George Edward Pope (born December 24, 1973) is an American 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 who last played for

Real Salt Lake Real Salt Lake (RSL) is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Fou ...

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 ...

and spent eleven years as a defender for the United States national team. He spent most of his career playing for D.C. United. Pope is a member of 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 ...

Youth

Born in

High Point, North Carolina High Point is a city in the Piedmont Triad region of the United States, U.S. state of North Carolina. Most of the city is in Guilford County, North Carolina, Guilford County, with parts extending into Randolph County, North Carolina, Randolph, ...

, Pope attended Southwest Guilford High School. Pope had a very successful career playing for the

North Carolina Tar Heels The North Carolina Tar Heels (also Carolina Tar Heels) are the college sports in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The name Tar Heel is a nickname used to refer to ...

where he also kicked for

Mack Brown William Mack Brown (born August 27, 1951) is an American former college football coach. Brown most recently coached at the University of North Carolina, where he had two stints, first from 1988 until 1997, and again from 2019 until his firing ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

team. In 1994, he was a first-team

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

, and also earned All-ACC and All-South Region honors.

Professional club career

In 1996, D.C. United selected Pope in the first round (second overall) in the MLS College Draft. His first season in Washington, D.C. was split between United and the men's Olympic team, which was preparing for the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

. However, he still played 18 games for United and won a league title with the team, scoring a

golden goal The golden goal is a sports rule used in association football, Australian rules football, bandy, field hockey, ice hockey, lacrosse, and rugby league to decide the winner of a match (typically a knock-out match) in which scores are equal at the ...

in the first-ever

MLS Cup MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Playoffs. The game is held in November or December and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Confere ...

against the

Los Angeles Galaxy The Los Angeles Galaxy are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The Gal ...

. He also played his first game with the national team, helping the team beat

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...

2–0 on November 10 that year. In 1997, Pope made quite a splash on the MLS scene. He was named MLS Defender of the Year and earned a place in 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 ...

, as well as winning a second MLS title. In 1998, Pope helped United win both the

CONCACAF Champions Cup The CONCACAF Champions Cup, formerly known as CONCACAF Champions League (2008–2023), is an international association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for clubs from North America, Central America, a ...

and the InterAmerican Cup, the first continental honors earned by an MLS team. He scored goals in both of these two finals; including the winning goal in United's victory in the Interamerican Cup. Pope's 1999 season was beset by injuries, and his playing time was limited, which continued to pester him into 2000, although he would play 19 and 21 games, respectively, in those seasons, and he earned his third and fourth consecutive trips to the

MLS All-Star Game The Major League Soccer All-Star Game is an annual 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 adopted a traditional all ...

. Injuries continued to dog Pope in 2001, but he again played in the All-Star Game and also played an important role in the national team's World Cup qualification. His injuries continued into the 2002 MLS season, and he only appeared in seventeen matches. On December 23, 2002, Pope was traded to the MetroStars, along with Jaime Moreno and Richie Williams, in return for Mike Petke, a first-round draft pick, and an allocation. Pope continued his quality play with the MetroStars, captaining the team to an excellent defensive record. He was named to the MLS Best XI for the third time for his efforts. In 2004, he had a down year with the Metros, but was still voted to the MLS Best XI for a second consecutive season. After the year, Pope was traded to expansion Salt Lake for an allocation. He played three seasons with

, providing veteran leadership for the expansion franchise. In 2007, he retired from professional soccer. In ten years in MLS, he scored nine goals and ten assists, plus added that MLS Cup goal and an assist in the playoffs. In 2005, he was named to the MLS All-Time Best XI. On June 14, 2007, Pope announced his plans to retire from all competitive soccer at the end of the 2007 season, saying: "It's just time...You get up in the morning and you're in pain. Before practice, you are in pain. And after practice you are still in pain."
/sup> On March 11, 2011, he was selected for induction into the

International career

Pope began his international career with the

United States men's national soccer team The United States men's national soccer team (USMNT), officially recognized as USA by FIFA, represents the United States in men's international Association football, soccer. The team is governed by the United States Soccer Federation, which is ...

on November 10, 1996, in a World Cup qualifier against Trinidad and Tobago. At the time, he was in his rookie season with D.C. United. He quickly became a fixture for the national team, which surprised the world when it defeated

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

1-0 and made its way to the finals of the

CONCACAF Gold Cup The CONCACAF Gold Cup () is an association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for men's senior national teams from North America, Central America and the Caribbean. The tournament is held every two ...

. Pope also played in two games for the disappointing U.S. campaign at the

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 1 ...

. In 2002, he started all five U.S. matches in the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

, and played a big part in the surprising success of the United States in that tournament. In 2006, Pope was part of the U.S. team that participated in the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to FIFA World Cup hosts ...

. In the second match against

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, he received a

red card A red card is a type of penalty card that is shown in many sports after a rules infraction. Red card may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''Red Card'' (album), 1976 release by Streetwalkers * Red card, suit (cards) of hearts or di ...

which caused him to miss the third match against

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

, the last of his team at the tournament. Pope started every game he played with the national team. On August 3, 2006, Pope announced his retirement from international soccer. His international career included 82 caps and 8 goals over an eleven-year period.

Post playing career

Pope served as the director of player relations for the MLS Players Union following his playing retirement. In 2015, Pope left the MLS Players Union to work at the

Octagon In geometry, an octagon () is an eight-sided polygon or 8-gon. A '' regular octagon'' has Schläfli symbol and can also be constructed as a quasiregular truncated square, t, which alternates two types of edges. A truncated octagon, t is a ...

sports agency. In 2022, Pope was named as sporting director of the newly founded

MLS Next Pro MLS Next Pro (MLSNP) is a men's professional association football, soccer league in the United States and Canada that is affiliated with Major League Soccer (MLS). It launched in 2022 with 21 teams and now comprises 27 reserve sides of MLS clu ...

club Carolina Core FC, to begin play in 2024. The club is based in his hometown of

Career statistics

Club

International goals

Honors

;DC United *

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 199 ...

* U.S. Open Cup:

CONCACAF Champions League The CONCACAF Champions Cup, formerly known as CONCACAF Champions League (2008–2023), is an international association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for clubs from North America, Central America, ...

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 ...

Copa Interamericana The Copa Interamericana () was an international association football, football competition endorsed by CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean) and CONMEBOL (South America). Established in 1969, it was discontinued in 1998 after CONCACAF ...

;United States *

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

;Individual *

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 ...

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

: 1997, 1998, 2003, 2004 * MLS Defender of the Year: 1997 *

Best XI:

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 ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

2011 Inductee * MLS 10th Anniversary Team

References

External links

*
Eddie Pope: His Holiness - Profile on Total Soccer Show
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pope, Eddie 1973 births Living people Soccer players from Greensboro, North Carolina African-American soccer players American men's soccer players Men's association football defenders North Carolina Tar Heels football players North Carolina Tar Heels men's soccer players All-American college men's soccer players D.C. United draft picks D.C. United players New York Red Bulls players Real Salt Lake players Major League Soccer players Major League Soccer All-Stars National Soccer Hall of Fame members United States men's under-23 international soccer players Olympic soccer players for the United States United States men's international soccer players Footballers at the 1996 Summer Olympics 1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 1998 FIFA World Cup players 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2002 FIFA World Cup players 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2006 FIFA World Cup players CONCACAF Gold Cup–winning players CONCACAF Champions Cup–winning players 20th-century American sportsmen