Paul Caligiuri
{{short description|American soccer player}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2019}}
{{Use American English|date=April 2017}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name = Paul Caligiuri
| image =
| fullname = Paul David Caligiuri
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1964|3|9}}
| birth_place = Westminster, California, United States
| height = {{height|ft=5|in=11}}
| position = Defensive midfielder
| currentclub =
| collegeyears1 = 1982–1985
| college1 = UCLA Bruins
| years1 = 1986
| clubs1 = San Diego Nomads
| caps1 = 10
| goals1 = 2
| years2 = 1987–1988
| clubs2 = Hamburger SV
| caps2 = 0
| goals2 = 0
| years3 = 1988–1990
| clubs3 = SV Meppen
| caps3 = 45
| goals3 = 1
| years4 = 1991
| clubs4 = Hansa Rostock
| caps4 = 22
| goals4 = 0
| years5 = 1991–1992
| clubs5 = SC Freiburg
| caps5 = 18
| goals5 = 0
| years6 = 1995
| clubs6 = Los Angeles Salsa
| caps6 =
| goals6 =
| years7 = 1995–1996
| clubs7 = → FC St. Pauli (loan)
| caps7 = 15
| goals7 = 0
| years8 = 1996
| clubs8 = Columbus Crew
| caps8 = 25
| goals8 = 3
| years9 = 1997–2001
| clubs9 = Los Angeles Galaxy
| caps9 = 136
| goals9 = 8
| totalcaps = 271
| totalgoals = 14
| nationalyears1 = 1984–1997
| nationalteam1 = United States
| nationalcaps1 = 110
| nationalgoals1 = 5
| manageryears1 = 2002–2005
| managerclubs1 = Cal Poly Pomona (women)
| manageryears2 = 2002–2008
| managerclubs2 = Cal Poly Pomona (men)
| manageryears3 = 2017–
| managerclubs3 = Orange County FC
| medaltemplates = {{Medal|Country|{{USA}}}}
{{Medal|W|CONCACAF Gold Cup|1991}}
{{Medal|RU|CONCACAF Championship|1989}}
{{Medal|3rd|CONCACAF Gold Cup|1996}}
{{MedalSport|Men's Soccer}}
}}
Paul David Caligiuri (born March 9, 1964) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a defensive midfielder.
Caligiuri'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,"{{cite news | last=Robledo | first=Fred J. | title=Kick Start; Ten years later, one goal still means a lot | publisher=The Daily News of Los Angeles | date=November 19, 1999 | url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/KICK+START%3B+TEN+YEARS+LATER,+ONE+GOAL+STILL+MEANS+A+LOT.(Sports)-a083629709 | access-date=December 1, 2007}} 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.
High school and college
Caligiuri was born in Westminster, California. After graduating from Walnut High School, he 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.
Club career
=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.
In 1988, Hamburg transferred Caligiuri to SV Meppen of the German 2. 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. From 1991 to 1992 he played for Second Bundesliga club SC Freiburg.
=Los Angeles Salsa=
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.{{webarchive|date=16 Jul 2011|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716055116/http://www.socceramerica.com/article.asp?Art_ID=948}}
==Loan to St. Pauli==
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.
=Major League Soccer=
Caligiuri returned to the United States, where he signed with the emergent Major League Soccer. Despite Caligiuri's stated position that a contract clause that dictated he play for his hometown Los Angeles Galaxy, MLS allocated Caligiuri to the Columbus Crew.{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-02-09-sp-27088-story.html|title=Plethora of Moves Kept Off-Season Interesting|website=Los Angeles Times |date=February 9, 1997}} During his lone season with the Crew, he scored three goals.
Caligiuri sued Major League Soccer to play for the LA Galaxy, and in March 1997 was placed with Los Angeles for the 1997 season, despite his high salary and the fact that the Galaxy were close to the salary cap.{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-02-09-sp-27088-story.html|title = Plethora of Moves Kept Off-Season Interesting| website=Los Angeles Times |date = February 9, 1997}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/03/24/sports/caligiuri-will-play-for-galaxy.html|title = Caligiuri Will Play for Galaxy|newspaper = The New York Times|date = March 24, 1997}} He played there until his 2001 retirement, finishing his MLS career with nine goals and 14 assists accumulated during 135 games, including 123 starts.
Caligiuri's final professional appearance was in the 2001 U.S. Open Cup Final on October 27, 2001, where the LA Galaxy defeated New England Revolution 2–1 in extra time.
International career
Caligiuri represented the U.S. at the 1983 Pan American Games.{{cite web|url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablesp/panam83det.html|title=Panamerican Games 1983 - Match Details
|website=RSSSF|access-date=2020-04-21}} 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 40 years.
On March 14, 1990, Caligiuri signed a contract with USSF making him a full-time national team member.{{cite web | url = https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE5DF1F31F936A25750C0A966958260 | title = SPORTS PEOPLE: SOCCER; U.S. Federation Signs 2 | date = March 15, 1990 | access-date = February 20, 2011 | work = The New York Times}} 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.
=International goals=
:Scores and results list the United States' goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Caligiuri goal.
| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ List of international goals scored by Paul Caligiuri | ||||||
| scope="col"|No.
