First Division, two in the

American Professional Soccer League The American Professional Soccer League (APSL) was a professional men's soccer league with teams from the United States and later Canada. It was formed in 1990 by the merger of the third American Soccer League with the Western Soccer League. ...

and two in

USISL The United States Interregional Soccer League (USISL) was a semi-professional men's outdoor soccer league that played six seasons from 1989 to 1994. It was the first outdoor league to be operated by the organization known today as the United ...

. He is currently technical director of FC Columbus in the

National Premier Soccer League The National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) is an American men's association football, soccer league. The league is officially affiliated to the United States Adult Soccer Association (USASA) and has automatic qualification for the U.S. Open Cup. ...

. His son,

Ezra Ezra ( fl. fifth or fourth century BCE) is the main character of the Book of Ezra. According to the Hebrew Bible, he was an important Jewish scribe (''sofer'') and priest (''kohen'') in the early Second Temple period. In the Greek Septuagint, t ...

and Dida, formerly played for St. Louis City 2.

Player

Youth

Armstrong was born and raised in Washington, D.C. Up until age 11, basketball was his main sport and he hadn't played soccer. After an altercation with another boy on the basketball court, the boy's father, who was a youth soccer coach, invited Armstrong to come try out for his team. From that point on Armstrong moved into high school, college, and national team soccer. He attended Howard High School in Ellicott City, Maryland. Armstrong's college career was spent at the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

, where he was first team All ACC in 1984 and 1985 and second team All ACC in 1983. He played in a total of 78 games for the university, tallying 24 goals and 18 assists. In 1986, he was part of the Fairfax Spartans club which won the

National Amateur Cup The National Amateur Cup, also known as the USASA Amateur Cup, is an American knockout soccer competition open to all amateur teams affiliated with the United States Soccer Federation through United States Adult Soccer Association The Unite ...

, defeating St. Louis Busch 3–0. The Spartans featured other national team players John Kerr, Bruce Murray and

John Stollmeyer John Michael Stollmeyer (born October 25, 1962, in Pittsburgh) is an American former soccer player. He played two seasons in Major Indoor Soccer League and one each in both the American Soccer League and the American Professional Soccer Leagu ...

in addition to Armstrong.

Professional

Armstrong played two seasons for the Cleveland Force of the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) from 1986 to 1988. At the end of the 1987–1988 season, he transferred to the

Baltimore Blast The Baltimore Blast are an American professional indoor soccer team based in Baltimore, Maryland, that competes in the Major Arena Soccer League (MASL). Including one championship victory as the original Baltimore Blast, the team has won 10 c ...

. However, on January 14, 1989, he broke his leg midway through the season. In February 1991, he signed with

Santos Santos may refer to: People *Santos (surname) * Santos Balmori Picazo (1899–1992), Spanish-Mexican painter * Santos Benavides (1823–1891), Confederate general in the American Civil War Places *Santos, São Paulo, a municipality in São Paulo ...

of the Brazilian First Division making Armstrong the first American player ever to sign a professional contract in Brazil. Upon completing the season Armstrong returned to the U.S. with the

Maryland Bays The Maryland Bays were an inaugural franchise of the third incarnation of the American Soccer League (1988-1989), American Soccer League in 1988. They were based in Catonsville, Maryland, and played their games at the University of Maryland-Baltim ...

, in the

. That year, the Bays made it to the league semifinals before falling to the

Albany Capitals The Albany Capitals joined the third incarnation of the American Soccer League in 1988. The team joined the American Professional Soccer League in 1990 when the ASL merged with the Western Soccer League. The club was based in Albany, New York, a ...

. In 1995, he moved to the

Washington Warthogs The Washington Warthogs were a professional indoor soccer team in the Continental Indoor Soccer League (CISL) from 1994 to 1997. They played their home games in the USAir Arena in Landover, Maryland, an arena they shared with the Washington Bull ...

of the

Continental Indoor Soccer League The Continental Indoor Soccer League (CISL) was a professional indoor soccer league that played from 1993 to 1997. History In the summer of 1989 Dr Jerry Buss, the owner of the Los Angeles Lakers and California Sports, told his executive Vice ...

on loan from

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 ...

as he was the fifth player signed to the new league. Armstrong decided to compete with the

Charlotte Eagles The Charlotte Eagles is an American amateur soccer team based in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1991, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. The team plays its home games at the ...

of the United Soccer Leagues/ USISL for the 1996 season opting out of his contract with Major League Soccer and later retiring from the game at the age of 31. That year he was selected to the USISL All Pro League Team.

