Cobi Jones
Cobi Jones (left) and Ruud Gullit leaving Wellington International Airport | |||
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Cobi N'Gai Jo | ||
Height | 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) | ||
Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
Team information | |||
Current team | Los Angeles Galaxy | ||
Number | 13 | ||
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 3 December, 2006 |
Cobi Jones (born June 16, 1970 in Detroit, Michigan) is a former American midfielder now an assistant coach for Major League Soccer team Los Angeles Galaxy.
Jones is currently the all-time leader of the United States men's national team in appearances, with 164 caps as of the end of 2004 (scoring 15 goals). He played for the team in the 1994, 1998, and 2002 FIFA World Cups. He won with the National team at the 2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup. He also represented his country at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.
Jones currently plays for the Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer, with whom he has been since the team's inaugural season in 1996. He was one of a significant group of American national team stars who returned from overseas to aid the new American soccer league, coming home after playing half a season at Brazilian club Vasco da Gama. Before joining them, Jones had played one season with Coventry City of the English Premier League and had trained with FC Köln of the Bundesliga. Jones had emerged as a talented player in college, making the prestigious UCLA soccer team as a non-scholarship player, but ultimately becoming one of its most successful soccer-playing graduates. While attending UCLA, Jones was a member of Lambda Chi Alpha, an international fraternity.
Jones's best year with the Galaxy came in 1998, where he was 2nd in MLS with 51 points (19 goals and 13 assists), was named to the MLS Best XI, and was also named U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year. In 2005, he became the last player in MLS to remain with his original team since 1996.
As of the start of the 2007 season, Jones had scored 66 goals and registered 86 assists in MLS regular season play. His playoff contributions included six goals and 13 assists. Jones announced on March 19, 2007 that he would retire following the season.
Jones played his last game with the L.A Galaxy on October 21, 2007. The Galaxy retired his number 13 making it the first number retired in MLS history. On November 9, 2007 Jones was announced as an assistant coach with the L.A. Galaxy under Ruud Gullit.
See also
External links
- Cobi Jones at Soccerbase
- Cobi Jones Biography at Los Angeles Galaxy official site Transclusion error: {{En}} is only for use in File namespace. Use {{lang-en}} or {{in lang|en}} instead.
- 1970 births
- Living people
- African American sportspeople
- American soccer players
- Premier League players
- Coventry City F.C. players
- FIFA World Cup 1994 players
- FIFA World Cup 1998 players
- FIFA World Cup 2002 players
- Footballers at the 1992 Summer Olympics
- Los Angeles Galaxy players
- Club de Regatas Vasco da Gama players
- Olympic soccer players of the United States
- People from Detroit
- UCLA Bruins soccer players
- University of California, Los Angeles alumni
- United States men's international soccer players
- FIFA Century Club
- Expatriate footballers in Brazil