Alan Gordon (soccer)

Alan Gordon

Gordon playing for LA Galaxy March 2015 (Photo: Simon Heseltine)
Personal information
Full name	Alan Eugene Gordon II
Date of birth	(1981-10-16) October 16, 1981
Place of birth	Long Beach, California, United States
Height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Playing position	Forward
Club information
Current team	LA Galaxy
Number	9
Youth career
2000–2001	Yavapai Roughriders
2002–2003	Oregon State Beavers
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2004	Portland Timbers	27	(17)
2004	→ LA Galaxy (loan)	3	(0)
2005–2010	LA Galaxy	96	(16)
2006	→ Portland Timbers (loan)	1	(0)
2010	Chivas USA	9	(1)
2011	Toronto FC	8	(4)
2011–2014	San Jose Earthquakes	64	(18)
2014–	LA Galaxy	22	(7)
National team‡
2012	United States	1	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of April 27, 2015. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of December 17, 2014

Alan Gordon (born October 16, 1981) is an American soccer player who currently plays for LA Galaxy in Major League Soccer.

Career

College

Gordon moved to Gilbert, Arizona in his mid-teens, and played two years of college soccer for Yavapai College, where he scored 39 goals in his two seasons, before attending Oregon State University, where he won All Pac-10 honors twice, and scored 11 goals as a junior and 15 as a senior.

Professional

Upon graduating, Gordon was drafted 53rd overall in the 2004 MLS SuperDraft by Los Angeles Galaxy. He was awarded number 16, but in 2006 changed his number to 21. However, Gordon did not make the team, and signed with the Portland Timbers of the A-League. With the Timbers, Gordon was an instant success, playing 27 games and scoring 17 goals, tying Dante Washington for the league lead, and helped the Timbers finish the regular season with the league's best record. In recognition of his achievement Gordon was named the league's Rookie of the Year, and was a finalist for the MVP Award. After the end of the A-League season, Gordon was loaned back to the Galaxy. During the 2006 season, Gordon saw increased playing time for the Galaxy, scoring 4 goals.

On July 21, 2007 during a friendly with Chelsea, Gordon was pulled for David Beckham's first appearance with the Galaxy in the 78th minute. On April 26, 2008, Gordon scored two goals off the bench in the Galaxy's 5-2 victory over rivals Chivas USA. He finished 2008 with a career year. He scored five goals and seven assists, even though he was not a full-time starter.

In August 2010, he was traded to neighboring Chivas USA for allocation money just one match short of his 100 league appearances with the Galaxy, during which time he notched sixteen goals.^[1] On November 24, 2010, he was selected by Vancouver Whitecaps FC in the 2010 MLS Expansion Draft,^[2] but was immediately traded back to Chivas USA, along with Alejandro Moreno, for allocation money and an international roster spot.^[3]

He was traded to Toronto FC on March 11, 2011 in exchange for Nick LaBrocca.^[4] Gordon made his debut for Toronto on March 26 in a 2-0 home victory against Portland Timbers with both goals coming from Javier Martina.^[5] On April 2 Gordon scored his first goal for Toronto in a 1-1 tie against his former team Chivas.^[6] Gordon had a memorable return to The Home Depot Center on June 11 when he scored 2 goals against The Galaxy in a 2-2 thriller which saw two goals scored in injury time of the second half.^[7]

Following Toronto's designated player signing of Danny Koevermans Gordon became a dispensable asset and was traded along with Jacob Peterson and Nana Attakora to San Jose Earthquakes for Ryan Johnson, allocation money and an international roster spot on July 14, 2011.^[8] Gordon signed a new contract with San Jose in January 2012.^[9] Alan Gordon has had a career best of 13 goals in 23 appearances with the Earthquakes.^[10]

On April 14, 2013, during the 60th minute of a match with the Portland Timbers, Gordon was caught on camera using the word "Faggot" in reference to Portland midfielder Will Johnson. Gordon was suspended for three matches following the incident, in addition to the one-match ban he received for drawing a red card in the 78th minute of the same match.^[11]

Gordon returned once again to Los Angeles when San Jose traded him to the Galaxy on August 11, 2014 in exchange for allocation money.^[12]

International

Gordon earned his first call-up to the United States men's national soccer team on August 13, 2012, in advance of a friendly match against Mexico on August 15. Gordon was again called up in October 2012 to prepare for the final two matches in the semifinal round of qualifying for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. He made his first international appearance on October 12, 2012 as a substitute against Antigua and Barbuda, where he provided a critical assist to Eddie Johnson, who scored a 90th minute game-winning goal.

He was called into the squad for the 2013 Gold Cup, after the USA advanced to the knockout stages. He did not play however, as the USA won the tournament.

Career statistics

As of December 17, 2014

• CCL play for 2013 San Jose has matches played in 2014 but was still the 2013 edition of the tourney

Honors

Team

Portland Timbers

• A-League The Commissioner's Cup (1): 2004

Los Angeles Galaxy

• Major League Soccer MLS Cup (2): 2005, 2014
• Major League Soccer Western Conference Championship (2): 2005, 2009

Toronto FC

• Canadian Championship (1): 2011

San Jose Earthquakes

• Major League Soccer Supporters' Shield (1): 2012

Individual

• Major League Soccer Player of the Week (1): 2013
• A-League Rookie of the Year: 2004
• A-League Top Scorer (1): 2004

See also

• List of current MLS players
• List of current MLS players with national team caps

References

External links

• MLS player profile
• Alan Gordon at National-Football-Teams.com
• Alan Gordon – FIFA competition record

United States squad – 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup Winners (5th title) 1 Rimando 2 Castillo 3 Ashe 4 Orozco 5 Onyewu 6 Corona 7 Beasley (c) 8 Diskerud 9 Gómez 10 Donovan 11 Holden 12 S. Johnson 13 Beltran 14 Beckerman 15 Parkhurst 16 Torres 17 Bruin 18 McInerney 19 Wondolowski 20 Bedoya 21 Goodson 22 Hamid 23 Shea 24 Gonzalez 25 Besler 26 E. Johnson 27 Gordon Coach: Klinsmann