Josh Wolff

Personal information
Full name	Joshua David Wolff
Date of birth	February 25, 1977 (1977-02-25) (age 32)
Place of birth	West Palm Beach, Florida, United States
Height	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Playing position	Forward
Club information
Current club	Kansas City Wizards
Number	16
Youth career
1995–1997	South Carolina Gamecocks
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1998–2002	Chicago Fire	84	(32)
2003–2006	Kansas City Wizards	80	(27)
2006–2008	1860 Munich	34	(2)
2008–	Kansas City Wizards	39	(14)
National team‡
1999–	United States	52	(9)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 26 October, 2009. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 5 April, 2009

Joshua David "Josh" Wolff (born February 25, 1977 in Stone Mountain, Georgia) is an American soccer player who currently plays for Kansas City Wizards in Major League Soccer.

[edit] Career

[edit] College

Wolff played three years of college soccer at the University of South Carolina, where he scored 21 goals and eight assists in 43 games. One of his teammates at South Carolina was future United States national team star Clint Mathis.

[edit] Professional

After his junior season, Wolff left college and signed with Major League Soccer. MLS assigned Wolff to the Chicago Fire. He set the MLS rookie scoring record (together with Jeff Cunningham, since broken by Damani Ralph) by scoring eight goals, doing so in just 14 games (only four of those starts). Wolff would play the next four seasons for the Fire, scoring 24 goals, developing a reputation as one of the league's most explosive offensive players, but unfortunately also one of its most injury prone.

Before the 2003 MLS Superdraft, the Fire traded Wolff, in a cost-cutting move, to the Kansas City Wizards in exchange for the third overall pick, which the Fire used to select Nate Jaqua. In 2003, Wolff lived up to his reputation, missing most of the season due to injuries, but was very productive for an excellent Wizards team in 2004, finishing the year with ten goals and seven assists. He scored ten goals and ten assists in 2005.

In September 2006, Wolff had a try out with English Championship (second tier in English Football. First Tier of the Football League) club Derby County. The team was pleased enough with his performance to offer MLS a $500,000 transfer fee. However, British immigration officials denied Wolff a work permit based on the fact he had failed to play the required 75% of the U.S. national team's games in the last two years.

From England, Wolff traveled to Germany for a try out with 2. Fußball-Bundesliga club 1860 Munich. On December 6, 2006, 1860 Munich signed Wolff to a contract through the 2007-2008 season. Munich paid MLS a $191,000 transfer fee. Wolff joined the team during its January 2007 mid-winter training camp but was waived at the end of the 2008 season.

Wolff signed with the Kansas City Wizards on June 30, 2008.

[edit] International

Wolff was once among the first-choice forwards for the United States men's national soccer team, but he has proven that he is not the prolific goal scorer needed by the USA. He has, however, scored nine goals in 52 caps since his debut against Jamaica on September 8, 1999. He also starred for the US in the 2000 Summer Olympics, scoring two goals and helping the team to a fourth-place finish. As with his club teams, however, Wolff has had trouble securing a definite spot because of continual injury problems. He did play for the United States in the 2002 World Cup, assisting on the opening goal in the second-round win against Mexico. On May 2, 2006, for the second time in his career, Wolff was named to the US roster for the FIFA World Cup in Germany.

[edit] Personal

Wolff married his wife Angela in November 2000. They have three sons, Tyler, 6, Owen, 4, and Gavin, 5 months^[1].

[edit] Honors

[edit] United States

• CONCACAF Gold Cup (2): 2002, 2005

[edit] See also

• List of current MLS players

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• MLS player profile
• Profile on Yanks Abroad

United States Squad v • d • e United States squad – 2000 Summer Olympics 1 Friedel • 2 Dunseth • 3 McCarty • 4 Agoos • 5 O'Brien • 6 Hejduk • 7 DiGiamarino • 8 Califf • 9 Olsen • 10 Vagenas • 11 Albright • 12 Corrales • 13 Donovan • 14 Victorine • 15 Whitfield • 16 Wolff • 17 Casey • 18 Howard • Coach: Charles v • d • e United States squad – 2002 FIFA World Cup 1 Friedel • 2 Hejduk • 3 Berhalter • 4 Mastroeni • 5 O'Brien • 6 Regis • 7 Lewis • 8 Stewart • 9 Moore • 10 Reyna • 11 Mathis • 12 Agoos • 13 Jones • 14 Cherundolo • 15 Wolff • 16 Llamosa • 17 Beasley • 18 Keller • 19 Meola • 20 McBride • 21 Donovan • 22 Sanneh • 23 Pope • Coach: Arena v • d • e United States squad – 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup Champions (3rd title) 1 Hahnemann · 2 Hejduk · 3 Vanney · 4 Onyewu · 5 O'Brien · 6 Cherundolo · 7 Beasley · 8 Dempsey · 9 Quaranta · 10 Donovan · 11 Casey · 12 Conrad · 13 Noonan · 14 Armas · 15 Olsen · 16 Wolff · 18 Keller · 19 Ralston · 21 Davis · 22 Sanneh · 23 Pope · 24 Reis · 25 Mastroeni · Coach: Arena v • d • e United States squad – 2006 FIFA World Cup 1 Howard • 2 Albright • 3 Bocanegra • 4 Mastroeni • 5 O'Brien • 6 Cherundolo • 7 Lewis • 8 Dempsey • 9 Johnson • 10 Reyna • 11 Ching • 12 Berhalter • 13 Conrad • 14 Olsen • 15 Convey • 16 Wolff • 17 Beasley • 18 Keller • 19 Hahnemann • 20 McBride • 21 Donovan • 22 Onyewu • 23 Pope • Coach: Arena