Pablo Mastroeni (born August 29, 1976) is an American

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 ...

coach and former player who is the head coach of

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 ...

club

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 ...

. He was formerly head coach of 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 ...

, and assistant coach of the

Houston Dynamo Houston Dynamo Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in Houston. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Established on December 15, 2005, the club was founded after their fo ...

. In his playing career, he played as a

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

. Born in Argentina, he played for the United States men's national team.

Early life and education

Mastroeni moved to the United States from Argentina with his family at the age of four, settling in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...

. He attended

Thunderbird High School Thunderbird High School is a public high school located in northwestern Phoenix, Arizona. The school is a part of the Glendale Union High School District. Feeder schools Some schools in the Washington Elementary School District feed into Thunder ...

and Mountain Sky Middle School, and played youth soccer for the Santos Futbol Clube. Mastroeni attended

North Carolina State University North Carolina State University (NC State, North Carolina State, NC State University, or NCSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1887 and p ...

where he played on the men's soccer team from 1994 to 1997. From 1995 to 1997, he spent the collegiate off season playing for the Tucson Amigos of the

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 ...

Playing career

Professional

In February 1998, the

Miami Fusion Miami Fusion F.C. was an American professional soccer club based in the Miami metropolitan area. The club competed in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team played from 1998 to 2001. Announced in 1997 as one ...

selected Mastroeni in the second round (thirteenth overall) of the

1998 MLS College Draft The 1998 Major League Soccer College Draft was held in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on January 31 and February 1, 1998. The College Draft was followed by the 1998 MLS Supplemental Draft. Format On Saturday, January 31, 1998, Major League Soccer hel ...

. He played four seasons with the Fusion, becoming a regular starter in his second year with the team in either central defense or defensive midfield, and was named to 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 ...

in 2001. The Fusion was contracted after the 2001 season and Mastroeni was the first overall choice of the

2002 MLS Allocation Draft The 2002 Major League Soccer MLS SuperDraft, SuperDraft was held on February 10, 2002 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. One month earlier, MLS had contracted two clubs: Tampa Bay Mutiny and Miami Fusion. In conjunction with the contraction, the lea ...

, going to the

, whom he captained to their first title in 2010. Mastroeni scored his first MLS playoff goal against the Columbus Crew on October 28, 2010. Mastroeni was traded to 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 ...

in June 2013 and retired at the end of the season. In 2021, Mastroeni's #25 was retired by the Colorado Rapids. This was the first number retired by the

International career

Mastroeni earned his first U.S. cap against

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

on June 7, 2001. When

Chris Armas Christopher Armas (born August 27, 1972) is an American professional soccer coach and former player who is the head coach of Major League Soccer club Colorado Rapids. Youth and college Born in The Bronx, New York City, Armas is of Puerto R ...

went out with an injury just weeks prior to the

2002 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 ...

, Mastroeni found himself a starter in the opening game as the U.S. defeated

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

3–2. On January 10, 2005, it was reported that he tore the quadriceps in his left leg and would be out for six to eight weeks. The injury happened while training with the national team. Mastroeni was named to the 2006 U.S. World Cup squad. In a

FIFA World Cup 2006 The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the event in July 2000. Teams represe ...

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 ...

on June 17, Mastroeni was given a red card for an aggressive tackle in the first half. Mastroeni was fined CHF 7,500 and received a three-game suspension, thus missing the last U.S. match of the World Cup and the first two matches of the

2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the ninth edition of the Gold Cup, the soccer championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF), and was won by the United States over Mexico. It was contested in the United States from J ...

. On February 7, 2007, during a friendly between the United States and

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, Mastroeni was the team captain. Mastroeni was called up for the United States' first World Cup qualifying match of 2010 and two third-round matches, and started three of the first five

final round A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

matches for the United States. However, he was not named to the

Confederations Cup The FIFA Confederations Cup was an international association football tournament for men's national teams, held every four years by FIFA. It was contested by the holders of each of the six Continental football championships, continental champions ...

roster nor any of the squads for the final five qualifiers for the United States.

Coaching

Colorado Rapids

2014

Mastroeni was named the interim head coach of the

after Oscar Pareja left for

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The franchise be ...

in January 2014. He was named head coach of the Rapids on March 8, 2014, one week before the 2014 season began. In 2014, Mastroeni and the Rapids experienced the worst Rapids season in the 34 game MLS era. Allowing the most goals in the MLS, 62, the Rapids finished second to last in the Western Conference with 32 points.

2015

2015 was another unsuccessful campaign for Mastroeni. The Rapids ended the season last in the Western Conference and second to last in the overall standings, receiving the second overall pick in the upcoming MLS Superdraft.

2016

During the offseason before the 2016 season, Mastroeni visited London, spending several days watching Arsenal and Tottenham train. While there, he analyzed the coaching styles of Tottenham's

Mauricio Pochettino Mauricio Roberto Pochettino Trossero (born 2 March 1972), also known mononymously by his nickname Poch, is an Argentine professional football manager and former player who is the head coach of the United States men's national team. Pochettin ...

and Arsenal's

Arsène Wenger Arsène Charles Ernest Wenger (born 22 October 1949) is a French former association football, football Manager (association football), manager and football player, player who is currently serving as FIFA's Chief of Global Football Development. ...

, before he traveled to Orlando to attend a supplementary coaching course. Mastroeni helped the Rapids establish a team identity in 2016, a defensive based team which operated out of the 4-2-3-1 formation. This identity helped the Rapids to their best regular season record of all time, with a franchise low 6 losses and a franchise high of 58 points. The team allowed an MLS low 32 goals in 2016. Mastroeni finished second in voting for the annual MLS Coach of the Year award.

2017

In the offseason, Mastroeni signed a three-year contract extension, through 2019. On August 15, Mastroeni was fired as Head Coach and replaced by Steve Cooke.

Houston Dynamo

In 2020, Mastroeni was named as an assistant coach for the

Real Salt Lake

In 2021, Mastroeni was named as an assistant coach for

On August 27, 2021, he was named the interim head coach upon Freddy Juarez's unexpected midseason departure. On December 13, 2021, Mastroeni was named permanent head coach of the club for the 2022 season.

Coaching statistics

Honors

Miami Fusion *

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 ...

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

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 ...

Western Conference (MLS) The Western Conference is one of Major League Soccer's two conferences, along with the Eastern Conference. The division of the conferences broadly follows the path of the Mississippi River from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, with club ...

United States *

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 ...

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

: 2001 *

All-Tournament team:

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mastroeni, Pablo 1976 births Living people 2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2002 FIFA World Cup players 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2006 FIFA World Cup players 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup players American people of Italian descent American men's soccer players Argentine emigrants to the United States Argentine men's footballers Argentine sportspeople of Italian descent Men's association football midfielders Colorado Rapids head coaches Colorado Rapids players CONCACAF Gold Cup–winning players Houston Dynamo FC non-playing staff LA Galaxy players Major League Soccer All-Stars Major League Soccer head coaches Major League Soccer players Miami Fusion draft picks Miami Fusion players MLS Pro-40 players NC State Wolfpack men's soccer players Soccer players from Phoenix, Arizona Footballers from Mendoza, Argentina Tucson Amigos players United States men's international soccer players A-League (1995–2004) players USL League Two players Argentine football managers