Oguchi Onyewu
- U.S. National Team: MNT
- Position: Defender
- Date Of Birth: May 13, 1982
- Height: 6-4
- Weight: 210
- Hometown: Olney, Md.
- Club: AC Milan (Italy)
A supremely athletic defender who is great in the air, Onyewu scored a career-high three goals for the U.S. in 2008 and forged an extremely reliable partnership with Carlos Bocanegra at the heart of the team’s defense. He is also renowned for his physical presence. Onyewu scored a towering header against regional rivals Mexico during a memorable 2-2 draw in February. Onyewu began his professional career in March of 2002, signing a four-year contract with French side FC Metz after the club followed his progress at Clemson. He moved on to Standard Liege in Belgium, helping the club to two consecutive league titles after a 25-year drought and a place in the Champions League. Still only 27 and now searching for a new club, his increasing maturity and leadership will play an important role for the U.S. backline as they head into the final round of World Cup qualifying.
• Scored a career-high three goals for the U.S. in 2008, including goals against Mexico, Poland, and Cuba to increase his career total to five – all of which have come from headers
• Started all 10 games he featured in for Bob Bradley’s team, earning Man of the Match honors three times during the campaign and named a finalist for the 2008 U.S. Soccer Male Athlete of the Year
• Earned his starting position in the center of the defense during World Cup qualifying in 2005 and started all three games for the U.S. during the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany
• A member of the U.S. Under-17 Residency Program, he helped the U.S. to their best-ever fourth place finish at the 1999 FIFA U-17 World Championship along with Landon Donovan and DaMarcus Beasley
• Hoisted the first trophy of his club career when he guided the Standard Liege backline to a title winning campaign in the Belgian league in 2008, their first title since before ’Gooch was born
• Scored a career-high three goals for the U.S. in 2008, including goals against Mexico, Poland, and Cuba to increase his career total to five – all of which have come from headers
• Started all 10 games he featured in for Bob Bradley’s team, earning Man of the Match honors three times during the campaign and named a finalist for the 2008 U.S. Soccer Male Athlete of the Year
• Earned his starting position in the center of the defense during World Cup qualifying in 2005 and started all three games for the U.S. during the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany
• A member of the U.S. Under-17 Residency Program, he helped the U.S. to their best-ever fourth place finish at the 1999 FIFA U-17 World Championship along with Landon Donovan and DaMarcus Beasley
• Hoisted the first trophy of his club career when he guided the Standard Liege backline to a title winning campaign in the Belgian league in 2008, their first title since before ’Gooch was born
2009: Has started in four of five World Cup qualifiers, missing the El Salvador match due to injury … 2008: Started all 10 games he featured in during 2008 … Earned Man of the Match honors after scoring against Mexico in February, and earned similar plaudits for his performances in the away matches against Spain and Cuba … Scored in the comprehensive 3-0 win against Poland on March 26 in Krakow … Tallied his first goal in World Cup qualifying in the 6-1 win against Cuba on Oct. 11 at RFK Stadium, in front of friends and family from Maryland … All three of his goals came from headers … Consistently forced to mark some of the toughest players in the world, in 2008 he came up against Wayne Rooney and Fernando Torres … 2007: A member of the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup championship squad, he featured in five of the six games for the team … Scored his second career goal for the U.S. when he headed home a DaMarcus Beasley free kick as part of a 4-1 victory against China in June … Earned Man of the Match honors in the 1-0 win against South Africa in the Nelson Mandela Challenge Cup on Nov. 17 in Johannesburg … Also appeared in the 2-0 victory against Mexico in Phoenix in February … 2006: Onyewu entered the 2006 FIFA World Cup having cemented his position as first choice center back, alongside Eddie Pope … He appeared in all three group games … Controversially called for a foul in the box in the Ghana game, a decision that lead to the game-winning penalty … Finished the season with six appearances for the USA, all of them starts in central defense … 2005: Made quite an impression as a newcomer, winning nine caps … Scored his first ever goal with the U.S. in dramatic fashion, heading home a Landon Donovan free kick in added time to beat Honduras and put the U.S. into the Gold Cup final … Recognized for his play by being voted to the tournaments best XI … Named Man of the Match in opening round against Canada … Started in four of six Gold Cup matches, including the final … His other five starts were all in World Cup