| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Zach Thornton | ||
| Date of birth | October 10, 1973 | ||
| Place of birth | Edgewood, Maryland, United States | ||
| Height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||
| Playing position | Goalkeeper | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Free Agent | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1993–1994 | Loyola Greyhounds | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1996–1997 | MetroStars | 6 | (0) |
| 1997 | → North Jersey Imperials (loan) | 4 | (0) |
| 1998–2006 | Chicago Fire | 215 | (0) |
| 2004 | → Benfica (loan) | 0 | (0) |
| 2007 | Colorado Rapids | 1 | (0) |
| 2008 | New York Red Bulls | 0 | (0) |
| 2008–2011 | Chivas USA | 60 | (0) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 1994–2001 | United States | 8 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of October 20, 2011. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Zach Thornton (born October 10, 1973 in Edgewood, Maryland) is an American soccer player who most recently played for Chivas USA in Major League Soccer.
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Thornton played high school soccer at The John Carroll School in Bel Air, Maryland, and college soccer at Loyola-Maryland (coincidentally, he was also a third-team All-American at lacrosse), before being drafted by the New York/New Jersey MetroStars in the 7th round of the 1996 MLS Inaugural Player Draft.
With then-former US national keeper and local star Tony Meola entrenched in Metro nets, Zach played only six games during his first two seasons in MLS. In 1997, he played a few games on loan with the North Jersey Imperials of the USISL, whose starting goalie was future Metro and US national teamer Tim Howard.
The Chicago Fire took Thornton in the 1997 MLS Expansion Draft, and his career took off. Beating out Mexican international Jorge Campos for the starting job, Zach lead the expansion Fire to that year's MLS Cup, and was named the league's Goalkeeper of the Year. He spent six years with the Fire, an automatic starter throughout his time there, and frequently at the top of MLS goalkeeping charts. In 2004, Thornton signed a six-month contract with Portuguese club Benfica. He didn't get a single first-team match with them, however, and re-signed with the Fire late in the MLS season. Thornton did not get any playing time, as his former backup Henry Ring had taken hold of the position in Thornton's absence. In 2005 Thornton would reclaim his spot in the Fire's net missing only a few matches due to injury. Thornton was traded to Colorado Rapids on March 2, 2007[1] but was waived at the end of the year. He was subsequently picked up by New York Red Bulls as the team's reserve goalkeeper for 2008.
Thornton was traded to Chivas USA on August 2, 2008.[2]. He and enjoyed an impressive first two seasons with the team, ultimately winning the 2009 Goalkeeper of the Year Award.[3]
Thornton was injured during the 2011 season with Chivas USA and lost his starting role. At season's end, the club declined his 2012 contract option and he entered the 2011 MLS Re-Entry Draft. Thornton was not selected in the draft and became a free agent.
Thornton's first cap with the US national team came in 1994. He backed up Kasey Keller at the 1996 Summer Olympics. Thornton hasn't been able to translate his success in MLS to the international level, collecting only eight caps. On December 22, 2009, Thornton received another call up to play a friendly against Honduras on January 23.
| Preceded by Brad Friedel |
MLS Goalkeeper of the Year 1998 |
Succeeded by Kevin Hartman |