Chris Armas

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Chris Armas
Personal information
Full name	Chris Armas
Date of birth	August 27, 1972 (age 34)
Place of birth	The Bronx, NY, United States
Height	5'7"
Position	midfielder
Club information
Current club	Chicago Fire
Number	14
Youth clubs
1990-1993	Adelphi
Professional clubs*
Years	Club	Apps (goals)
1994-95 1996-97 1998-	Long Island Rough Riders Los Angeles Galaxy Chicago Fire	- (-) 58 (6) 200 (10)
National team**
1998-	United States	66 (2)
* Professional club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18:18, 29 July 2006 (UTC). ** National team caps and goals correct as of 13 April 2006.

Chris Armas (born August 27, 1972 in The Bronx, New York) is a Puerto Rican-American soccer player, who currently plays defensive midfield for the Chicago Fire of Major League Soccer.

Armas attended Adelphi University from 1990-1993, amassing 17 goals and 15 assists over the four years, and being named an NCAA Division II First Team All-American his senior year. After graduating, Armas played in 1995 for the USISL's Long Island Rough Riders, being selected as a USISL All-Star, before joining Major League Soccer in its inaugural season.

Armas was drafted by the Los Angeles Galaxy in the first round of the 1996 MLS Supplemental Draft, and played a significant role in their first and second seasons. However, the Chicago Fire acquired Armas in a trade for their inaugural 1998 campaign (with Jorge Campos in return for Kevin Hartman and Danny Pena, who the Fire just took from the Galaxy in the Expansion Draft). It was with Chicago that he emerged as an exceptional player. Between 1998 and 2001, Armas was named to the MLS Best XI four consecutive times, his streak only being broken by an unfortunate ACL injury that kept him out of much of the 2002 campaign -- Armas was named to his fifth Best XI after the 2003 MLS season, in addition to being named the MLS Comeback Player of the Year. In ten years in MLS, he totaled 11 goals and 41 assists, plus added four goals and four assists in the playoffs.

Although Armas had five caps for the Puerto Rico national team, none were in official matches, so he was granted a right by FIFA to play for the United States, for whom he made his debut November 6, 1998 against Australia. He has since registered 66 caps. Unfortunately for Armas, he did not break into the squad until soon after the 1998 FIFA World Cup, and his ACL injury came just before the 2002 FIFA World Cup, so he may never play for the United States in the world's most prestigious soccer competition. He was named as a standby player for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, and did not feature in the final squad.

He was named U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year in 2000.

[edit] See also

• List of current MLS players

[edit] External links

• Chris Armas articles on Yanks Abroad

Chicago Fire - Current Squad
1 Mahoney | 2 Brown | 3 Carr | 4 Griffin | 5 Jim Curtin | 6 Capano | 7 Thorrington | 8 Gutierrez | 9 Barrett | 10 Thiago | 12 Pause | 13 Bedrossian | 14 Armas | 15 Johnson | 16 Plotkin | 17 Rolfe | 18 Pickens | 19 Jeff Curtin | 20 Sanneh | 21 Mapp | 23 Guerrero | 24 Thornton | 25 Segares | 26 Herron | 27 Russolillo | 28 Montz | 31 Franks | 32 Robinson | Coach: Sarachan

Persondata
NAME	Armas, Chris
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Professional soccer player
DATE OF BIRTH	August 27, 1972
PLACE OF BIRTH	The Bronx, New York
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH