Heath Pearce

Personal information
Full name	Heath Gregory Pearce
Date of birth	August 13, 1984 (1984-08-13) (age 25)
Place of birth	Modesto, California, United States
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Playing position	Defender
Club information
Current club	FC Dallas
Number	24
Youth career
2003–2005	Portland Pilots
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2004	Bradenton Academics
2005–2007	Nordsjælland	50	(2)
2007–2009	Hansa Rostock	30	(2)
2009–	FC Dallas	6	(0)
National team‡
2005–	United States	28	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of October 29, 2009. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of July 26, 2009

Heath Pearce (born August 13, 1984 in Modesto, California) is an American soccer player who currently plays for FC Dallas in Major League Soccer and for the United States men's national soccer team.

[edit] Career

[edit] College and Amateur

Pearce played college soccer at the University of Portland, where he was an All-West Coast Conference honorable mention selection. In his final year at Portland, he started all 20 games, scoring two goals and racking up five assists.

During his college years he also played for the Bradenton Academics in the USL Premier Development League.

[edit] Professional

Pearce signed with Nordsjælland and began his professional career in the 2005–06 Danish Superliga season. He made 50 league appearances and scored 2 goals for club in his two seasons there.

After stating that he would leave Nordsjælland after the 2007 season with a goal to be signed by a team in Germany, Scotland, or the Netherlands, Pearce signed a two-year contract with Hansa Rostock on July 16, 2007. Near the end of the 2007-08 season, Pearce was briefly suspended for being late to return to the club from international duty, but was eventually allowed back on the team.

On April 13, 2009, Pearce was permanently suspended from Hansa Rostock's first team and demoted to the reserve squad because club officials believed Pearce had faked an injury to avoid training, a charge Pearce denies.^[1] At the end of the season, Pearce was released from his contract.

On September 2, 2009, Pearce reportedly signed a two-year contract with Turkish team Bursaspor,^[2][3] but the next day it had emerged that a deal was not reached until after the transfer window had closed.^[4]

After his failed move to Turkey, he signed with Major League Soccer side FC Dallas on September 11, 2009.^[5]

[edit] International

Pearce made his international debut in November 2005 against Scotland. Pearce was included by Bruce Arena in United States training camps and friendly matches prior to the 2006 FIFA World Cup but did not make the team.

Under Bob Bradley, Pearce became a regular starter for the national team. With relatively little competition in the U.S. player pool at left back, Pearce played the third-most minutes of any American field player in 2008. But as his club situation deteriorated, Pearce has seen less time with national team. Though a member of the squad at the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup, he did not make an appearance in the tournament as Jonathan Bornstein and Carlos Bocanegra were the preferred choices. Pearce was a member of the second-tier U.S. team for the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup. Lately he has not seen much action due to the return of Bornstein and also Bocanegra and Jonathan Spector both being versatile enough to play in that position.

[edit] See also

• List of current MLS players

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• MLS player profile
• Career stats at fussballdaten.de (German)
• Career statistics (Danish)

Heath Pearce international tournaments v • d • e United States squad – 2007 Copa América 1 Howard • 2 Wynne • 3 DeMerit • 4 Boswell • 5 Feilhaber • 6 Pearce • 7 Califf • 8 Gomez • 9 Johnson • 10 Davies • 11 Gaven • 12 Conrad • 13 Bornstein • 14 Olsen • 15 Moor • 16 Kljestan • 17 Beckerman • 18 Keller • 19 Clark • 20 Twellman • 21 Mapp • 23 Guzan • 25 Nguyen • Coach: Bradley v • d • e United States squad – 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup Runners-Up 1 Howard • 2 Bornstein • 3 Bocanegra • 4 Casey • 5 Onyewu • 6 Pearce • 7 Beasley • 8 Dempsey • 9 Davies • 10 Donovan • 11 Wynne • 12 M. Bradley • 13 Clark • 14 Califf • 15 DeMerit • 16 Kljestan • 17 Altidore • 18 Guzan • 19 Adu • 20 Torres • 21 Spector • 22 Feilhaber • 23 Robles • Coach: B. Bradley v • d • e United States squad – 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup Runners-Up 1 Perkins • 2 Pearce • 3 Goodson • 4 Marshall • 5 Beckerman • 6 Cherundolo • 7 Rogers • 8 Pause • 9 Davies • 10 Holden • 11 Ching • 12 Conrad • 13 Clark • 14 Parkhurst • 15 Cronin • 16 Heaps • 17 Cooper • 18 Robles • 19 Adu • 20 Quaranta • 21 Evans • 22 Arnaud • 23 Busch • Coach: Bradley