Zak Ibsen

Zak Ibsen

Personal information
Date of birth	June 2, 1972 (1972-06-02)
Place of birth	Santa Clara, California, United States
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Playing position	Defender
Youth career
1990–1992	UCLA Bruins
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1993	1. FC Saarbrücken II	0	(0)
1994	VfL Bochum II	0	(0)
1994	Los Angeles Salsa
1995	Hawaii Tsunami
1995	Tampa Bay Terror (indoor)	9	(2)
1995–1996	Baltimore Spirit (indoor)	17	(10)
1996	New England Revolution	6	(0)
1996	Dallas Burn	16	(1)
1997	California Jaguars	15	(1)
1998	Chicago Fire	27	(0)
1999–2000	Los Angeles Galaxy	50	(3)
2001–2002	San Jose Earthquakes	41	(2)
National team
1992–1996	United States	3	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Zak Ibsen (also known as Zack) (born June 2, 1972 in Santa Clara, California) is a retired American soccer player who last spent six seasons in Major League Soccer. He earned three caps with the United States men's national soccer team and was a member of the U.S. soccer team at the 1992 Summer Olympics. Recently he has been known for playing for the USA's beach soccer team, scoring at the 2007 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup.

Youth and college

According to his club biography, Ibsen won a McGuire Cup title as a youth player.^{[citation needed]} He then played college soccer at UCLA where he won a National Championship in 1990.^[2] Ibsen graduated with a bachelor's degree in political science in 1993.

Early career

Like many Americans at the time, before the advent of MLS, Zak played professional soccer in Germany for VfL Bochum II and Saarbrücken II during the 1993-1994 season. However, he never gained a spot on their first teams. He returned to the U.S. in 1994 and signed with the Los Angeles Salsa of the American Professional Soccer League. On October 17, 1995, Ibsen signed with Major League Soccer. As he waited for the first MLS season in 1996, Ibsen signed with the Tampa Bay Terror of the National Professional Soccer League for the 1995-1996 season. He played nine games before being traded to the Baltimore Spirit on January 17, 1996 in exchange for John Garvey.

MLS

Zak was the 26th pick in the 1996 MLS Supplemental Draft by the New England Revolution. He played six games, then was traded to the Dallas Burn for John Kerr, Jr. on June 26, 1996. Ibsen played out the year with Dallas before announcing his retirement on February 1, 1997. He spent 1997 on the beach soccer circuit and played for the California Jaguars of the USISL A-League. In 1998, Ibsen signed with the Chicago Fire. Then he would win his first MLS Cup where he would play in 27 regular-season games for the Fire, starting five.

On February 18, 1999, the Fire traded Ibsen to the Los Angeles Galaxy for a second-round choice in the 2001 MLS SuperDraft. The Galaxy traded Ibsen to the San Jose Earthquakes on February 4, 2001. With the Quakes, he would win his second MLS Cup. At the end of the 2002 season, Ibsen was placed on waivers.

National teams

Ibsen entered the national team program with the United States U-20 men's national soccer team in 1990. That year, the team finished third in regional qualification for the 1991 FIFA World Youth Championship. As a result, it did not qualify for the championship. In 1991, Ibsen joined the U-23 national team which qualified for the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. The U.S. finished 1-1-1 in the first round of the tournament and did not qualify for the second round.

Ibsen earned three caps with the US national team. He gained his first cap when he replaced Lawrence Lozzano at halftime in a 2-2 tie with Uruguay on March 25, 1996. He played a 1-0 loss to Belgium a month later. He did not play again for the U.S. until he was called into the team as a replacement when the first team went on strike in October 1996. On October 16, 1996, the U.S. lost to Peru, 4-1.^[3]

In 1995 Ibsen was with the United States national beach soccer team which won the Silver Medal at the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup.

External links

• New England Revolution profile