Curt Onalfo
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| Curt Onalfo | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | November 19, 1969 | |
| Place of birth | São Paulo, Brazil | |
| Height | 6'2 | |
| Playing position | defender, coach | |
| Youth clubs | ||
| Rigefield High University of Virginia |
||
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1991-92 1994-95 1995-96 1996 1997 1998-99 |
F.C. La Ciotat Connecticut Wolves Tampico Madero Los Angeles Galaxy San Jose Clash D.C. United |
? (?) ? (?) ? (?) (13 (0) 6 (0) 4 (0) |
| National team | ||
| 1984-1995 | United States | |
| Teams managed | ||
| 2007– | Kansas City Wizards | |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
Curt Onalfo (born November 19, 1969 in São Paulo, Brazil) is a former American soccer player and the current head coach of the Kansas City Wizards in Major League Soccer.
[edit] Playing career
Though born in São Paulo, Onalfo grew up in Ridgefield, Connecticut and played high-school soccer at Ridgefield High School, going on to play four years of college soccer at the University of Virginia under Bruce Arena[1] - an association that would serve him well in his later coaching career.[2]
His first professional experience came at F.C. La Ciotat, in the French fifth division,[3] but a six-month battle with Hodgkin's Disease in 1993 disrupted his career and almost ended his life.[4] After extensive chemotherapy, the cancer went into remission and Onalfo recovered, going on to play for the Connecticut Wolves and then for Tampico Madero of the Mexican second division. He met and married his wife in Tampico and his family still maintain a home there; Onalfo also speaks fluent Spanish.[5] When Major League Soccer began play in 1996, Onalfo was selected by the Los Angeles Galaxy in the inaugural draft and would feature in almost half of the Galaxy's games that year, as well as the first MLS Cup.[6] He went on to play for the San Jose Clash (later the Earthquakes) in the next season, and then for D.C. United in 1998 and 1999, winning the MLS Cup with United in his last year.
In the late 80s and early 90s, Onalfo featured for the US national team on both youth and senior levels, co-captaining the US U-20 national team in the 1989 FIFA World Youth Championship, the gold-medal-winning team of the 1991 Pan American Games,[7] and also the US squad at the 1992 Summer Olympics. In sum, he played over 100 games for the United States at various levels, though he was capped only once for the senior team.[4]
[edit] Coaching career
After retiring, Onalfo continued to work with youth soccer in training, coaching, and technical director roles, as he had done throughout his playing days - for McLean Youth Soccer in Virginia, various teams in Ridgefield, CT, and for his own company, Curt Onalfo Soccer.[4]
His first managerial job in professional soccer came when he was hired as assistant coach to Thomas Rongen - later replaced by Ray Hudson - at D.C. United, a position he occupied from 2001 through 2002.[8] In the latter year, Onalfo left to become an assistant to Bruce Arena during the 2002-2006 stretch of Arena's tenure as coach of the US national team. In 2005, Onalfo was included among the final three candidates for the top job at the Colorado Rapids, eventually being passed over for Fernando Clavijo.[9]
On November 27, 2006, Onalfo was selected by Peter Vermes, technical director of the Kansas City Wizards, as the new head coach for the team, replacing interim coach Brian Bliss. He has indicated that he will urge an attacking style as a coach for the Wizards,[10] who had finished poorly in their previous season and failed to make the playoffs. Onalfo's skill as a communicator, his natural leadership - as evidenced by his captaincy of several US youth squads - his ability at scouting opponents, and his experience in evaluating talent have been cited as important reasons for his selection.[11]
[edit] Notes
- ^ Jones, Grahame L. "Kansas City Wizards hire Onalfo as coach", Los Angeles Times, November 28, 2006, retrieved December 1, 2006.
- ^ Connolly, Marc. "Onalfo Gets His Shot", USsoccerplayers.com, November 27, 2006, retrieved December 3, 2006.
- ^ Josephs, Joey. "Onalfo Becomes Head Coach of KC Wizards", Soccer Scene USA, November 27, 2006, retrieved December 1, 2006.
- ^ a b c "Curt Onalfo" (Bio), Curt Onalfo Soccer, 2004, retrieved December 3, 2006.
- ^ "Pre-Game Notes: U.S. MNT vs. Mexico - Sept. 2, 2005", USsoccer.com, September 2, 2005, retrieved December 3, 2006.
- ^ "MLS Cup History", National Soccer Hall of Fame and Museum, retrieved December 3, 2006.
- ^ Litterer, Dave. "MLS Players Biographies", April 17, 1997, retrieved December 3, 2006.
- ^ "Rapids Narrow List of Final Head Coaching Candidates". ColoradoRapids.com, December 1, 2004, retrieved December 3, 2006.
- ^ Galarcep, Ives. "No more retreads please", ESPNSoccernet, December 24, 2006, retrieved December 3, 2006.
- ^ Falkoff, Robert. "Onalfo Tabbed to Coach Wizards", MLSnet.com, November 27, 2006, retrieved December 3, 2006.
- ^ ASkyler. "Curt Onalfo to Assume Head Coaching Responsibilites of KC Wizards", PaddockTalk, November 27, 2006, retrieved December 3, 2006.
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