David Wagner (soccer)

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David Wagner
Personal information
Full name	David Wagner
Date of birth	October 10, 1971 (1971-10-10) (age 36)
Place of birth	Germany
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Retired
Youth clubs
	SV Geinsheim
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1990-1991 1991-1995 1995-1997 1997-1999 1999 1999-2002 2002-2004 2004-2005	Eintracht Frankfurt FSV Mainz Schalke 04 FC Gütersloh SV Waldhof Mannheim SV Darmstadt 98 TSG Weinheim Germania Pfungstadt	01 0(0) 94 (19) 29 0(2) 49 0(7) 05 0(0) 76 (21)
National team2
1996–1998	United States	08 0(0)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 24 November 2006. 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 24 November 2006. * Appearances (Goals)

David Wagner (born October 10, 1971) is a U.S / German soccer player born to an American father and a German mother.

Wagner grew up in Germany, playing soccer from a young age. He eventually found himself playing at Schalke 04 with Thomas Dooley, who, like Wagner, had an American father and German mother and grew up in Germany.

On the recommendation of Dooley, Steve Sampson brought Wagner into the US national team in 1996 despite never having never seen him play. Wagner had a U.S. passport, but had played for Germany’s U-18 and U-21 teams. This gave him additional credibility with Sampson but posed a problem as he could be considered ineligible to play for the United States.

In April 1997, after Canada lost to the U.S. in a World Cup qualifying match in which Wagner played, the Canadian Soccer Federation complained to FIFA that Wagner should be ineligible to play for the U.S. based on his appearances for Germany's youth teams. On May 2, 1997, FIFA announced that Wagner was eligible to play for the U.S. because his games with the German teams were exhibitions, not official matches.^[1]

[edit] National team appearances

August 30, 1996 United States 3-1 El Salvador 1990 FIFA World Cup Qualifier

March 16, 1997 United States 3-0 Canada 1990 FIFA World Cup Qualifier

March 23, 1997 Costa Rica 3-2 United States 1990 FIFA World Cup Qualifier

April 20, 1997 United States 2-2 Mexico 1990 FIFA World Cup Qualifier

June 17, 1997 United States 2-1 Israel

June 29, 1997 El Salvador 1-1 United States 1990 FIFA World Cup Qualifier

March 14, 1998 United States 2-2 Paraguay

April 22, 1998 Austria 0-3 United States

[edit] Notes

FIFA rules Wagner eligible for U.S. team.