Roy Wegerle
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Roy Wegerle (born March 19, 1964 in Pretoria) is a South African-American soccer player, who played for the United States in the 1994 and 1998 World Cups.
Although born in South Africa, Wegerle went to the United States to play college soccer, doing so for the University of South Florida. In 1984, he played in the last year of the NASL with the Tampa Bay Rowdies, and was named the Rookie of the Year. When the league folded, Wegerle moved to England, where he would play for Chelsea, Luton Town, Queens Park Rangers, Coventry City and Blackburn Rovers.
Wegerle gained his US citizenship in 1991, after being eligible through his American wife. He made his national team debut on May 30, 1992 against the Republic of Ireland, and would go on to record 41 caps and score 7 goals for his adopted country. He was a key player in the 1994 World Cup and a fringe one in 1998.
In 1996, Wegerle joined Major League Soccer (MLS) and the Colorado Rapids. He had very little success in MLS, playing for only three seasons and scoring a total of 10 league goals. The years were split between Colorado (he was also a caretaker head coach for one game after Bobby Houghton was fired), D.C. United, and the Tampa Bay Mutiny, when he was part of what is considered the most lop-sided trade in league history, when DC sent him to Tampa for Roy Lassiter. Lassiter was MLS's all-time leading goalscorer; Wegerle played half a season for the Mutiny before retiring.
After his retirement, Wegerle has been trying to make it as a professional golfer.
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United States squad - 1994 World Cup | |
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1 Meola | 2 Lapper | 3 Burns | 4 Kooiman | 5 Dooley | 6 Harkes | 7 Perez | 8 Stewart | 9 Ramos | 10 Wegerle | 11 Wynalda | 12 Sommer | 13 Jones | 14 Klopas | 15 Moore | 16 Sorber | 17 Balboa | 18 Friedel | 19 Reyna | 20 Caligiuri | 21 Clavijo | 22 Lalas | Coach: Milutinović |
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United States squad - 1998 FIFA World Cup | |
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1 Friedel | 2 Hejduk | 3 Pope | 4 Burns | 5 Dooley | 6 Regis | 7 Wegerle | 8 Stewart | 9 Moore | 10 Ramos | 11 Wynalda | 12 Agoos | 13 Jones | 14 Preki | 15 Deering | 16 Sommer | 17 Balboa | 18 Keller | 19 Maisonneuve | 20 McBride | 21 Reyna | 22 Lalas | Coach: Sampson |
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Categories: 1964 births | Living people | American soccer players | South African soccer players | NASL players | Tampa Bay Rowdies players | Chelsea F.C. players | Swindon Town F.C. players | Luton Town F.C. players | Queens Park Rangers F.C. players | Blackburn Rovers F.C. players | Coventry City F.C. players | Colorado Rapids players | Colorado Rapids coaches | D.C. United players | People from Pretoria | Tampa Bay Mutiny players | FIFA World Cup 1994 players | FIFA World Cup 1998 players | Naturalized citizens of the United States | South African golfers | FA Premier League players | United States men's international soccer players
