Graham Zusi
{{short description|American soccer player}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2016}}
{{Use American English|date=May 2017}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name = Graham Zusi
| image = Graham Zusi 2022.png
| caption = Zusi with Sporting Kansas City in 2022
| birth_place = Longwood, Florida, United States
| height = {{convert|1.78|m|order=flip}}{{cite web |title=Graham Zusi |url=https://www.sportingkc.com/players/graham-zusi/ |publisher=Sporting Kansas City |access-date=23 August 2022}}
| position = Winger, right-back
| currentclub =
| clubnumber =
| collegeyears1 = 2005–2008
| college1 = Maryland Terrapins
| collegecaps1 = 89
| collegegoals1 = 28
| years1 = 2005
| clubs1 = Central Florida Kraze
| caps1 = 10
| goals1 = 1
| years2 = 2009–2023
| clubs2 = Sporting Kansas City{{efn|The club was known as the Kansas City Wizards prior to rebranding as Sporting Kansas City in 2011}}
| caps2 = 355
| goals2 = 31
| nationalyears1 = 2012–2017
| nationalteam1 = United States
| nationalcaps1 = 55
| nationalgoals1 = 5
| medaltemplates =
{{MedalCountry|{{USA}}}}
{{MedalSport|Men's Soccer}}
{{Medal|Competition|CONCACAF Gold Cup}}
{{medalW|CONCACAF Gold Cup|2017}}
| pcupdate = May 31, 2023
}}
Graham Jonathan Zusi ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|z|uː|s|i}}; born August 18, 1986) is an American former professional soccer player who most recently played as a midfielder or defender for Major League Soccer club Sporting Kansas City. From 2012 to 2023, Zusi represented the United States national team, earning 55 caps and scoring 5 goals.
As of the end of the 2023 season, he was the longest-tenured player to have played with one club in MLS history.
Early life and college
Born in Longwood, Zusi, alongside his siblings, was first coached by his father, David.{{cite news |last1=Tenorio |first1=Paul |title=Graham Zusi's journey to World Cup began in Central Florida |url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/os-xpm-2014-06-04-os-graham-zusi-us-soccer-06505-20140604-story.html |access-date=April 22, 2021 |work=Orlando Sentinel |date=June 4, 2014}} He played high school soccer at Lake Brantley High School.
Zusi played college soccer for the Maryland Terrapins of the University of Maryland, College Park. During his college career with the Terrapins, Zusi played in 89 games, recording 28 goals and 20 assists, and helped Maryland win the National Championship in 2005 and 2008, scoring the game-winning goal in the 2008 National Semi-Final and Championship Games. He graduated with a degree in criminology.{{cite web |author=Nancy Hass |url=http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2013/04/16/hey-zeus-graham-zusi-pressure-replacing-us-soccers-best-ever-player-overlap- |title=Hey Zeus! Graham Zusi & the pressure of replacing US Soccer's best-ever player | OVERLAP Magazine |publisher=MLSsoccer.com |date=April 16, 2013 |access-date=May 4, 2014 |archive-date=January 17, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140117040805/http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2013/04/16/hey-zeus-graham-zusi-pressure-replacing-us-soccers-best-ever-player-overlap- |url-status=dead }}
Club career
During his college years Zusi also played with Central Florida Kraze in the USL Premier Development League.{{cite web|url=http://www.uslsoccer.com/teams/2005/roster/22309.html |title=2005 Central Florida Kraze stats |publisher=Uslsoccer.com |access-date=June 24, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121011071625/http://www.uslsoccer.com/teams/2005/roster/22309.html |archive-date=October 11, 2012 |df=mdy-all }}
=Sporting Kansas City=
Zusi was drafted in the second round (23rd overall) of the 2009 MLS SuperDraft by the Kansas City Wizards. He made his professional debut on March 21, 2009, in Kansas City's first game of the 2009 MLS season against Toronto FC.[http://web.mlsnet.com/scoreboard/game.jsp?match=03212009_TORKC] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090325004732/http://web.mlsnet.com/scoreboard/game.jsp?match=03212009_TORKC|date=March 25, 2009}}
Zusi enjoyed a breakout season in 2011 helping the renamed Sporting Kansas City franchise to an Eastern Conference championship and earning a call-up to the U.S. national team. His efforts were rewarded by Sporting with a new four-year contract announced on February 16, 2012.{{cite web|last=Palmer |first=Tod |url=http://www.kansascity.com/2012/02/16/3434283/sporting-signs-zusi-to-extension.html |title=Sporting signs Zusi to extension |publisher=KansasCity.com |access-date=August 10, 2012}} In the 2012 season he led the league in assists with 15.
