Josh Wolff

Josh Wolff Personal information Full name Joshua David Wolff Date of birth February 25, 1977(1977-02-25) (age 31) Place of birth Stone Mountain, GA, United StatesHeight 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) Playing position ForwardClub information Current club Free Agent Youth clubs 1995-97 South Carolina 43 (21) Senior clubs1 Years Club App (Gls)* 1998-2002
2003-2006
2007-2008 Chicago Fire
Kansas City Wizards
1860 Munich84 (32)
80 (27)
34 (2) National team2 1999- United States52 0(9)

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only and
correct as of 21 May 2008.
2 National team caps and goals correct
as of 6 June 2008.
* Appearances (Goals)

Joshua David "Josh" Wolff (born February 25, 1977 in Stone Mountain, Georgia) is an American soccer player who is currently a free agent.

1 College
2 MLS
3 Failed move to England
4 Germany
5 National team
6 External links

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, while playing with another future United States national team star in Clint Mathis.

MLS

After his junior season, Wolff left college and signed with Major League Soccer (MLS). 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.

Failed move to England

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.

Germany

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.

National team

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 50 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.