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Curated playlist

Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States

  • Lionel MessiLionel Messi's first Barcelona contract was written on a paper napkin. He was 13 at the time.
  • Wayne RooneyWayne Rooney was five days short of his 17th birthday when he scored the goal that made his name. On the 19th of October 2002, his last-minute strike for Everton beat Arsenal and ended their run of 30 matches without defeat. It also made…
  • Gerd MüllerGerd Müller scored 68 goals in 62 games for West Germany. He averaged more than one goal per game for eight years.
  • Thierry HenryThierry Henry was thirteen years old in 1990 when a Monaco scout named Arnold Catalano went to watch him play. Henry's team won 6-0, and Henry scored every one of the six goals. Catalano did not ask for a trial. He asked the boy to join…
  • Władysław Żmuda (born 1954)Władysław Żmuda played 21 matches across four FIFA World Cup finals, a total matched only by Uwe Seeler and Diego Maradona. Only five men in the sport's history played more: Lionel Messi, Lothar Matthäus, Miroslav Klose, Paolo Maldini and…
  • David BeckhamSir David Beckham became something of a household name on the 17th of August 1996, the opening day of the Premier League season, with a single shot from 57 yards. Manchester United were already 2-0 up against Wimbledon when Beckham noticed…
  • Luis SuárezLuis Suárez, the Uruguayan striker born on the 24th of January 1987, was sent off at the 2010 World Cup and still found a way to watch the penalty that followed. Late in extra time against Ghana, he had used his hands to stop a header that…
  • PeléAt 17, Pelé passed out on the field after scoring twice in the 1958 World Cup final. His teammate Garrincha revived him.
  • EusébioPortugal trailed North Korea 0-3, then Eusébio scored four goals. Portugal won that 1966 World Cup quarter-final 5-3.
  • RomárioRomário told reporters he would finish Uruguay, then scored both goals in a 2-0 win.
  • Jürgen KlinsmannJürgen Klinsmann scored sixteen goals in one match at age eight. He later lifted a World Cup with West Germany.
  • James RodríguezJames Rodríguez chested down a high ball and volleyed it in at the 2014 World Cup. It won the FIFA Puskás Award.
  • Franz BeckenbauerFranz Beckenbauer won the World Cup as a captain, then again as a manager.
  • Hristo StoichkovHristo Stoichkov led an underdog Bulgaria past defending champions Germany at the 1994 World Cup.
  • Lothar MatthäusIn the 1986 World Cup final, Lothar Matthäus was assigned to mark Diego Maradona personally.
  • Teófilo CubillasAt 20, Peruvian midfielder Teófilo Cubillas was named Pelé's successor by Pelé himself.
  • Rafael MárquezRafael Márquez is the only defender to captain a team at five World Cups. The Mexican played in 2002 through 2018.
  • VaváVavá scored in two World Cup finals in a row, and no one else did it for sixty years.
  • Zlatan IbrahimovićIn March 2018, the Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimović paid for a full-page advertisement in the Los Angeles Times. It carried his signature and a single short message: 'Dear Los Angeles, you're welcome.' He had just signed for LA Galaxy,…

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