Thomas Rongen

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Thomas Eddy Rongen (born 31 October 1956 in Amsterdam) is a Dutch-American soccer coach and former player who spent most of his career in the United States. As a player, he was a defensive midfielder who also played as a forward, starting with Amsterdamsche FC in the Netherlands before moving to the United States in 1979 to play in the NASL for the Los Angeles Aztecs and later for several other clubs, including the Fort Lauderdale/Minnesota Strikers.

Rongen began coaching while still playing, working with youth and high school teams, and gradually moved into MLS. He became the first head coach of the Tampa Bay Mutiny in 1996 and won MLS Coach of the Year as the Mutiny had the best regular-season record. He then coached the New England Revolution (1997–1998) and later led D.C. United to the MLS Cup and the Supporters’ Shield in 1999.

From 2001 to 2005 and again from 2006 to 2011, Rongen led the United States under-20 national team, guiding the program to two FIFA U-20 World Cup appearances (2007 and 2009). He left in 2011 and became head coach of American Samoa, where he helped the team win its first World Cup qualifying match; their story is told in the documentary Next Goal Wins (2014) and the 2023 feature film.

Rongen later served as director of the Toronto FC Academy before becoming head coach of the Tampa Bay Rowdies (2014–2015). In 2016 he joined the U.S. national team program as head international scout and has worked as a sports commentator for CBS Sports and beIN Sports. He is married to Gail Megaloudis and is stepfather to her children; their daughter Nicole died in 2004.