Jeffrey Adam Larentowicz ( ; born August 5, 1983) 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. He was a starting

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 ...

on the

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Founded in ...

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

Atlanta United Atlanta United FC is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Atlanta. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. Domestically, the club has won o ...

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

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 ...

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

Youth and college

Born in

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commerci ...

, to parents of Polish descent, Larentowicz played college soccer for

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

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 List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference of eight Private university, private Research university, research universities in the Northeastern United States. It participates in the National Collegia ...

Championships. Before Brown, he helped lead traditional Philadelphia-area power Chestnut Hill Academy 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 are an American professional association football, soccer club based in the Greater Boston area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. It is on ...

. 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 are an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The team began play in 1996 as one of the 10 cha ...

. 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, in some circumstances also known as a sobriquet, or informally a "moniker", is an informal substitute for the proper name of a person, place, or thing, used to express affection, playfulness, contempt, or a particular character trait ...

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 Association football, football player and Coach (sport), coach. A centre forward during his playing days, Mariner began his career with Chorley F.C., Chorley. He became a professional p ...

, a reference to

Franz Beckenbauer Franz Anton Beckenbauer (; 11 September 1945 – 7 January 2024) was a German professional football player, manager, and official. Nicknamed ("the Emperor"), he is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, and is one of nine p ...

. 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. A defender, played professionally for clubs in Germany, the Netherlands and England. He also played 19 international matches for the U.S. national soccer team, including a ...

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

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

club

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

following a recommendation by United States national team coach

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

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. Larentowicz became a free agent and signed with

LA 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 ...

on January 6, 2016. He made his debut against

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 ...

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 club based in Vancouver. The Whitecaps compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on March 18, ...

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 western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

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

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

and

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

Career statistics

Honors

New England Revolution * U.S. Open Cup:

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

North American SuperLiga The SuperLiga was an annual association football competition in North America between four clubs from the Major League Soccer (United States and Canada) and four clubs from the Primera División (Mexico), the top professional league in each count ...

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

Colorado Rapids *

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 ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

Atlanta United * MLS Cup:

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

Campeones Cup The Campeones Cup is an annual North American association football match contested between the winners of the previous MLS Cup from Major League Soccer and the winners of the Campeón de Campeones from Liga MX. The competition was established by ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

* U.S. Open Cup:

Individual * MLS 400 Games Club

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Larentowicz, Jeff 1983 births Living people American people of Polish descent American men's soccer players Men's 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 Ventura County FC players Major League Soccer All-Stars Major League Soccer players New England Revolution draft picks New England Revolution players Sportspeople from West Chester, Pennsylvania Soccer players from Chester County, Pennsylvania Seacoast United Phantoms players Soccer players from California United States men's international soccer players USL Championship players USL Second Division players