Player Bio

Conor Casey

U.S. National Team: MNT
Position: Forward
Date Of Birth: July 25, 1981
Height: 6-1
Weight: 185
Hometown: Gilpin, Colo.
Club: Colorado Rapids

Strong and physical with a deceptively deft touch, Casey has a good nose for the goal. After injuries stunted his national team career, the striker’s move back to MLS from Germany also began his resurgence on the international scene. Appearing in late 2008 after a nearly three-year absence, Casey punctuated his return by scoring his first two international goals in fine fashion, leading the U.S. back from a one-goal deficit in Honduras that culminated in a 3-2 victory and a ticket to the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Starting his professional career in Germany, he had a brief spell at Toronto FC before heading to Colorado and developing into a prolific goal scorer.

Made three appearances in the 2010 qualifying campaign, with two coming in the final round
Played in a career high eight games for the full team in 2009, including four starts
Earned nominations for Best Clutch Moment and Best Performance for the 2009 U.S. Soccer Best Of awards for the effort against Honduras
Voted the Colorado Rapids Most Valuable Player in 2009 along with being named to MLS Best XI and MLS All-Star team

U.S. Nat’l Team
Professional
College
Personal

2009: Made eight appearances … After sitting out the opening match against Italy, he appeared in the next four matches in the Confederations Cup, including the final … Started in the 2-1 win in qualifying on June 6 against Honduras in Chicago … Earned ussoccer.com Man of the Match honors on Oct. 10 in San Pedro Sula against Honduras, bravely challenging the ’keeper when scoring the first goal and using a deft touch to record the second … Earned the foul that set up Donovan’s game-winning goal that gave the U.S. a 3-2 win … 2008: Returned to the squad after nearly three years, playing the final 14 minutes in the 2-0 semifinal round qualifying win against Guatemala on Nov. 19, 2008, in front of his home fans in Colorado … 2005: Appeared in two matches before an injury ended his year … Started in the 4-1 win against Cuba to open the USA’s championship run in the 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup, suffering a torn ACL in the match … Came on as a sub in the 2-1 loss to England on May 28 in Chicago … 2004: Played in six matches in his debut year with the full team … Made four straight starts, beginning with the 1-0 win in Poland … Started three qualifiers, including the 3-0 win against Grenada on June 13, 2004, to open 2006 World Cup qualifying … Also started in the 2-0 win on Sept. 4 against El Salvador and the 1-1 draw in Panama four days later … Under-23s: Played in three of four Olympic qualifying games in 2000, starting two … Was on the U.S. Olympic team that finished in fourth place in Sydney, starting all six games … Under-20s: Part of the U.S. squad that advanced to the knockout phase of the Under-20 World Youth Championship in Argentina … Helped the U.S. qualify for the summer tournament, scoring in the opening game against Guatemala … First Appearance: March 31, 2004, vs. Poland … First Goal: Oct. 10, 2009, vs. Honduras.

2009: Had a career year and an MVP campaign, setting a new Rapids single season scoring record with 16 goals to finish second in the league’s Golden Boot race only one goal behind Jeff Cunningham … Named to the MLS Best XI squad for the first time in his career and also garnered MLS All-Star honors … Has two hat tricks, the most in MLS … 2008: Despite entering the season rehabbing an off-season ACL injury and missing the team’s first nine games while on the disabled list, Casey produced his best MLS season to date finishing as the Rapids team leader with 11 goals (sixth best in MLS)-the highest by a Rapids player since 2005 … He registered two game-winners and two game-tying scores on the season … 2007: Took home the Rapids’ 2007 Comeback Player of the Year Award for rebounding from a knee injury suffered with the U.S. National Team to regain his form and regain his starting spot with the Rapids … Made his Rapids debut playing nine minutes on April 22 at Dallas … Toronto FC used their top allocation to bring Casey over from club FSV Mainz 05 of the German Bundesliga … During his brief stint with Toronto FC, Casey came on as a substitute in both of the club’s games and played a total of 58 minutes for the Canadian side before joining the Rapids … 2005-06: A knee injury suffered with the U.S. team limited his appearances to only 10 games … 2004-05: Signed with Bundesliga club Mainz 05, scoring two goals in 14 games … 2003–04: Again loaned to a second division club, this time Karlsruher SC … Scored 14 goals in 30 games … 2002-03: Returned to Dortmund, scoring one goal in four appearances … 2001-02: Loaned to second division club Hannover 96, where he scored seven goals in 19 games, helping the club gain promotion to the Bundesliga … 2000-01: Signed a four year contract with Borussia Dortmund, spending the first season in the reserves.

Played for Clive Charles at the University of Portland in 1999 and 2000 … Named West Coast Conference Co-Player of the Year in 2000 … Led the nation in scoring with 23 goals and seven assists for 53 points … Soccer America magazine named him Freshman of the Year in 1999.

Born in New Hampshire, but moved to Colorado as a child, and considers Denver his hometown … Played his high school soccer at Denver’s South High School … Parents are Terry and Susan, and his sister is Jennifer … Enjoys listening to Classic Rock, Hip Hop and Oldies … Favorite foods are sushi and meat … Enjoys reading, card games, chess, and playing the guitar in his spare time … Lists favorite sports besides soccer as basketball and football … Favorite book is “Atlas Shrugged” by Ayn Rand.