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Eric Lichaj

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Eric Lichaj
Personal information
Full name Eric Joseph Lichaj[1]
Date of birth (1988-11-17) November 17, 1988 (age 35)
Place of birth Downers Grove, Illinois, United States
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Position(s) Defender
Team information
Current team
 Aston Villa
Number 30
Youth career
2003–2005 IMG Soccer Academy
2006 North Carolina Tar Heels
2007–2008 Aston Villa
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006 Chicago Fire Premier 4 (0)
2008– Aston Villa 5 (0)
2009 → Lincoln City (loan) 6 (0)
2010 → Leyton Orient (loan) 9 (1)
2011 → Leeds United (loan) 16 (0)
International career‡
2010– United States 8 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 19 June 2011
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 22 June 2011

Eric Joseph Lichaj (born November 17, 1988) is an American soccer player who plays for Aston Villa. Lichaj also plays for the United States men's national team. He started his youth career playing for Chicago Magic and participated in the youth residency program at IMG Soccer Academy. He later played college soccer for the North Carolina Tar Heels. After only one year at the University of North Carolina, Lichaj left America to sign with Aston Villa. Lichaj is also renowned for having a long throw in.

Club career

Eric Lichaj was born as the third son of Stan and Ann Lichaj, both from Nowy Targ, Poland.[2] He also has two older brothers, Andrew and Mark Lichaj. He joined the soccer residency program in Bradenton, Florida at the age of 14.[2] He began his youth career with the Downers Grove Roadrunners, later playing with Chicago Magic, and then spent one year at the University of North Carolina.[3] He also played four games for the Chicago Fire Premier of the USL Premier Development League.[4] After his freshman season, he signed with Aston Villa of England's Premier League. Lichaj holds a Polish passport, making a work permit unnecessary.[5]

Aston Villa

Lichaj featured in all but two of Villa's Reserve matches during the 2008–09 season.[6] During the 2009–10 preseason, he was selected in the squad for the 2009 Peace Cup and showed glimpses of his potential during the tournament.[7] However, this did not immediately translate into playing time for the first team, and Lichaj was loaned out to League Two club Lincoln City in order to gain first-team experience. He played two games for City before signing a one-month loan extension.[8] Later in the season, Lichaj again went on a month-long loan, that time to League One side Leyton Orient.[9] He scored the first professional goal of his career for Leyton Orient against Stockport County on April 17, 2010.

Lichaj scored his first goal for Aston Villa on July 19, 2010, in a pre-season friendly against Peterborough United. Following a successful pre-season campaign, he signed a new three-year contract with the club on August 11, 2010.[10] He made his competitive debut for Villa on August 19, 2010, in a 1–1 draw in a Europa League qualifying match away to Rapid Vienna.[11] He made his Premier League debut for the Villans on 10 November 2010 against Blackpool.[12] Lichaj made his first start for Aston Villa on December 11, 2010 in a 2–1 win against local rivals West Bromich Albion. He also started for Villa at right back against Tottenham Hostpur where he put in an impressive performance against in-form Spurs winger Gareth Bale.

Lichaj scored his first competitive goal for the Aston Villa first team in a 2–0 win over Hereford United on August 23, 2011 in the League Cup.

Leeds United (loan)

On February 9, 2011, Lichaj joined Leeds United on a one-month loan deal.[13] Lichaj made his Leeds début in a 2–0 victory against Bristol City.[14] On March 14, Leeds extended Lichaj's loan for the rest of the season. [15] He scored an own goal in Leeds' match against Yorkshire rivals Sheffield United, the match ended 2–0 to Sheffield. After playing all his games at right back in place of the injured Paul Connolly, Lichaj was moved to left back when George McCartney was out injured.[16] On 9 May, Lichaj played the last game of his Leeds United loan spell in Leeds' 2–1 over Queens Park Rangers.[17] Leeds announced on their official website that Lichaj would be returning to his parent club Aston Villa at the end of his loan spell.[18] After his loan expired, Lichaj revealed that he would like to rejoin Leeds the following season to help them earn promotion to the Premier League.[19]

After impressing during his loan spell, in July 2011 Leeds manager Simon Grayson revealed he was interested in re-signing Lichaj on loan, as long as new Aston Villa manager Alex McLeish didn't see Lichaj in his first team plans.[20][21] However, Lichaj went on to score his first goal for Aston Villa in their 2–0 win over Hereford in the League Cup on 23 August 2011.[22]

