Claudio Reyna
Claudio Reyna (born July 20, 1973 in Livingston, New Jersey) is an American soccer player who is currently the captain of the United States men's national soccer team. Reyna, a midfielder, plays his club soccer for Manchester City in the English Premier League.
Reyna played college soccer at the University of Virginia, where he was coached by current national team coach Bruce Arena, and won the college Player of the Year award. He briefly joined the Columbus Crew of Major League Soccer, but decided to further his career in Europe. He first joined the Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen, but received little playing time there, and later transferred to fellow Bundesliga side VfL Wolfsburg, where he was far more successful. At Wolfsburg, he became the first American to captain a major European club. He then was transferred to Rangers in Scotland, playing there for almost three years (January 1999 to December 2001) before a transfer to Premiership side Sunderland.
In October 2002, he injured the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee, keeping him out of action for the rest of the 2002-2003 season; his injury was one of the key factors in Sunderland's relegation from the Premiership that season. Relegation made it impossible for Sunderland to afford Reyna, and the Black Cats sold him to Manchester City in the 2003 off-season.
Reyna had further injury troubles in his first season for Man City, but returned to the starting lineup at the end of the season.
As an US national player, Reyna has played the 1994, 1998 and 2002 World Cups. In 2002, he inspired the United States to the quarterfinals, losing to eventual runner-up Germany, and became the first American ever named to the World Cup's all-tournament team.
In England, he is frequently referred to as Captain America because of his status as USA international captain.
