Jeff Cunningham

Personal information
Full name	Jeff Cunningham
Date of birth	August 21, 1976 (1976-08-21) (age 33)
Place of birth	Montego Bay, Jamaica
Height	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Playing position	Forward
Club information
Current club	FC Dallas
Number	9
Youth career
1994–1997	South Florida Bulls
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1998–2004	Columbus Crew	182	(62)
2005	Colorado Rapids	26	(12)
2006–2007	Real Salt Lake	32	(19)
2007–2008	Toronto FC	32	(6)
2008–	FC Dallas	39	(22)
National team‡
1999	Jamaica	1	(0)
2001–	United States	11	(1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 29 October, 2009. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 18 November, 2009

Jeff Cunningham (born August 21, 1976, in Montego Bay) is a Jamaican-born American soccer player who currently plays for FC Dallas in Major League Soccer.

[edit] Career

[edit] College

Cunningham was born in Jamaica, but moved to Crystal River, Florida at the age of fourteen. He played college soccer at the University of South Florida from 1994 to 1997. As a sophomore and a junior, Cunningham was named first-team All-Conference USA, and as a senior he was named Conference USA Player of the Year. He finished his career at USF with forty-one goals and thirty-six assists.

[edit] Professional

Upon graduating, Cunningham was selected ninth overall in the 1998 MLS College Draft by the Columbus Crew. As a rookie, he played in twenty-five games, mostly as a substitute, and tied the rookie record for goals (since broken by Damani Ralph) with eight. Cunningham became a starter in 1999 and held that role for several years. In 182 games for Columbus, he scored sixty-two goals and notched forty-three assists. He was named to the MLS Best XI in 2002, after scoring sixteen goals and adding five assists. Cunningham was traded to the Colorado Rapids for a first-round draft pick after a disappointing 2004 season. He left the Crew tied with Brian McBride for the all-time team lead in goals.

Cunningham finished the 2005 season with twelve league goals for Colorado. He scored twice against Fulham F.C. of the Premier League in the 2005 MLS All-Star Game. His showing in an all-star game against Real Madrid also earned good reviews, despite MLS's 5–0 loss. However, after the year Colorado shipped him to Real Salt Lake for Clint Mathis. Cunningham was seventh on the all-time MLS goalscoring list entering the 2006 season.

During the 2006 season Cunningham led the league in scoring with sixteen goals, winning the MLS Golden Boot. He also tied for the second-most assists in the league with eleven.

On May 22, 2007, Cunningham was dealt to Toronto FC in exchange for Alecko Eskandarian and a first-round draft pick in the 2008 MLS SuperDraft.^[1] In Toronto, he wore the number 96 to represent the 96 MLS goals he had scored after the conclusion of his first season with Toronto FC.^[2]

Cunningham fell out of favor in his second season with Toronto FC, missing scoring a goal line ball that would have taken Toronto to the CONCACAF Champions League. After the match, TFC coach John Carver said "I am thinking, ‘How did he score 99 goals?’ That’s what I thought.’"^[3]

On August 8, 2008, Cunningham was traded to FC Dallas in exchange for a third-round pick in the 2009 MLS SuperDraft.^[4] He scored in his first match with FC Dallas on August 16, 2008 in a 2–1 loss to the Columbus Crew. It was Cunningham's 100th goal in MLS. Jeff played in 11 games with FC Dallas during the 2008 season scoring 5 goals.

Cunningham has scored 17 goals (as of October 20) in 2009, including four goals on August 1 against the Kansas City Wizards. After Kenny Cooper left the club for 1860 Munich, Cunningham emerged as the team's go-to goal scorer. He netted seven goals in five games in September, winning MLS Player of the Month and moving to first place in the Golden Boot standings (as of October 20).

[edit] International

In 1999 he played for Jamaica in a friendly international against Ghana. Cunningham became a U.S. citizen in November 2001, and received his first cap for the United States national team less than a month later, on December 9, in a friendly against South Korea. He made his first start in a World Cup qualifier on September 7, 2005, against Guatemala.

After a 4-year-long absence from the national team, Cunningham was called up by Bob Bradley for friendlies against Slovakia and Denmark in November 2009. In a friendly against Denmark on November 18, 2009, he scored his first career international goal.

[edit] International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	18 November 2009	NRGi Park, Aarhus, Denmark	Denmark	1-0	1-3	Friendly

[edit] Personal

Jeff and his wife, Jocelyn have one child, Mikayla, born on September 15, 2008.^[5]

[edit] Honors

[edit] Individual

• MLS Golden Boot Winner: 2006, 2009
• MLS Best XI: 2006, 2009

[edit] See also

• List of current MLS players

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• MLS player profile

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