International career

Lichaj has been involved with various U.S. youth teams. He helped his country qualify for the 2005 FIFA U-17 World Championship. He was also named in the United States U-20 squad for the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup, although he missed out due to injury. He was called into the senior team as a "guest" for the camp preceding two World Cup qualifiers in June 2009.[23] Lichaj received his first call-up to the senior team in October 2010 and was included in the squad for the friendlies against Poland and Colombia.[24] Lichaj collected his first cap on October 12, 2010 in the friendly against Colombia.[25] On 17 November 2010, Lichaj gained his second cap when he started for USA against South Africa. On 21 March 2011, Lichaj received a call up to the USA national side for the games against Argentina and Paraguay.[26] He was named in his nation's 2011 Gold Cup squad. After sitting on the bench for the first two Gold Cup matches, Lichaj played all 90 minutes of the last four, including the 4-2 loss in the finals against Mexico.

References

  1. ^ "List of Players under Written Contract Registered Between 01/10/2009 and 31/10/2009" (PDF). The Football Association. Retrieved 2010-01-11.
  2. ^ a b Armour, Nancy (6 October 2010). "Timing is perfect for Lichaj's first US call-up". Associated Press. CBS Chicago. Retrieved 6 October 2010.
  3. ^ "Player bio: Eric Lichaj". tarheelblue.cstv.com. Retrieved 23 January 2010.
  4. ^ "Chicago Fire Premier: 2006 roster". uslsoccer.com. Retrieved 25 February 2011.
  5. ^ Ubha, Ravi (30 November 2008). "Lichaj making his mark in the reserves". ESPNsoccernet. Retrieved 28 July 2010.
  6. ^ "Eric Lichaj". Aston Villa F.C. Retrieved October 3, 2010.
  7. ^ "Player Database – Eric Lichaj". yanks-abroad.com. Retrieved 23 January 2010.
  8. ^ "Lincoln extend Villa duo's loans". BBC Sport. 23 November 2009. Retrieved 23 January 2010.
  9. ^ "Villa Defender Becomes Deadline Day Arrival No. 2". Leyton Orient F.C. 25 March 2010. Retrieved 25 March 2010.
  10. ^ "Lichaj pens new three-year contract". Aston Villa F.C. 11 Aug 2010. Retrieved October 3, 2010.
  11. ^ Stevenson, Jonathan (2010-08-19). "Rapid Vienna 1 – 1 Aston Villa". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2010-08-19.
  12. ^ http://espn.go.com/sports/soccer/news/_/id/5789271/us-midfielder-maurice-edu-leaves-rangers-match-stretcher
  13. ^ "Deal Done For Premier League Defender". February 9, 2011.
  14. ^ http://www.leedsunited.com/news/20110212/bristol-city-live_2247585_2290570
  15. ^ "American Lichaj extends Leeds loan from Villa". CNN. 14 March 2011.
  16. ^ http://www.leedsunited.com/news/20110422/dominant-united-held-at-home_2247585_2344644
  17. ^ http://www.leedsunited.com/news/20110507/united-upset-the-champions_2247585_2354038
  18. ^ http://www.leedsunited.com/news/20110509/loan-men-say-farewell_2247585_2356329
  19. ^ Sky Sports http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11688_6937268,00.html. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  20. ^ Sky Sports http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11677_7023180,00.html. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  21. ^ http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/sport/leeds-united/latest-whites-news/leeds_united_grayson_in_lichaj_talks_1_3565219
  22. ^ "Aston Villa 2 - 0 Hereford". BBC. 23 August 2011. Retrieved 24 August 2011.
  23. ^ Goff, Steve (May 24, 2009). USA Roster Announced "USA Roster Announced". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 4, 2010. {{cite news}}: Check |url= value (help)
  24. ^ "Lichaj earns first USA senior call-up for friendly double header". Aston Villa F.C. 1 Oct 2010. Retrieved October 3, 2010.
  25. ^ "U.S. Men's National Team Finishes October Camp with a Scoreless Draw Against Colombia at PPL Park". United States Soccer Federation. October 13, 2010. Retrieved October 13, 2010.
  26. ^ http://www.leedsunited.com/news/20110321/two-more-set-for-international-duty_2247585_2320791
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