Oguchi Onyewu

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Oguchi Onyewu is an American former soccer defender and current administrator for U.S. soccer. Born May 13, 1982 in Washington, D.C., he grew up in Maryland and played college soccer at Clemson before turning pro in 2002.

Playing career highlights
- Onyewu had a long club career across Europe and the United States, including stints with Metz, La Louvière, Standard Liège, Newcastle United (loan), AC Milan, Twente (loan), Sporting CP, Málaga (loan), Queens Park Rangers, Sheffield Wednesday, Charlton Athletic, and Philadelphia Union. He finished with 247 club appearances and 17 goals.
- He represented the United States national team 69 times, scoring 6 goals. He played in the 2006 and 2010 FIFA World Cups and was part of several Gold Cup-winning teams (2005, 2007, 2013) and the 2009 Confederations Cup runner-up squad.

Notable moments
- Onyewu faced racist abuse while playing in Belgium and took steps to address the issue publicly.
- He signed with AC Milan in 2009 but was plagued by a knee injury that limited his playing time, before continuing his career at various clubs.

Later career and retirement
- He retired from professional soccer in September 2018 after his time with the Philadelphia Union in 2017.
- Since retiring, Onyewu has held leadership roles in soccer administration, including sporting director of Orlando City B and secretary-general of R.E. Virton. In 2023, he joined the United States Soccer Federation as assistant sporting director and serves as vice president of Sporting for the federation.

Personal background
- Onyewu is of Nigerian descent, holds Belgian citizenship, and speaks several languages. He is 6 ft 4 in tall and was known for his strong, commanding presence as a central defender.