During the 2012–13 offseason, Zusi trialed with English Premier League side West Ham United.{{cite web|last=Bailey|first=Graeme|title=West Ham United have taken American international Graham Zusi on trial|url=http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11685/8387169/West-Ham-United-have-taken-American-international-Graham-Zusi-on-trial|publisher=Sky Sports|access-date=May 10, 2013}}
Zusi returned to Sporting Kansas City and became a converted right-back, earning MLS All Star selections in 2016, 2017, and 2018, while helping guide Sporting Kansas City to the 2017 U.S. Open Cup title.
Zusi re-signed with the club for the 2022 season.{{cite web|url=https://www.sportingkc.com/news/sporting-kc-re-signs-seven-time-mls-all-star-graham-zusi|title=Sporting KC re-signs seven-time MLS All-Star Graham Zusi|last=Kovzan|first=Sam|website=SportingKC.com|date=January 13, 2022|access-date=January 14, 2022|language=en}}
Zusi had his contract option declined by the club on December 1, 2023.{{cite web|url=https://www.sportingkc.com/news/sporting-kc-announces-roster-moves-ahead-of-2024-season|title=Sporting KC announces roster moves ahead of 2024 season|last=Kovzan|first=Sam|website=SportingKC.com|date=December 1, 2023|access-date=December 1, 2023|language=en}}
International career
File:Graham Zusi (cropped).jpg
On January 21, 2012, Zusi made his debut for the United States in a 1–0 win over Venezuela in a friendly match. He scored his first international goal on January 25, 2012, in the ninth minute against Panama in a 1–0 victory. Zusi was named to the national team's Hexagonal roster for the February 6, 2013 match against Honduras; he entered the game as a second-half substitute.
On October 15, 2013, Zusi scored a stoppage-time equalizer against Panama in a World Cup qualifier. Though the United States had already qualified, Zusi's goal meant that Mexico would advance to the next round at Panama's expense. As a result, a group of Mexico fans later presented Zusi with a framed photo and plaque with the words San Zusi ("Saint Zusi").{{cite web|last=Edwards|first=Andy|title="Saint" Graham Zusi presented with gifts from fans, radio station for sending Mexico to World Cup playoff|url=http://www.mlssoccer.com/sideline/news/article/2013/10/17/saint-graham-zusi-presented-gifts-fans-radio-station-sending-mexico-world-cu|publisher=MLSSoccer.com|access-date=October 17, 2013|archive-date=October 17, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131017190339/http://www.mlssoccer.com/sideline/news/article/2013/10/17/saint-graham-zusi-presented-gifts-fans-radio-station-sending-mexico-world-cu|url-status=dead}}
On June 16, 2014, in the United States' first game in the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Zusi provided the assist from a corner kick for John Brooks' game-winning goal in the 2–1 victory against Ghana.{{cite news |last1=McDowell |first1=Sam |title='We could taste the second round,' Sporting KC's Matt Besler says of America's World Cup draw with Portugal |url=https://www.kansascity.com/sports/mls/sporting-kc/article599554.html |access-date=April 22, 2021 |work=The Kansas City Star |date=June 22, 2014}} On June 22, 2014, in the United States' second game in the World Cup, Zusi provided the assist for Clint Dempsey's goal in the 2–2 draw against Portugal.
On March 29, 2016, going two years without scoring for the United States, Zusi scored the fourth goal against Guatemala in their campaign to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.{{cite news |title=US back on track in qualifying with 4-0 win over Guatemala |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/soccer/2016/03/29/us-back-on-track-in-qualifying-with-4-0-win-over-guatemala/82408424/ |access-date=April 22, 2021 |work=USA Today |date=March 29, 2016}} Later that year, Zusi scored a late goal for the United States to put them up 4–0 against Costa Rica during the Copa América Centenario. His goal ensured that the 4–0 win over Costa Rica was the largest against Costa Rica in history for the national team.{{cite news |title=US bounces back with 4-0 victory over Costa Rica |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/soccer/2016/06/07/us-bounces-back-with-4-0-victory-over-costa-rica/85690604/ |access-date=April 22, 2021 |work=USA Today |date=June 7, 2016}}
Following the failure to qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup and Bruce Arena's departure, Zusi was not called into the team by Dave Sarachan and Gregg Berhalter.
