Cory Gibbs

Personal information
Full name	Cory Gibbs
Date of birth	January 14, 1980 (1980-01-14) (age 29)
Place of birth	Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Playing position	Defender
Club information
Current club	Colorado Rapids
Number	7
Youth career
1997–2001	Brown Bears
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2000	Palm Beach Pumas
2001–2003	St. Pauli	60	(3)
2004	Dallas Burn	21	(0)
2004–2006	Feyenoord	15	(1)
2005–2006	→ Den Haag (loan)	5	(0)
2006–2008	Charlton Athletic	0	(0)
2008–	Colorado Rapids	29	(1)
National team‡
2006–	United States	19	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 30 October 2009. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 30 October 2009

Cory Gibbs (born January 14, 1980 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida) is an American soccer player who currently plays for Colorado Rapids in Major League Soccer.

[edit] Career

[edit] College and Amateur

Gibbs played college soccer at Brown University, joining the team in 1997. During his career, Brown won three Ivy League Championships and participated in the NCAA Tournament all four years. In 2000, Gibbs led Brown to an Ivy League championship and the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament. He was named Ivy League Player of the Year, and a First-Team All-American. In 2000, he spent the collegiate off season with the Palm Beach Pumas of the Premier Development League. He was also one of three Brown soccer players, including Matthew Cross (Kansas City Wizards) and Scott Powers (Columbus Crew), to be drafted in the 2001 MLS SuperDraft.

[edit] Professional

After graduating from Brown in 2001, Gibbs decided not to play in the MLS and joined FC St. Pauli of the Bundesliga. He played 25 games for St. Pauli that season, becoming the youngest American to score a goal in the Bundesliga with a goal against FC Cologne. St. Pauli was relegated to the 2. Fußball-Bundesliga after the 2001–02 season, and Gibbs played an equally important role with the team in his second season as in his first. St. Pauli, however, was relegated again after the 2002-03 season, this time to the Regionalliga Nord, the German third division. Gibbs remained with the team, being moved from central defense to defensive midfielder.

Gibbs decided to leave St. Pauli during 2003 due to the low level of play and lack of exposure needed to secure a spot on the United States national team. After a move to Jahn Regensburg of the 2. Bundesliga fell through, Gibbs decided to return to the United States and play in Major League Soccer, where he would be easily visible and available for international matches. Although the Columbus Crew initially tried to acquire Gibbs, he eventually ended up with the FC Dallas, then known as the Dallas Burn.

Gibbs was a starter in every game for which he was available during his stint with Dallas. He made a total of 21 appearances before leaving for Feyenoord.

On January 20, 2005, the Dutch club Feyenoord agreed on a transfer with MLS, and Gibbs signed a four and a half year contract with the club.^[1] In his first season, he made 15 appearances and scored one goal.

After injuring his knee in a U.S. national team friendly against England on May 28, 2005, Gibbs rehabbed, under the direction of Dr. Daniel Kalbac in Miami, Florida, and came back from his injury on January 19, 2006. On January 24, 2006, Feyenoord loaned Gibbs to ADO Den Haag for the remainder of the season.

Gibbs signed a pre-contract agreement with English Premier League club Charlton Athletic in May 2006^[2] just before Alan Curbishley's departure. After a short stay at Charlton it was announced that he would leave June 30 2008 at the end of his contract.^[3] He never played a game for Charlton due to injuries.

The Washington Post's Steven Goff has reported that Cory Gibbs was interested in again returning to the MLS. The Los Angeles Galaxy are reportedly interested in Gibbs, and head coach Ruud Gullit commented that Gibbs was a "good option."^[4] MLS commissioner Don Garber stated on his blog on August 8, 2008, that Gibbs signed with the league.^[5] It was expected that he'd be selected by the Galaxy, who had first option to pick up his contract in the allocation listings, but he was eventually selected by Colorado Rapids, after the Galaxy passed on Gibbs in order to be able to pick Eddie Lewis.

[edit] International

Gibbs's return to the U.S. helped his national team career, as he received frequent callups for 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. Gibbs solidified his position as one of USA's top central defenders. Since making his first full international appearance June 8, 2003, in a friendly against New Zealand^[2], Gibbs has received 19 caps.

Gibbs was initially a part of the United States' 2006 FIFA World Cup team, but he reinjured his right knee in a friendly with Morocco on May 23, 2006 and was replaced by Gregg Berhalter.^[6] Gibbs played only 45 minutes all season for Charlton's reserves following surgery to repair cartilage in his knee. Gibbs returned to international football when he was selected by Bob Bradley for the United States' March 26 match against Poland.^[7][8]

[edit] Personal

Cory is married to BBC Radio 1Xtra radio presenter and former Mis-Teeq singer Zena McNally. They were married on July 4, 2008, in Miami, Florida.

Gibbs also runs a soccer camp 'Cory Gibbs StarSoccer', http://www.corygibbsstarsoccer.com which takes place every summer in the United States.

[edit] See also

• List of current MLS players

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• MLS player profile
• Charlton player profile
• Cory Gibbs career stats at Soccerbase
• Profile on Yanks Abroad

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