Mark Chung
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Mark Chung (born June 18, 1970 in Toronto, Ontario) is a former American soccer player, who last played left midfield for the San Jose Earthquakes of Major League Soccer.
Before joining MLS, Chung played college soccer for the University of South Florida. In 1995, Chung played with the San Jose Grizzlies of the CISL, being named the league's Rookie of the Year.
Chung was drafted sixth overall by the Kansas City Wiz in the MLS Inaugural Draft, and finished 1996 with eight goals and nine assists. Chung would be a mainstay at Kansas City for the next two years, was named to his first MLS Best XI in 1997, and would lead all of MLS in games played at the end of its first three seasons, with 97. After 1998, Kansas City traded Chung to the MetroStars, with Mike Ammann in exchange for Tony Meola and Alexi Lalas. He would play with the MetroStars for the next three seasons, but was greatly underused by Metro coach Octavio Zambrano. Chung called the role he played with the Metros an "idiot left wing". He was traded again before the 2002 season, this time to the Colorado Rapids in exchange for a draft pick. Chung was very successful with the Rapids, making MLS Best XI's in both 2002 and 2003. However, with a coaching change to Fernando Clavijo in 2005, he became unhappy, and requested a trade. The wish was granted, as Chung was sent to San Jose for an allocation. In ten years of MLS league play, he scored 61 goals and added 76 assists.
Chung retired after the Quakes were moved to Houston after the 2006 season. Upon his retirement, he had played in 278 league matches, one of the highest totals in MLS history.
Despite a significant amount of success in MLS, Chung never had a significant role in the U.S. national team. Chung made his first appearance April 4, 1992 against China, but in total made only 24 appearances, and scored only two goals.
Preceded by first award |
MLS Fair Play Award Winner 1997 |
Succeeded by Thomas Dooley |
Preceded by Alex Pineda Chacón |
MLS Fair Play Award Winner 2002 |
Succeeded by Brian McBride |
Categories: 1970 births | Living people | American soccer players | Canadian soccer players | United States men's international soccer players | Kansas City Wizards players | Colorado Rapids players | MetroStars players | San Jose Earthquakes players | Asian American sportspeople | People from Toronto | Canadian expatriate sportspeople in the United States | University of South Florida alumni