Jones (left) with Ruud Gullit. |
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Personal information | |||
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Full name | Cobi N'Gai Jones | ||
Date of birth | June 16, 1970 | ||
Place of birth | Detroit, Michigan, United States | ||
Height | 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) | ||
Playing position | Midfielder | ||
Youth career | |||
1988–1991 | UCLA Bruins | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
1994–1995 | Coventry City | 24 | (2) |
1995–1996 | Vasco da Gama | 4 | (0) |
1996–2007 | Los Angeles Galaxy | 305 | (70) |
Total | 333 | (72) | |
National team | |||
1992–2004 | United States | 164 | (15) |
Teams managed | |||
2008–2010 | Los Angeles Galaxy (assistant) | ||
2008 | Los Angeles Galaxy (interim) | ||
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). |
Cobi N'Gai Jones (born June 16, 1970) is a retired American soccer player who is the all-time leader in caps for the United States national team and a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame. He formerly served as an assistant coach with the Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer (MLS), with whom he had been involved as a player and coach since the team's inaugural season in 1996. Jones was one of a significant group of American national team stars who returned from overseas to aid the new American soccer league, coming home after spending half a season at Brazilian club Vasco da Gama.
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Jones grew up in Southern California. After graduating from Westlake High School, Jones emerged as a talented player in college, making the prestigious UCLA soccer team as a non-scholarship player, ultimately becoming one of its most successful soccer-playing graduates. While attending UCLA, Jones was a member of Lambda Chi Alpha, an international fraternity. [1]
After playing in the 1994 World Cup held in the United States, Jones signed with Coventry City of the English Premier League, where he spent one season. Jones trained with FC Köln of the German Bundesliga before joining Brazilian club Vasco da Gama after impressive performances with the U.S. national team in the 1995 Copa America. After only a few months in Brazil, Jones signed with the new Los Angeles Galaxy franchise for Major League Soccer's inaugural season.
Jones's best year with the Galaxy came in 1998, where he was second in MLS with 51 points (19 goals and 13 assists), was named to the MLS Best XI, and was also named U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year. In 2005, he became the last player in MLS to remain with his original team since 1996. Jones announced on March 19, 2007, that he would retire following the season. Jones played his last game with the Galaxy on October 21, 2007. The club retired his number 13 making it the first number retired in MLS history. Jones finished his Galaxy career with 306 appearances and 70 goals, both club records.
Jones is currently the all-time leader of the United States in appearances, with 164 caps as of the end of 2004 (scoring 15 goals). He played for the team in the 1994, 1998, and 2002 FIFA World Cups. He was named to the best XI at the 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup and won with the national team at the 2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup. He also represented his country at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. After playing in the 1995 Copa America he also became a popular player in Latin America, where he is known by the nickname "El escobillón" ("The swab") due to his bleached dreadlock hairstyle and the similar pronunciation of his name, Cobi Jones, and the word "escobillón".
On November 9, 2007, Jones was announced as an assistant coach with the Galaxy under Ruud Gullit. After Gullit's resignation on August 11, 2008, Jones served as the interim head coach until the Galaxy hired Jones's former U.S. national team head coach Bruce Arena.
In January 2011, Jones left the Galaxy to serve as associate director of soccer with the New York Cosmos.
On September 12, 2009, Jones married longtime girlfriend, Kim Reese. Reese, a music consultant and former music executive at New Line Cinema, met Jones in 2003 and began dating him in 2004. The couple was married at the Four Seasons Resort Aviara in Carlsbad, California.[2]
On March 11, 2011, Cobi Jones was selected for induction into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.[3]
Club performance | League | Cup | League Cup | Continental | Total | |||||||
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Season | Club | League | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
USA | League | Open Cup | League Cup | North America | Total | |||||||
1996 | Los Angeles Galaxy | Major League Soccer | 28 | 7 | ||||||||
1997 | 26 | 7 | 4 | 1 | ||||||||
1998 | 24 | 19 | ||||||||||
1999 | 28 | 8 | 1 | |||||||||
2000 | 25 | 7 | 3 | 1 | ||||||||
2001 | 22 | 6 | ||||||||||
2002 | 19 | 3 | ||||||||||
2003 | 28 | 2 | 4 | |||||||||
2004 | 23 | 0 | ||||||||||
2005 | 31 | 3 | ||||||||||
2006 | 27 | 4 | 2 | |||||||||
2007 | 25 | 4 | ||||||||||
Total | USA | 306 | 70 | |||||||||
Career total | 306 | 70 | 14 | 2 |
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