Paul Caligiuri

Paul Caligiuri

Personal information
Full name	Paul David Caligiuri
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Position(s)	Defender/Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Retired
Youth career
1982–1985	UCLA Bruins
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1986	San Diego Nomads
1987–1988	Hamburg
1988–1990	Meppen
1991	Hansa Rostock
1994–1995	Freiburg
1995	Los Angeles Salsa
1995–1996	→ St. Pauli (loan)
1996	Columbus Crew
1997–2001	Los Angeles Galaxy
International career‡
1984–1997	United States
Managerial career
2002–2005	Cal Poly Pomona (women)
2002–2008	Cal Poly Pomona (men)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 7 April, 2009 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 7 April, 2009

Paul Caligiuri (born May 8, 1964 in Westminster, California) is a retired American soccer player.

Caliguiri's professional career spanned 16 years, during which he played for numerous teams in the United States and Germany, and for the U.S. national team. During his 14 years as a defender and defensive midfielder with the national team, he earned 110 caps and scored five goals.

Caligiuri is best remembered for his game-winning goal widely dubbed the "Shot heard round the world," which he scored in a 1-0 World Cup qualifier victory over Trinidad and Tobago on November 19, 1989. The victory qualified the United States for the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy, its first World Cup berth since 1950. There Caligiuri notched the first World Cup goal for the U.S. national team in 40 years, scoring in a 5-1 defeat against Czechoslovakia. He is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame.

Career

High school and College

After graduating from Walnut High School, Caligiuri attended UCLA from 1982 to 1985. During his four seasons with the Bruins, he was twice named an NCAA All-American. He also captained the Bruins to an NCAA Championship his junior year.

San Diego Nomads

After graduating from UCLA, Caligiuri played the 1986 season with the San Diego Nomads of the Western Soccer Alliance, earning the league's Most Valuable Player award. He was also named the 1986 U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year.

Germany

Caligiuri's rookie professional accomplishments attracted the attention of German Bundesliga club Hamburger SV, who signed him after his appearance in the 1986 FIFA/UNICEF All Star Game. However, he did not manage to break into Hamburger's first team.

In 1988, Hamburger transferred Caligiuri to SV Meppen of the German Second Bundesliga, where he played for two seasons. From Meppen, he moved to FC Hansa Rostock in East Germany, with whom he would win the East German professional championship.

Return to Germany

Following the 1994 World Cup, he returned to Germany to play for Bundesliga club SC Freiburg.

Los Angeles Salsa/St. Pauli

On May 4, 1995, Caliguiri returned to the United States from Germany to sign with the Los Angeles Salsa of the American Professional Soccer League to gain match fitness before the U.S. national team's games that summer. (The Salsa played the season however in the USISL Pro League.) Caligiuri donated his entire salary from the Salsa to the victims of the Oklahoma City bombing^[1]. In August, the Salsa loaned Caligiuri to Bundesliga club FC St. Pauli, where he appeared in 14 games. In January 1996, the team elected not to exercise an option in Caligiuri's contract and allowed him to return to the United States, where he signed with the emergent Major League Soccer.

MLS

Despite a contract clause that dictated he play for his hometown Los Angeles Galaxy, MLS allocated Caligiuri to the Columbus Crew. Caligiuri sued MLS, and after an extended legal battle during his season with the Crew, he was placed with Los Angeles for the 1997 season. He played there until his 2001 retirement, finishing his MLS career with nine goals and 14 assists accumulated during 135 games, including 123 starts.

International

While at UCLA Caligiuri had earned his first cap for the national team, playing October 9, 1984 against El Salvador. Caligiuri eventually tallied 110 appearances for the United States, and scored five goals from his position in the midfield. Perhaps his biggest goal was in a 1989 World Cup qualifier in Trinidad and Tobago that gave the U.S. a 1-0 victory and sent the Americans to the World Cup finals for the first time in a half century.

On March 14, 1990, Caligiuri signed a contract with USSF making him a full time national team member.^[2] He remained on contract with USSF for several years. In 1993, he briefly considered moving to a British or German club after being omitted from the U.S. team's Gold Cup roster, but ultimately chose to dedicate himself to the national team as it prepared for the 1994 World Cup.

Caligiuri was a central figure in the national team from the 1980s through the mid-1990s, and started every U.S. match in both the 1990 and 1994 World Cups. In 1997 he played his final game for the national team.

Caligiuri played with the U.S. Futsal team in 1996, earning four caps and scoring one goal.

Post-Soccer Career

Caligiuri easily found work after retiring as a player, and was appointed head coach of both the men and women's soccer teams at Cal Poly Pomona before the beginning of their 2001 fall seasons, although he did not take over until 2002. He held the women's team's coaching position through the 2005 season and the men's team's coaching position through the end of the 2008 season.

Personal

In 2004, Caligiuri was inducted into the U.S. National Soccer Hall of Fame. He serves as an athlete representative on the board of directors of the United States Soccer Federation.

Caligiuri has two daughters: Ashley, a freshman at Walnut High School, and Kayley, a seventh grader at Suzanne Middle School.

External links

• Cal Poly Bio
• Video of goal versus Trinidad and Tobago
• National Soccer Hall of Fame bio