Greg Vanney

Greg Vanney (born June 11, 1974 in South Boston, Virginia) is a retired American soccer defender. One of Major League Soccer's original players, he spent ten seasons in the league and another three in France. He also earned 36 caps, scoring one goal, with the U.S. national team between 1997 and 2005.

High school and college

Vanney played soccer for Marcos de Niza High School in Tempe, Arizona, and led the team to three consecutive state championship titles in 1990, 1992, and 1992. Vanney holds the school record for most assists by one player in a season with 13 for the 1990-1991 season, and also holds the school record for most goals by one player in a single season with 33 goals for the 1991-1992 season. He was also named the 5A player of the year for the 1991-1992 season. Greg Vanney played college soccer for Florida International University in 1992, and for UCLA from 1993 to 1995. In 1995, Vanney was named All-American honorable mention and finished his senior season with 8 goals and 10 assists.

Professional

He was drafted 17th overall in the 1996 MLS College Draft by the Los Angeles Galaxy. The team sent him on loan to the Sacramento Scorpions of USISL for three games at the beginning of the season.^[1] Vanney played for the Galaxy for six years, from 1996 to 2001, and was consistently one of the best defenders in MLS, leading the Galaxy to two MLS Cup Finals, as well as being named to the MLS Best XI in both 2000 and 2001. After the 2001 MLS season, Vanney signed a contract with SC Bastia in the French First Division, with whom he had limited success, struggling to secure a consistent spot on the left flank. He left the club in 2005, coming back to MLS and signing with FC Dallas. After two seasons with the Hoops, he was traded to Colorado on January 12, 2007. On 06/29/07 Vanney was traded from the Rapids to D.C. United. Vanney was also an MLS All-star in 2000, 2005, and 2006. ^[2] On February 15, 2008 the rights for Greg Vanney were transferred to Los Angeles Galaxy in exchange for Quavas Kirk. He announced his retirement from the professional game on 26 October 2008; his last game was against FC Dallas, in which he only received a token appearance on the field, being substituted on in the 93+ minute.

National team

Vanney has also been a useful player for the United States national team, debuting December 21, 1996 against Guatemala, and having played 37 games and scored one goal (as of September 2005). He was originally named as an alternate for the 2002 FIFA World Cup but initially replaced the injured Chris Armas on the roster after the midfielder picked up an ACL injury in a warm-up friendly against Uruguay on May 12, 2002. Vanney was himself injured in the next warm-up friendly on May 16, 2002 against Jamaica and was replaced on the roster by Steve Cherundolo. Vanney featured in the early part of 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying for the US, but fell out of form during the 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup and never played for the national team after that.

Youth club soccer

Vanney founded AZFC.

Current life

Greg Vanney moved back to Arizona. He is currently coaching the Marcos De Niza Padres and hopes to won the playoffs.

Broadcasting

In March 2009 Greg Vanney began providing color commentary with play announcer Kevin Calabro for Seattle Sounders FC games on FSN Northwest and KONG-TV and radio.

Honors

United States

• CONCACAF Gold Cup Champions (1): 2005

D.C. United

• Major League Soccer Supporter's Shield (1): 2007

External links

• Greg Vanney articles on Yanks Abroad

References

v • d • e United States squad – 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup 1 Cannon • 2 Hejduk • 3 Berhalter • 4 Mastroeni • 5 Vanney • 6 Cherundolo • 7 Lewis • 8 Stewart • 9 Kirovski • 10 Donovan • 11 Mathis • 12 Bocanegra • 13 Martino • 14 Armas • 15 Convey • 16 Califf • 17 Beasley • 18 Howard • 19 Hahnemann • 20 Twellman • 21 Cunningham • 22 Klein • 23 Gibbs • Coach: Arena

v • d • e United States squad – 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup Third Place 2 Hejduk • 3 Vanney • 4 Bocanegra • 6 Gibbs • 7 Lewis • 8 Stewart • 10 Reyna • 11 Mathis • 12 Califf • 13 Mulrooney • 15 Convey • 17 Beasley • 18 Keller • 19 Ralston • 20 McBride • 21 Donovan • 24 Brown • 25 Mastroeni • Coach: Arena

v • d • e United States squad – 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup Champions (3rd title) 1 Hahnemann · 2 Hejduk · 3 Vanney · 4 Onyewu · 5 O'Brien · 6 Cherundolo · 7 Beasley · 8 Dempsey · 9 Quaranta · 10 Donovan · 11 Casey · 12 Conrad · 13 Noonan · 14 Armas · 15 Olsen · 16 Wolff · 18 Keller · 19 Ralston · 21 Davis · 22 Sanneh · 23 Pope · 24 Reis · 25 Mastroeni · Coach: Arena