Career statistics
=Club=
{{updated|match played November 26, 2023}}{{cite web|title=Graham Zusi|url=https://www.sportingkc.com/players/graham-zusi|publisher=Sporting Kansas City|access-date=May 31, 2020}}{{cite web|title=Graham Zusi » Club matches|url=http://www.worldfootball.net/player_summary/graham-zusi/2/|website=WorldFootball.net|access-date=May 2, 2018}}
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competition | |||||||||||
| rowspan="2"|Club
!rowspan="2"|Season !colspan="2"|League !colspan="2"|Playoffs !colspan="2"|National cup !colspan="2"|Continental !colspan="2"|Other !colspan="2"|Total | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| rowspan="2"|Kansas City Wizards
|2009 |13 | 0 | colspan="2"|— | 2 | 0 | colspan="2"|— | colspan="2"|— | 15 | 0 | |||
| 2010
|19 | 1 | colspan="2"|— | 1 | 0 | colspan="2"|— | colspan="2"|— | 20 | 1 | |||
| rowspan="13"|Sporting Kansas City
|2011 |32 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | colspan="2"|— | colspan="2"|— | 39 | 5 | ||
| 2012
|32 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 2 | colspan="2"|— | colspan="2"|— | 39 | 7 | ||
| 2013
|27 | 6 | 5 | 0 | colspan="2"|— | 3 | 0 | colspan="2"|— | 35 | 6 | ||
| 2014
|25 | 5 | 1 | 0 | colspan="2"|— | 5 | 0 | colspan="2"|— | 31 | 5 | ||
| 2015
|25 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | colspan="2"|— | colspan="2"|— | 27 | 2 | ||
| 2016
|21 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | colspan="2"|— | colspan="2"|— | 23 | 2 | ||
| 2017
|24 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | colspan="2"|— | colspan="2"|— | 28 | 0 | ||
| 2018
|34 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | colspan="2"|— | colspan="2"|— | 40 | 2 | ||
| 2019
|27 | 0 | colspan="2"|— | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | colspan="2"|— | 33 | 0 | ||
| 2020
|15Includes three appearances and one goal in the MLS is Back Tournament group stage. | 1 | colspan="2"|— | colspan="2"|— | colspan="2"|— | 2
Appearances in the MLS is Back Tournament knockout stage. | 0 | 17 | 1 | |||
| 2021
|26 | 0 | 2 | 1 | colspan="2"|— | colspan="2"|— | colspan="2"|— | 28 | 1 | |||
| 2022
|21 | 2 | colspan="2"|— | 1 | 0 | colspan="2"|— | colspan="2"|— | 22 | 2 | |||
| 2023
|14 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | colspan="2"|— | colspan="2"|— | 16 | 0 | ||
| colspan="2"|Career total
!355 | 31 | 21 | 1 | 23 | 3 | 13 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 414 | 35 |
=International=
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ Appearances and goals by national team and year | |||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| rowspan="6"|United States
|2012 | 6 | 1 | |
| 2013 | 12 | 2 | |
| 2014 | 10 | 0 | |
| 2015 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2016 | 10 | 2 | |
| 2017 | 12 | 0 | |
| colspan="2"|Total||55||5 |
:Scores and results list United States' goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Zusi goal.
| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ List of international goals scored by Graham Zusi |
| scope="col"|No.
