Mike Sorber

Mike Sorber

Personal information
Full name	Michael Steven Sorber
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Position(s)	Midfielder

Mike "Sorbs" Sorber (born June 14, 1971 in Florissant, Missouri) is a retired American soccer defensive midfielder and current assistant coach to the U.S. national team. He was a member of the U.S. national team at the 1994 FIFA World Cup. He earned a total of sixty-seven caps, scoring two goals, with the national team, from 1992 to 1998.

Youth and college

Sorber's father, Pete "Sorbs" Sorber was the head coach of the St. Louis Community College-Florissant Valley soccer team for 30 years. During those years, he led the college to 10 National Junior College Athletic Association national championships. Under his father’s tutelage, Mike developed into a polished youth player. He played boy’s soccer at St. Thomas Aquinas-Mercy High School where he was part of two state championship teams in 1985 and 1988. His senior year, he was honored as part of the All-Great Midwest Conference team and was the North MVP at the St. Louis North-South High School Senior All Star Game.^[1] After graduating from high school in 1989, Sorber played NCAA soccer with the Saint Louis University men’s soccer team. He was part of the Billikins’ 1991 Final Four appearance in the NCAA tournament and was a 1992 Hermann Trophy finalist. He ended his career at St. Louis with 13 goals and 29 assists. While he finished his college playing career in 1992, Sorber continued to work on his college education and graduated in 1994 with a bachelor’s degree in communications with a minor in criminal justice.

National team

Sorber earned his first cap with the national team in January 25, 1992 loss to the Commonwealth of Independent States team. He would go on to earn a total of 67 caps, scoring 2 goals with the national team. He has a mixed reputation from his time with the national team. He played a position typically associated with hard-tackling physicality with a polished smoothness and a preppy demeanor – he tended to play with his jersey collar turned up. As such he has been consistently underrated. However, Bora Milutinovic, coach of the United States’s 1994 FIFA World Cup team said, “When you analyze the World Cup, Sorber was probably our MVP. It is difficult for me to explain what I feel about him. He is disciplined and intelligent.” Milutinovic felt so highly of Sorber that he started all four U.S. games in that cup. He played his last game in a 1998 tie with Paraguay. Although named as an alternate for the 1998 FIFA World Cup team, he was not chosen for it and did not play in the games.

UNAM Pumas

After the 1994 World Cup, Sorber moved to Mexico to play first division soccer with the UNAM Pumas. He played two seasons with the Pumas and became the first U.S. player to be named a Mexican All Star.

MLS

In 1996, Sorber signed a contract with the newly established Major League Soccer (MLS). MLS allocated Sorber to the Kansas City Wiz. However, he played only a single season with the Wiz before being traded to the MetroStars for Damian Silvera on February 1, 1997.

Sorber played three years with the MetroStars. However, the team made the playoffs only in 1998. The MetroStars waived Sorber on February 21, 2000. The New England Revolution claimed Sorber, but traded him to the Chicago Fire during the 2000 preseason for Chicago’s fourth round 2001 draft pick. Sorber played only one year with the Fire, helping it win the Central Division title and reach the MLS Cup final. In five years in the league, he scored nine goals and added 17 assists, plus a goal and five assists in the playoffs.

Coaching

Mike Sorber retired from playing professional soccer in February 2001 and moved to Saint Louis University, where he joined the Billikens as their assistant coach.

Mike Sorber is currently an assistant coach for the U.S. Men's National Team. He was named to the position by head coach Bob Bradley in May, 2007.