!scope="col"|Date !scope="col"|Venue !scope="col"|Opponent !scope="col"|Score !scope="col"|Result !scope="col"|Competition | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| align="center"|1 | May 19, 1985 | Torrance, California | {{fb|TRI}} | align="center"|1–0 | align="center"|1–0 | 1986 World Cup qualifying |
| align="center"|2 | November 19, 1989 | Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago | {{fb|TRI}} | align="center"|1–0 | align="center"|1–0 | 1990 World Cup qualifying |
| align="center"|3 | March 10, 1990 | Tampa, Florida | {{fb|FIN}} | align="center"|1–0 | align="center"|2–1 | Friendly |
| align="center"|4 | June 10, 1990 | Florence, Italy | {{fb|Czechoslovakia}} | align="center"|1–3 | align="center"|1–5 | 1990 World Cup |
| align="center"|5 | May 28, 1995 | Tampa, Florida | {{fb|CRC}} | align="center"|1–1 | align="center"|1–2 | Friendly |
Post-soccer career
Caligiuri 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. Later Caligiuri coached youth soccer for socal reds{{Clarify|reason=Is "socal reds" a proper name to be capitalized?|date=January 2025}} in Irvine, California as well as their UPSL team from 2023 to 2024.{{cite magazine | last=Kennedy | first=Paul | url= https://www.si.com/soccer/2008/11/05/caligiuri-calpoly | title=Caligiuri quits as Cal Poly Pomona coach | date=November 5, 2008 | magazine=Sports Illustrated | publisher=Soccer America | access-date=November 5, 2008}}{{Failed verification|date=January 2025}}
Personal life
In 2004, Caligiuri was inducted into the U.S. National Soccer Hall of Fame.{{Cite web |title=Paul Caligiuri - 2004 Inductee {{!}} National Soccer Hall of Fame |url=http://www.nationalsoccerhof.com/players/paul-caligiuri.html |access-date=2023-12-18 |website=Paul Caligiuri - 2004 Inductee {{!}} National Soccer Hall of Fame |language=en}} He serves as an athlete representative on the board of directors of the United States Soccer Federation. Caligiuri coached a BU-19 and GU-14 team for California Football Academy in Mission Viejo, California. He is currently an Area Director for the Pateadores Soccer Club. He is also the Head Coach for the Orange County Football Club, Men's Semi-Pro soccer team in the NPSL (National Premier Soccer League). This was OCFC's first season in the league where they ended the season in a 1–0 loss in the Western Conference Final of the NPSL.
See also
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.slate.com/id/2168476/slideshow/2168583/fs/0//entry/2168578/ Video of goal versus Trinidad and Tobago]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20090912103847/http://national.soccerhall.org/famers/Paul_Caligiuri.htm National Soccer Hall of Fame bio]
{{Navboxes
|title= United States squads
|bg= white
|fg= #002868
|bordercolor= #BF0A30
|list1=
{{United States football squad 1988 Summer Olympics}}
{{United States squad 1990 FIFA World Cup}}
{{United States squad 1991 CONCACAF Gold Cup}}
{{United States squad 1992 King Fahd Cup}}
{{United States squad 1993 Copa América}}
{{United States squad 1994 FIFA World Cup}}
{{United States squad 1995 Copa América}}
{{United States squad 1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup}}
}}
{{Navboxes
|title= Awards
|bg=gold
|fg=navy
|list1=
{{US Soccer Athlete}}
{{SACTCM}}
{{Soccer America Men's Player of the Year navbox}}
{{NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament MOP}}
{{National Soccer Hall of Fame members}}
}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Caligiuri, Paul}}
Category:Sportspeople from Westminster, California
Category:Soccer players from Orange County, California
Category:All-American college men's soccer players
Category:1990 FIFA World Cup players
Category:1991 CONCACAF Gold Cup players
Category:1992 King Fahd Cup players
Category:1993 Copa América players
Category:1994 FIFA World Cup players
Category:1995 Copa América players
Category:1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup players
Category:CONCACAF Gold Cup–winning players
Category:American men's soccer players
Category:American men's futsal players
Category:American soccer coaches
Category:American expatriate men's soccer players
Category:American expatriate men's soccer players in Germany
Category:American people of Italian descent
Category:Expatriate men's footballers in East Germany
Category:UCLA Bruins men's soccer players
Category:Nomads Soccer Club players
Category:FC Hansa Rostock players
Category:Los Angeles Salsa U-23 players
Category:Columbus Crew players
Category:FIFA Men's Century Club
Category:Men's association football defenders
Category:Men's association football midfielders
Category:Men's association football utility players
Category:Footballers at the 1988 Summer Olympics
Category:National Soccer Hall of Fame members
Category:Olympic soccer players for the United States
Category:United States men's international soccer players
Category:USL Second Division players
Category:Western Soccer Alliance players
Category:2. Bundesliga players
Category:Major League Soccer players
Category:Pan American Games competitors for the United States
Category:Footballers at the 1983 Pan American Games
Category:United States men's under-20 international soccer players
Category:Columbus Crew draft picks
Category:California State Polytechnic University, Pomona alumni
Category:California State Polytechnic University, Pomona faculty
Category:People from Walnut, California
Category:College men's soccer coaches in the United States
Category:College women's soccer coaches in the United States
Category:United Premier Soccer League coaches
Category:American expatriate sportspeople in West Germany
Category:Expatriate men's footballers in West Germany