!scope="col"|Date !scope="col"|Venue !scope="col"|Opponent !scope="col"|Score !scope="col"|Result !scope="col"|Competition |
|---|
| 1
|January 25, 2012 |Estadio Rommel Fernández, Panama City, Panama |{{fb|PAN}} |align="center"|1–0 |align="center"|1–0 |
| 2
|October 11, 2013 |Sporting Park, Kansas City, United States |{{fb|JAM}} |align="center"|1–0 |align="center"|2–0 |rowspan="2"|2014 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 3
|October 15, 2013 |Estadio Rommel Fernández, Panama City, Panama |{{fb|PAN}} |align="center"|2–2 |align="center"|3–2 |
| 4
|March 29, 2016 |MAPFRE Stadium, Columbus, United States |{{fb|GUA}} |align="center"|3–0 |align="center"|4–0 |
| 5
|June 7, 2016 |Soldier Field, Chicago, United States |{{fb|CRC}} |align="center"|4–0 |align="center"|4–0 |
Honors
Maryland Terrapins
Sporting Kansas City
- MLS Cup: 2013
- U.S. Open Cup: 2012, 2015, 2017
- Eastern Conference (regular season): 2011, 2012
- Eastern Conference (playoffs): 2013
- Western Conference (regular season): 2018, 2020
United States
- CONCACAF Gold Cup: 2017{{cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/2017/07/27/usmnt-defeats-jamaica-win-concacaf-gold-cup/515273001/|title= U.S. men's national team defeats Jamaica to win CONCACAF Gold Cup|date=July 26, 2017|work=USA Today|accessdate=July 5, 2023}}
Individual
- MLS Breakout Player of the Year: 2011{{cite web |author=Andrew Wiebe |url=http://www.sportingkc.com/news/2011/12/zusi-named-mls-breakout-player-year |title=Zusi named MLS Breakout Player of the Year | Sporting Kansas City |publisher=Sportingkc.com |date=December 20, 2011 |access-date=May 4, 2014 |archive-date=September 24, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924105543/http://www.sportingkc.com/news/2011/12/zusi-named-mls-breakout-player-year |url-status=dead }}
- MLS Best XI: 2012, 2013
- MLS All-Star (7): 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019{{cite web |title=2019 MLS All-Star Roster |url=https://www.mlssoccer.com/all-star/2019/rosters/mls-all-star-team |website=Major League Soccer |access-date=14 July 2019 |archive-date=July 15, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190715014938/https://www.mlssoccer.com/all-star/2019/rosters/mls-all-star-team |url-status=dead }}
- Sporting Kansas City Most Valuable Player: 2012,{{cite web |url=http://www.sportingkc.com/news/2012/10/sporting-kc-announces-2012-team-awards |title=Sporting KC announces 2012 team awards | Sporting Kansas City |publisher=Sportingkc.com |date=October 24, 2012 |access-date=May 4, 2014 |archive-date=February 12, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130212055640/http://www.sportingkc.com/news/2012/10/sporting-kc-announces-2012-team-awards |url-status=dead }} 2013{{cite web |url=http://www.sportingkc.com/news/2013/10/sporting-kc-announces-2013-team-awards |title=Sporting KC announces 2013 team awards | Sporting Kansas City |publisher=Sportingkc.com |date=October 19, 2013 |access-date=May 4, 2014 |archive-date=February 26, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140226235854/http://www.sportingkc.com/news/2013/10/sporting-kc-announces-2013-team-awards |url-status=dead }}
- MLS top assist provider: 2012{{cite web |url=http://www.mlssoccer.com/stats/season?season_year=2012&group=ASSISTS |title=Major League Soccer Statistics}}
- CONCACAF Gold Cup Best XI: 2017{{cite web|url=http://www.goldcup.org/en/best-xi|title=TSG reveals Gold Cup Best XI|website=goldcup.org|access-date=July 8, 2019|archive-date=October 25, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201025193231/https://www.goldcup.org/en/best-xi|url-status=dead}}
See also
Notes
{{Notelist}}
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
- {{MLS player|graham-zusi}}
- {{NFT player|46327}}
{{Navboxes
| title = United States squads
| bg = white
| fg = #002868
| bordercolor = #BF0A30
| list1 =
{{United States squad 2014 FIFA World Cup}}
{{United States squad 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup}}
{{United States squad Copa América Centenario}}
{{United States squad 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup}}
}}
{{Navboxes
| title = Awards
| bg = gold
| fg = navy
| list =
{{NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament MOP}}
{{2012 MLS Best XI}}
{{2013 MLS Best XI}}
{{2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup Team of the Tournament}}
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zusi, Graham}}
Category:American men's soccer players
Category:Maryland Terrapins men's soccer players
Category:Orlando City U-23 players
Category:Sporting Kansas City players
Category:USL League Two players
Category:Major League Soccer players
Category:Major League Soccer All-Stars
Category:Designated Players (MLS)
Category:Sporting Kansas City draft picks
Category:Soccer players from Florida
Category:United States men's international soccer players
Category:2014 FIFA World Cup players
Category:2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup players
Category:Copa América Centenario players
Category:2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup players
Category:Men's association football midfielders
Category:Sportspeople from Seminole County, Florida
Category:People from Longwood, Florida