Jimmy Conrad

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Jimmy Conrad (born 12 February 1977 in Arcadia, California) is an American soccer center back, who currently plays for the Kansas City Wizards of Major League Soccer and the United States national team. He is the captain of the Wizards.

[edit] High School years

Jimmy Conrad attended Temple City High School in Temple City, California and was a four-year letterman in soccer.

[edit] College and Pro Career

Conrad played college soccer at San Diego State in 1994 and 1995, and then transferred to UCLA. While playing for UCLA, he was a member of the 1997 NCAA Championship team. Undrafted by MLS, he signed with the now-defunct San Diego Flash of the A-League, and played there for a season alongside future teammate Joe Cannon. The San Jose Earthquakes brought Conrad to the top division in 1999; he played with the Quakes for four seasons, helping them to the MLS Cup in 2001.

In 2003, because of the salary cap, Conrad was traded to the Wizards for a second-round draft pick, which the Earthquakes used to select Arturo Alvarez. Conrad's stock rose while with Kansas City; never a big scorer, he tallied four goals during his first season (he has ten in his MLS career). In 2004, he helped the Wizards to the US Open Cup as the leader of the league's stingiest defense and was named to the league's Best XI and was a finalist for MLS Defender of the Year Award. He won the award a year later.

Despite rumors of a possible European transfer following the Wizards' disappointing 2006 season, Conrad renewed his contract with the Wizards beginning the 2007 season, and new head coach Curt Onalfo rewarded him the club captaincy.

[edit] International career

Conrad received his first cap for the U.S. national team on 7 July 2005 in a Gold Cup match against Cuba. Less than one year later, Conrad made the U.S. roster for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. In Germany, Conrad came in as a substitute against Italy in the U.S.' 1-1 draw with the eventual champions, and played all 90 minutes against Ghana.

Conrad wrote soccer columns for Sports Illustrated's website for several years before switching to ESPN's Soccernet in 2005. As of 2007, Conrad also serves as a co-host of MLS Radio, a weekly hour-long show, and has hosted several audio and video features during 2007 USMNT training camp for USSoccer.com, the official site of the U.S. Soocer Federation and the national teams. He also hosts a weekly radio show, The Jimmy Conrad Show, about the Wizards with Wizards play-by-play man, Sean Wheelock.

On 20 January 2007, Conrad captained the U.S. national team for the second time, where the U.S. hosted an international friendly with Denmark. The United States won that match 3-1.

On 7 February 2007, in an international friendly with archrivals Mexico held at Glendale, Arizona, Conrad was named the Man of the Match for his stellar defensive and offensive play. Conrad scored his first-ever goal for Team USA in the 52nd minute, off of a Landon Donovan corner kick. Donovan himself would go on to score one of his own in the final ticks, ending the score at 2-0, and continuing the USA's recent dominance at home against Mexico.

[edit] See also

• List of current MLS players

[edit] External links

• Jimmy Conrad current news, pics and bio at San Diego MLS Project
• Articles by Jimmy Conrad on ESPN Soccernet
• Jimmy Conrad articles on Yanks Abroad

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