Eddie Pope

George Edward "Eddie" Pope II (*December 24,1973 in Greensboro, North Carolina) is a former professional soccer player from the USA. He is one of the most accomplished defenders in US soccer history and one of the best ever in MLS

Eddie Pope
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Personal information
Full name	George Edward Pope
Date of birth	December 24, 1973
Place of birth	Greensboro, North Carolina, USA
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Playing position	Defender
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1996-2002 2003-2004 2005-2007	DC United />MetroStars />Real Salt Lake	143 (8) 42 (0) 70 (2)
National team2
1996–2006	USA	82 (8)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 13 June 2008. 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 3 August 2006. * Appearances (Goals)

When it had come time for college, Eddie decided to go to the University of North Carolina at Chapel-Hill to enter a football scholarship.
In 1996, the D.C. United selected him as the second pick in the MLS College Draft. Right in his first season, Pope scored the "Golden Goal" for his team to beat the Los Angeles Galaxy 3-2 in the MLS Cup finals at a rain soaked Foxboro Stadium.

Afterwards, he won the Cup two more times (1997 and 1999). Pope participated in the 1996 Olympics and 1998 and 2002 in the FIFA World Cups for the US national soccer team.

From 2003 until 2004, he played for the MetroStars, from 2005 until 2007 for the Real Salt Lake, where he quit his career at the end of the 2007 season.

[edit] Foundation

In addition to loving the game of soccer, Eddie Pope had always had a great love for children, especially those who face special challenges.

That’s why he started thinking of an organization that could bring soccer to inner city youths would not be able to participate in this team sport without financial and organizational support in 1997.

With the help of a sponsor, Pope began the "Eddie Pope Community Soccer League" (now: "Eddie Pope Urban Soccer League") in Washington, DC in the fall of 1997. Only one year later, it was obvious that the program was growing and succeeding very quickly.
So he came to the conclusion that he should provide an arena in which children could learn teamwork and the importance of physical fitness within his program on the one hand’s side, and to place these children in educational settings where they could learn about social and personal responsibility, nutrition, community involvement and career development.

He founded the Eddie Pope Foundation, Inc. on December 24, 1998, his 25th birthday.

[edit] Links

• Official website of The Eddie Pope Foundation

Created by: ShaqAttack Last edited by: Premier League