National team

His first appearance for the

came in 1987 in a match against

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

. He was also a member of the Olympic team in the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were represe ...

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

, South Korea. His performance with the Olympic team made him a mainstay on the national team through the early 1990s, playing in all three of the team's appearances at the

1990 FIFA World Cup The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second ...

. He made a total of 81 appearances for the national team, though he never scored a goal at this level. Armstrong was the first U.S.-born

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

player to represent the nation at the World Cup.

Coach

Since his retirement from international soccer, he has remained active in coaching and community initiatives. He has spent time organizing for inner-city Christian Ministries programs such as Soccer Beats (now Heroes FA) Also now owning a team based out of Murfreesboro Tennessee Legacy Heros FC. With a new entrance into Pioneer Premier League 2, Led By Luis A. In the mid-1990s he coached the USA Hurricanes club level soccer team in Charlotte, NC. In 1999, he became the head coach of the

Montreat College Montreat College (pronounced "mon-treet") is a private, Christian college in Montreat, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1916, the college offers associate, bachelor's, and master's degree programs for traditional and adult students. Th ...

Cavaliers in

Montreat, North Carolina Montreat is a town in Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 723 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Asheville metropolitan area. The town is best known for Montreat Conference Center and Montreat College, and for ...

which play in the NAIA. He remained in this position until his retirement in 2006. Armstrong also coached the youth team '85 HFC Vipers of

Asheville, North Carolina Asheville ( ) is a city in Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. Located at the confluence of the French Broad River, French Broad and Swannanoa River, Swannanoa rivers, it is the county seat of Buncombe County. It is the most populou ...

from 2000 to 2004. After leaving Montreat, Armstrong joined the youth club, Bethesda Roadrunners, as its head coach. He also created another section of Heroes FA, in Maryland and is currently their head coach and technical director. He is also the Director of Recruiting in Ohio for

Brad Friedel Bradley Howard Friedel (born May 18, 1971) is an American professional soccer coach and former player who played as a goalkeeper. Friedel played 84 games for the United States national team between 1992 and 2005, and represented his country a ...

's Premier Soccer Academies. He was named technical director of Rocket City United on December 11, 2009. In 2012, he created the Heroes Soccer Club in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

. , the youth soccer club has 550 players and plays in several venues in the Nashville area.

Broadcaster

Armstrong has worked for ABC Sports. During 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 ...

, Armstrong was an

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

studio analyst. Armstrong provided commentary for all

Cleveland City Stars The Cleveland City Stars were an American professional soccer team based in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. Founded in 2006, the team played in the USL First Division (USL-1), the second tier of the American Soccer Pyramid in 2009. The club folde ...

home games. The games will be aired on

SportsTime Ohio SportsTime Ohio was an American regional sports network which was last known as Bally Sports Great Lakes. At the time it left the air, the network was owned by Main Street Sports Group (formerly Diamond Sports Group) and operated as an affiliate ...

. The City Stars play in the

USL First Division The USL First Division (USL-1) was a professional men's soccer league in the second tier of the United States league system. It was organized by the United Soccer League as its premier league for men from 1996 to 2010, above the USL Second ...

. On May 11, 2007, he was inducted into the Maryland Soccer Hall of Fame.Maryland Soccer Hall of Fame
On February 29, 2012, he was inducted to the

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 ...

References

External links

USA Soccer players.comMontreat College

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Armstrong, Desmond 1964 births Living people 1990 FIFA World Cup players 1991 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 1993 Copa América players 1993 CONCACAF Gold Cup players CONCACAF Gold Cup–winning players African-American soccer players American expatriate men's soccer players American expatriate sportspeople in Brazil American Professional Soccer League players American soccer coaches American men's soccer players Baltimore Blast (1980–1992) players Charlotte Eagles players Cleveland Force (original MISL) players Continental Indoor Soccer League players Expatriate men's footballers in Brazil American soccer commentators Men's association football defenders Men's association football midfielders Footballers at the 1988 Summer Olympics Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players Maryland Bays players Maryland Terrapins men's soccer players National Premier Soccer League coaches Olympic soccer players for the United States Santos FC players Soccer players from Washington, D.C. USISL players USL Second Division players United States men's international soccer players University of Maryland, College Park alumni Washington Warthogs players National Soccer Hall of Fame members 21st-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen