Caligiuri to Close Chapter Today
The 30-year roller-coaster ride ends today for Paul Caligiuri. The youngster who used to bang a soccer ball off a garage door in Diamond Bar three decades ago and who grew up to become one of the finest U.S. players of his generation, an NCAA champion and an Olympic and World Cup standout, plays his final game today. Only 90 minutes remain in his career, an hour and a half in which he hopes to help the Galaxy close its season by defeating the New England Revolution in the U.S. Open Cup final.
“I have an abundance of feelings going through me,” he said. “In a lot of ways, I’m happy. I feel like it’s coming to an end and I can put closure to it and open up the next chapter in my life. But there are moments I do feel sad.
“I’ve had a fine career for an American soccer player. I’ve traveled the world, played in two World Cups.... Most players don’t make it to the age of 37, so from that angle I’m also fortunate.”
The tremendous impact he has had on the sport in this country was exemplified Sunday, when the Galaxy lost in overtime to the San Jose Earthquakes in Major League Soccer’s 2001 championship match in Columbus, Ohio. After the game, Caligiuri approached San Jose’s Jeff Agoos, the MLS defender of the year and a U.S. national team veteran who had just won his record fourth league title.
“Walking off the field, I went up to Jeff and I was congratulating him because I know that he’s been faced with adversities and now he’s living on top of the soccer world in the United States, and deservingly so,” Caligiuri said.
“He looked at me and said, ‘Cal, you know this would be impossible if it wasn’t for you.’ ... Just to hear comments like that from Jeff and from other players around the league is really comforting at the end of the day.”
There are few, if any, people involved in soccer in the U.S. who fail to understand what Agoos meant by “if it wasn’t for you.” The reference was to a pivotal World Cup qualifying game played on Nov. 19, 1989, and to the vital goal Caligiuri scored for the U.S. against Trinidad and Tobago in Port of Spain, Trinidad.
That goal gave the Americans a 1-0 victory and put the U.S. into the 1990 World Cup in Italy, its first appearance on that stage for 40 years. It also assured that the U.S. would host the 1994 World Cup, the success of which led, in turn, to the creation of MLS in 1996.
The goal, said Alan Rothenberg, former president of U.S. Soccer, chairman of World Cup ’94 and founder of MLS, “was the launching point of a tremendous decade for soccer in the United States.”
Caligiuri’s career was about far more than one game or one goal, however.
The kid who started playing in AYSO at age 7 went on to become an All-American at UCLA, captain of the Bruins’ 1985 NCAA championship team. By then, he already was a U.S. national team starter. His national team career lasted 14 years, from 1984 to 1997, and encompassed the Seoul Olympic Games as well as the Italia ’90 and USA ’94 World Cup tournaments.
“He really has been one of the true pioneers of this game,” former U.S. captain John Harkes said.
In all, Caligiuri played 110 games for the U.S., a total that leaves him third on the all-time list behind two other Los Angeles-area players, Galaxy teammate Cobi Jones and the Colorado Rapids’ Marcelo Balboa.
“What he’s given to U.S. soccer, what he’s given to MLS, is beyond compare,” said Galaxy Coach Sigi Schmid, who calls Caligiuri “the best athlete that I’ve ever coached.”
Caligiuri, who lives in Walnut with his daughters Ashley, 9, and Kayley, 5, doesn’t have the flashy goal totals of, say, Eric Wynalda, or the flashy quotes of, say, Alexi Lalas, but his contribution to the sport has been equally significant.
“I feel that I’ve made an impact on improving the game here in the U.S.,” he said. “What legacy I leave is really all in the eyes of the beholder.”
After today’s game, Caligiuri will become the men’s and women’s coach at Cal Poly Pomona. The experiences gained while playing for the national team and professionally in Germany and the U.S. will serve him well.
“Certainly, his knowledge of the game, his understanding of the game, the experiences that he will be able to share with his players” will help him tremendously, said Schmid, who in midseason recalled another side of Caligiuri.
“Probably my fondest memory was when Paul went to Germany and one of the first teams he played against was my favorite, Stuttgart. He sent me the jersey that he had got in that game. I think that is what really epitomizes Paul. Some people just see the competitive and aggressive nature that Paul has, but there is a very big heart there. That jersey would have been a very big keepsake.”
Asked earlier this year what he felt would be most difficult about his transition to coaching, Caligiuri gave a reply as revealing as it was poignant.
“Accepting that I’m not a player anymore,” he said.