qualifying … On Sept. 3, in his strongest performance of the year, helped the U.S. stifle the Mexican attack and maintain a clean sheet while taking Man of the Match honors as the United States beat Mexico 2-0 to advance to World Cup finals … 2004: Earned his first cap with the MNT coming on as a reserve in the 86th minute against Panama at RFK Stadium on Oct. 13 in a 2006 FIFA World Cup semifinal round qualifier … In that game he came close to getting his first goal when he went up for a corner kick and got a shoulder on the ball, knocking it goal-bound where a Panama defender deflected it into his own net for an own goal … Made his first start in the team’s next qualifier against Jamaica at Columbus Crew Stadium on Nov. 17 … Under-20s: Totaled one goal and three assists in 15 international appearances for the U-20s … Started in all four matches during the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship, playing every minute of every match … Notched an assist during the World Youth Championship … Played all 270 minutes at the CONCACAF qualifying tournament, notching an assist against Guatemala … Under-17s: Started all five matches he appeared in at the 1999 FIFA U-17 World Championship, playing every minute of every match … Tallied two goals and two assists for the U.S. in New Zealand, including scoring the equalizer in their 2-2 draw with Australia in the semifinals … The USA’s leading goalscorer in the home-and-away series with El Salvador that the U.S. won 10-1 to advance to New Zealand … First Appearance: Oct. 13, 2004, vs. Panama … First Goal: July 21, 2005, vs. Honduras.
2008-09: In a title race that led to a playoff after the teams tied on points and goals scored, Standard and Anderlecht faced off for the league title with Gooch’s side coming out victorious following a 2-1 aggregate victory … Made more than 100 league appearances for Liege … Narrowly missed out on qualification for the Champions League group stage after a heartbreaking 1-0 loss to Liverpool in extra time … Eliminated Tim Howard and Everton from European play when they dispatched the English side in the first round of the UEFA Cup … Scored against Sampdoria in group play as Liege qualified easily for the final 32 of the competition in 2009 … 2007-08: Despite much speculation about where his club soccer would be played, he started the season again at Standard de Liege … The Belgian club enjoyed a blistering start to the season where they went unbeaten through 14 games into December, and finished the season on a similar tear, losing only one game in 34 during the domestic campaign … They also took part in the UEFA Cup for the second year in a row … Hoisted the league trophy at the end of the season, the first Liege title in 25 years and Gooch’s first trophy in his club career … 2006-07: After half a season at Standard Liege, he was loaned to Newcastle United of the English Premier League … He made his debut against Fulham on Febr. 3, 2007 … Went on to feature throughout the second half of the season, making 11 total appearances for Newcastle … New manager Sam Allardyce elected to not make the loan move permanent … He returned to Standard Liege at the beginning of the summer … 2005-06: Helped Standard Liege to an impressive second-place finish, their highest position in 11 seasons … Remained a fixture in the first XI, appearing in the vast majority of matches for which he was available … Anchored a defense that had kept nine clean sheets by the winter break … 2004-05: Narrowly missed qualifying for the 2005-06 UEFA Cup, losing 4-3 on aggregate to Racing Genk on the last match day of the year … An impressive showing forced Liege to exercise their option on the defender in October … He has since claimed the starting role and been named one of the best defenders in the country … 2003-04: Was sent back to Metz, but once again the club loaned him to a Belgium club, this time to Standard Liege … Started 24 matches and scored one goal during the season as he impressed from his central defensive position … Was named player of the week in February … 2002-03: Suited up for his first match in a 1-0 victory against Bordeaux in a French League Cup match in January … After a coaching change he was sent to Belgian side Louviere on loan after the season.
Played two seasons at Clemson … Was named an All-American and nominated for the 2001 Hermann Trophy, college soccer’s highest individual honor … Helped Clemson reach the elite eight of the NCAA soccer tournament.
His given name, Oguchialu, means “God fights for me” … Called “Gooch” by his teammates …Took home the award for Best Performance (Player) in ussoccer.com’s ‘Best Of’ series with his impressive defensive effort against Jared Borgetti on Sept. 3, 2005, in Columbus … Featured in ESPN The Magazine’s 2006 ‘Next’ Issue, which showcases up and coming athletes from across the sports spectrum … Father, Pete, played soccer in Nigeria before moving to the U.S. and attending Howard University … Has two brothers (Uche and Nonye) and two sisters (Chi-Chi and Ogechi).
