OPPOSITION LEGENDS
Jeff Agoos was inaugurated into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2009 having made an incredible 134 appearances for the United States national team between 1988 and 2003.
In fact, the defender made his 134th and final appearance for his country in the friendly against Cymru in California. Despite being born in Switzerland, he grew up in Texas and spent the majority of his club career in the United States, with the exception of a brief spell with German club SV Wehen in 1994 and a loan spell in England with West Bromwich Albion where he failed to make a single appearance.
Despite his status in the game, Agoos was controversially omitted from the United States squad for the 1994 FIFA World Cup that would be held in America. Although he continued to represent his country despite the setback, he was an unused member of the squad in 1998 World Cup when the side failed to make it out of the group stage as they suffered three straight defeats. However, his time would come in 2002 when he started all three group games at the finals in Korea and Japan, but injury ruled him out of the remainder of the tournament as the United States achieved their highest-ever quarter-final place. “You've got to play with your head and your heart,” said Agoos famously. “You can't play with one or the other, or you'll get killed.”
