Eddie Johnson (soccer player, March 1984)

Eddie Johnson
Personnel
Surname	Edward Johnson
birthday	March 31, 1984
place of birth	Bunnell , Florida ,  United States
size	183 cm
position	striker
Juniors
Years	station
	Bradenton Academy
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
2001-2005	FC Dallas	84 (24)
2006-2007	Kansas City Wizards	43 (17)
2008-2011	Fulham FC	19 0(0)
2008-2009	→  Cardiff City  (loan)	30 0(2)
2010	→  Aris Thessaloniki  (loan)	15 0(5)
2011	→  Preston North End  (loan)	16 0(0)
2012-2013	Seattle Sounders FC	49 (23)
2014-2015	DC United	26 0(7)
National team
Years	selection	Games (goals) 2
2004-2014	United States	63 (19)
1 Only league games are given. Status: February 12, 2015 2 As of February 12, 2015

Edward "Eddie" Johnson (born March 31, 1984 in Bunnell , Florida ) is a retired American football player .

Athletic career

After Johnson had also played American football and basketball in his youth , he then concentrated on the sport of football, attended the Bradenton Academy , a renowned football school in Bradenton , Florida and was used in 52 international matches of the U-17 selection of the US national team . He was also a member of the Project 40 team, a Nike- sponsored team of the MLS and the United States Soccer Federation (USSF). In 2001, he was one of the youngest players in the history of the MLS to speak about the draft system in committed to the second round by the Dallas Burn club .

Johnson spent a lot of time with the U-17 national team, participating in the 2001 World Cup in Trinidad and Tobago , and only made ten games for his club in Kansas. In the following season he contracted a severe sprain of his left ankle and again missed ten championship games. Although he did not make a breakthrough in his club at first - Johnson showed very volatile performances and only scored a total of seven goals in his first three years in the MLS - he nonetheless became an important player in the U-20 national team, with which he competed qualified for the Junior Soccer World Cup in the United Arab Emirates in 2003. He moved his team to the quarterfinals and scored four goals (including three penalties ) during the tournament , making him - together with three other players - the top scorer .

After the successful tournament, Johnson was able to bring his qualities to the club level, with the change of coach to Colin Clarke having a positive effect in this regard. He scored 12 more goals in 2004 than in the past three seasons combined and was, together with Brian Ching , the best scorer of the season and also the youngest top scorer in MLS history at the time. The good performance was accompanied by the fact that Johnson made his first appearance in the senior national team, where he scored his first goal in a qualifying game for the 2006 World Cup on October 9, 2004 against El Salvador and just four days later against Panama within just 17 minutes three more goals followed. He also scored in the next two qualifying games, making him the first US international to score at least one goal in each of his first four internationals.

Johnson injured the toe of his right foot in May 2005 and was sidelined until August of the same year. He made his comeback at both the club and the national team on September 7, but the injury broke up again, causing Johnson's season to end prematurely after five goals this season. After recovering in January 2006, his salary disagreement developed and he joined the Kansas City Wizards on February 14 for two years. In August 2006, the MLS negotiated with the Spanish club Real Sociedad San Sebastián and agreed to loan Johnson for a year. Since the new owner of the Wizards prevented this venture, this change did not take place. Johnson would have become the first US outfield player in the Spanish elite league and only the second US footballer after goalkeeper Kasey Keller . Another point of contact with European top division football was in November 2006, when Johnson trained with the English Premier League club Reading FC during the MLS pre-season . Despite the constant rumors of a move to Europe, Johnson struggled with a form crisis in 2006 and the early months of 2007. He came up with only two goals in the MLS in the 2006 season and was also weak in the national team.

In the 2007 season, Johnson found overall good performance again, scoring twelve goals in the first eleven games. The suspicions about a move to England increased and Derby County in particular showed great interest. Although the MLS had already accepted the "Rams" transfer fee of six million dollars, Johnson reportedly dropped the deal himself because he wanted to end the season with the Wizards. On January 17, 2008 Johnson left a training camp for the national team in California and six days later signed a contract with Fulham FC that binds him to his new club until the summer of 2011.

In the summer of 2008 he was loaned to Cardiff City . After his loan from Cardiff, Johnson played in the Europe League game against FK Vetra. Previously, he scored a goal for Fulham in a friendly against Melbourne Victory . For the rest of the season it was not taken into account.

On December 31, 2009 Johnson was loaned to the Greek first division club Aris Saloniki . He played his first game in the Super League on January 17, 2010 against PAS Ioannina . He was substituted on in the second half.

After the loan deal, his contract, which expired in summer 2011, was not extended. He is currently looking for a new club.

In February 2012, Johnson signed a contract with the Seattle Sounders .

Others

• Johnson was nicknamed “Grown-Ass Man” (or “GAM” for short) by his followers after expressing his aversion to video games in an interview on the grounds that he was a grown man (“I don't play video games. I'm a grown-ass man. ").
• He has an older sister and a younger brother.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ "Wizards' watershed week" ( Memento of 22 June 2011 at the Internet Archive ) (Sports Illustrated)
2. ^ "Eddie Johnson Transfer News" ( Memento from September 29, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (SoccerBuzz)
3. ^ "Wizard's Fulham link after he leaves USA training camp" (Daily Mail)
4. ^ "Fulham complete Johnson signing" (BBC Sport)
5. ↑ USA striker Johnson joins Cardiff (news.bbc.co.uk)
6. ↑ Johnson scores for Fulham in exhibition (usatoday.com)
7. ↑ Johnson leaves Fulham (skysports.com)

Web links

• Eddie Johnson in the soccerbase.com database
• Information on ussoccerplayers.com (English)