Maurice Edu
- U.S. National Team: MNT
- Position: Midfielder
- Date Of Birth: April 18, 1986
- Height: 6-0
- Weight: 170
- Hometown: Fontana, Calif.
- Club: Bursaspor (Turkey)
A box-to-box midfielder, Edu is as comfortable making hard tackles as he is starting and finishing attacks. His steady return to form following a knee injury included his first goal for the full team, helping earn him a spot on the roster for South Africa where he started in the historic victory against Algeria. Edu has been a consistent choice for Jurgen Klinsmann, starting five of the first seven matches in which the new coach was in charge. In 2008, he captained the U.S. Olympic Team during a successful qualifying run and appeared in all three games during the Olympics in Beijing. The California native joined Toronto FC as the No. 1 draft pick in MLS in 2007 and justified his selection by earning the award for Rookie of the Year, moving to Scottish giants Rangers a year later.
- Appeared in 12 matches in 2011 – a career best – while starting eight
- Made three appearances in four matches at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, including a start in the 1-0 victory against Algeria
- Scored his first career goal with the full team when he started the scoring for the U.S. against Czech Republic on May 26, 2010, in Hartford
- His perfectly weighted through ball to Steve Cherundolo set up the game winner against South Africa on Nov. 17, 2007, in Johannesburg, earning
- Edu his first point with the National Team in only his second appearance Served as captain of the U-23 MNT during 2008 Olympic qualifying and featured in all three games in Beijing at centerback
- Since moving to Rangers in Scotland, he has scored in an Old Firm against rivals Celtic and in the UEFA Champions League against Valencia
2011: Collected a career-high 12 appearances, including eight as a starter… A member of the team that competed in the CONCACAF Gold Cup, playing in three of the USA’s six games …Started five of seven matches after Jurgen Klinsmann took over in August … 2010: Coming off of an injury-plagued year, he made eight appearances and five starts … Appeared in three of four matches at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, starting in the historic 1-0 victory against Algeria on June 23 in Pretoria … Had a goal controversially disallowed against Slovenia that drew national attention in the U.S. … Posted his first career goal for the full team, scoring in the 4-2 loss against Czech Republic on May 25 in East Hartford in the first Send-Off Series match … Went 90 minutes in the 2-0 loss against Brazil on Aug. 10 … Started in central defense in the 2-2 draw against Poland on Oct. 9 in Chicago … 2009: Injury limited Edu to a single appearance in 2009, entering as a last-minute substitute in the 2-2 draw on March 28 in El Salvador … 2008: Made a career-high three starts in 2008 … Registered his first appearance in World Cup qualifying when he entered as a second half sub in the 1-0 win against Guatemala on Aug. 20 in Guatemala City … Went on to feature in three total qualifiers during the semifinal round, including starts in the historic 1-0 win against Cuba on Sept. 6 in Havana and against Trinidad & Tobago in Port of Spain ... 2007: Called into his first camp in October during the U.S. team’s trip to Switzerland …The trip was his first with the national team at any level … Started and played 90 minutes in his two appearances in 2007, versus Switzerland in October and South Africa in November … His perfectly weighted through ball to Steve Cherundolo set up the game winner in the 1-0 win against South Africa on Nov. 17 in Johannesburg, earning Edu his first point with the national team in only his second appearance … Under-23s: Featured in all three games during the Olympics for the U.S. … Deployed at center back where he showcased his versatility and performed admirably alongside Michael Parkhurst … Drew a penalty in the final group game against Nigeria, which Sacha Kljestan converted, but the U.S. came up short against Nigeria ... Captained the U-23s during the team's successful run through CONCACAF Olympic qualifying in March … Featured in four games during qualifying ... Called into Peter Nowak’s first U-23 camp in December 2007 … Traveled to China later that month to compete in two friendlies … First Appearance: Oct.17, 2007, vs. Switzerland … First Goal: May 25, 2010, vs. Czech Republic
2011: Started each of the 21 games in which he has featured in the first half of the season, including UEFA Europa League and Champions League, and going the distance in 15 of those … Scored two goals and two assists in the first half of the season … Sealed the win in the 2-0 victory against Inverness on Aug. 13 before being sent off for a second bookable offense … Scored the second goal in the 4-0 rout of Dunfermline on Sept. 24, putting one in the net nine minutes after teammate Carlos Bocanegra opened scoring … 2010-11: After snatching a starting role and appearing in the first 13 SPL games to start the 2010-11 season, a knee injury on Nov. 10 against Hibernian sidelined him for the remainder of the calendar year … Scored Rangers’ only goal in a 1-1 draw against Valencia on Oct. 20 in UEFA Champions League Group C … Finished the season with 33 appearances as Rangers reached the top of the Scottish Premier League, the club’s third consecutive SPL title … 2009-10: Returned from the knee injury suffered in May after a seven-month recovery period, entering in the 73rd minute in Rangers’ 4-1 win on Dec. 27 at Hibernian … Scored the game-winner in the 93rd minute to give Rangers a 1-0 victory against Old Firm rivals Celtic on Feb. 27 at Ibrox … Appeared in the final 18 matches of the season in all competitions as Rangers collected their second straight SPL title … 2008-09: Signed for Rangers on Aug. 16, 2008 and debuted for the club a month later, when he started against Kilmarnock on Sept. 13 … Also featured in the Oct. 28 victory against Hamilton Academical in the Scottish League Cup … Started the final eight matches in Rangers’ successful championship run, scoring two goals …His first goal in Scotland proved the game-winner in the 2-1 victory on April 8 at St. Mirren … He repeated the result 11 days later, scoring the third in the 3-2 win on April 19 at Hibernian … 2008: Appeared 13 times for Toronto FC in 2008 before transferring to Rangers in August … 2007: Drafted first overall by Toronto FC in the MLS SuperDraft … Despite a pre-season injury, Edu recovered to play 25 times for Toronto in the club’s inaugural season and went on to earn the MLS Rookie of the Year honors … Scored four times and tallied one assist for the team …His goals were good for second on the expansion team … His first professional goal came on May 12 against the Chicago Fire during Toronto FC’s first ever win.
In three seasons at Maryland, he made 55 appearances … Helped his team to the national championship in 2005 and made the postseason in all three seasons he was on the team … Scored 10 goals and added 11 assists during his career.
Parents are Maurice and Molly … Has four siblings: brother, Reggie, and sisters, Ugo, Imeh and Molly … Enjoys listening to music and playing sports video games … Inducted into the City of Fontana Hall of Fame … Lists Michael Jordan as a role model growing up and Patrick Viera and Paul Scholes as soccer players he admires … Aspires to return to school to finish up his degree in business.
