Cobi Jones
.jpg) Jones leaving Wellington International Airport | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | New York Cosmos (Associate Director of Soccer) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1988–1991 | UCLA Bruins | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1994–1995 | Coventry City | 24 | (2) |
| 1995–1996 | Vasco da Gama | 4 | (1) |
| 1996–2007 | Los Angeles Galaxy | 306 | (70) |
| Total | 334 | (73) | |
| National team | |||
| 1992–2004 | United States | 164 | (15) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 2008 | Los Angeles Galaxy (interim) | ||
| 2008–2010 | Los Angeles Galaxy (assistant) | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). | |||
Cobi N'Gai Jones (born June 16, 1970) is an American[1] former soccer player and Associate Director of Soccer for New York Cosmos.
As a player, he was a midfielder from 1994 until 2007, starting his career in England with Premier League club Coventry City, before playing for Brazilian side Vasco da Gama. He is one of a significant group of American national team stars who returned from overseas to aid the then new Major League Soccer in 1996, beginning an 11 year spell with the Los Angeles Galaxy. Jones is the all-time leader in caps for the United States national team and a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame.
Following retirement, he served as an assistant coach with the former club Galaxy.
Youth
Jones grew up in Southern California. He played soccer with AYSO starting at age 5 in Westlake, California.[2] After graduating from Westlake High School, Jones emerged as a talented player in college, making the 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.[3]
Club career
After playing in the 1994 World Cup held in the United States, Jones signed with English team Coventry City of the Premier League, where he spent one season. Jones trained with German club FC Köln of the 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.
International career
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 because the nickname used by an Argentine commentator to call him: "Escobillón" ("swab"), due to his bleached dreadlock hairstyle and the similar pronunciation of his name, Is Cobi Jones, and the word "escobillón".
U.S. national team appearances
| National Team | Year | Apps | Starts | Goals | Assists |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | |||||
| 1992 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| 1993 | 30 | 16 | 2 | 5 | |
| 1994 | 23 | 19 | 2 | 0 | |
| 1995 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 4 | |
| 1996 | 14 | 12 | 2 | 0 | |
| 1997 | 14 | 10 | 0 | 1 | |
| 1998 | 15 | 14 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1999 | 8 | 7 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2000 | 16 | 12 | 6 | 9 | |
| 2001 | 10 | 5 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2002 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 1 | |
| 2003 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2004 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 164 | 109 | 15 | 12 | |
U.S. national team goals
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | October 19, 1992 | Riyadh, Saudi Arabia |  Ivory Coast | 2–1 | 5–1 | 1992 King Fahd Cup |
| 2 | March 23, 1993 | San Salvador, El Salvador |  El Salvador | 2–1 | 2–2 | Friendly |
| 3 | October 13, 1993 | Washington, D.C. |  Mexico | 1–1 | 1–1 | Friendly |
| 4 | January 15, 1994 | Tempe, Arizona |  Norway | 2–1 | 2-1 | Friendly |
| 5 | February 18, 1994 | Miami, Florida |  Bolivia | 1–1 | 1–1 | Friendly |
| 6 | June 11, 1995 | Foxborough, Massachusetts |  Nigeria | 3–2 | 3-2 | Friendly |
| 7 | May 26, 1995 | New Britain, Connecticut |  Scotland | 2–1 | 2–1 | Friendly |
| 8 | December 1, 1996 | San Jose, Costa Rica |  Costa Rica | 1–2 | 1-2 | Friendly |
| 9 | January 29, 2000 | Coquimbo, Chile |  Chile | 2–1 | 2–1 | Friendly |
| 10 | February 12, 2000 | Miami, Florida |  Haiti | 3–0 | 3-0 | 2000 Gold Cup |
| 11 | February 16, 2000 | Miami, Florida |  Peru | 1–0 | 1-0 | 2000 Gold Cup |
| 12 | June 3, 2000 | Washington, D.C. |  South Africa | 1–0 | 4-0 | 2000 Nike U.S. Cup |
| 13 | 2–0 | |||||
| 14 | November 15, 2000 | Waterford, Barbados |  Barbados | 4–0 | 4–0 | 2002 World Cup qualifying |
| 15 | September 8, 2004 | Panama City, Panama |  Panama | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2006 World Cup qualifying |
Coaching career
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.
Personal life
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.[5]
On March 11, 2011, Cobi Jones was selected for induction into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.[6]
Honors
United States
- CONCACAF Gold Cup (1): 2002
Los Angeles Galaxy
- CONCACAF Champions' Cup Winner (1): 2000
- MLS Cup Winner (2): 2002, 2005
- MLS Supporters' Shield Winner (2): 1998, 2002
- U.S. Open Cup Winner (2): 2001, 2005
- Major League Soccer Western Conference Champions (5): 1996, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2005
Career statistics
| Club performance | League | Cup | League Cup | Continental | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | ||||||||
References
- ↑ Staff. soccer athletes&f=false "Top Black Soccer Players Discuss The Growing Popularity Of Their Sport", Jet (magazine), July 23, 2001. Accessed March 17, 2012.
- ↑ "AYSO Alum Cobi Jones Elected to National Soccer Hall of Fame". American Youth Soccer Organization. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
- ↑ "Re-colonization at UCLA". Lambda Chi Alpha. Retrieved 3 September 2009.
- ↑ "Cobi JOnes – U.S. Soccer Media Guide". 2013 USMNT Media Guide. Retrieved December 23, 2013.
- ↑ L.A. Galaxy Soccer Star Cobi Jones Weds by Mark Dagostino at people.com, URL accessed October 3, 2009. Archived 10/03/09.
- ↑ "Cobi Jones, Eddie Pope, and Earnie Stewart Elected to National Soccer Hall of Fame Class of 2011". Ussoccer.com. Retrieved 2013-12-27.
External links
- Cobi Jones career stats at Soccerbase
- Cobi Jones Biography at Los Angeles Galaxy official site (English)
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