 Rongen in 2012 | |||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Thomas Eddy Rongen | ||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1956-10-31)31 October 1956 (age 69) | ||||||||||
| Place of birth | Amsterdam, Netherlands | ||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||||||||||
| Position(s) | Midfielder,forward | ||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||
| 1971–1975 | Amsterdamsche FC | ||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||
| 1973–1979 | Amsterdamsche FC | ||||||||||
| 1979–1980 | Los Angeles Aztecs | 40 | (6) | ||||||||
| 1979–1980 | Los Angeles Aztecs (indoor) | 12 | (3) | ||||||||
| 1980 | Washington Diplomats | 10 | (0) | ||||||||
| 1981–1983 | Fort Lauderdale Strikers | 83 | (4) | ||||||||
| 1984 | Minnesota Strikers | 5 | (0) | ||||||||
| 1984–1985 | Minnesota Strikers (indoor) | 18 | (0) | ||||||||
| 1985 | South Florida Sun | ||||||||||
| 1985–1986 | Chicago Sting (indoor) | 14 | (1) | ||||||||
| 1987 | Houston Dynamos | ||||||||||
| 1988–1993 | Fort Lauderdale Strikers | ||||||||||
| Managerial career | |||||||||||
| 1984–1988 | Pope John Paul II High School | ||||||||||
| 1988 | South Plantation High School | ||||||||||
| 1989–1994 | Fort Lauderdale Strikers | ||||||||||
| 1991–1995 | Nova Southeastern University | ||||||||||
| 1996 | Tampa Bay Mutiny | ||||||||||
| 1997–1998 | New England Revolution | ||||||||||
| 1999–2001 | D.C. United | ||||||||||
| 2001–2005 | United States U20 | ||||||||||
| 2005 | Chivas USA | ||||||||||
| 2006–2011 | United States U20 | ||||||||||
| 2011 | American Samoa | ||||||||||
| 2014–2015 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | ||||||||||
| 2024 | American Samoa | ||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||||||||||
Thomas Eddy Rongen (born 31 October 1956) is a Dutch-American football coach who has spent the majority of his playing and coaching career in the United States.[1] In December 2016, he was named Chief Scout of theUnited States men's national soccer team. Rongen won theMLS Coach of the Year award in MLS's inaugural season in 1996, leading the Tampa Bay Mutiny to the best regular-season record. His stint managing theAmerican Samoa national team was covered in the 2014 documentaryNext Goal Wins, and the 2023 biographical comedy-drama also calledNext Goal Wins.
Rongen began his playing career withAmsterdamsche FC, with whom he played asdefensive midfielder anddefender from 1973 to 1979.[2][3]
In 1979, Rongen moved to the United States, joining theLos Angeles Aztecs of theNorth American Soccer League.[4] Rongen spent the entire 1979 season with the Aztecs. He then began the 1980 season in Los Angeles. On 12 July 1980, the Aztecs sold his contract to theWashington Diplomats.[5] The team folded at the end of the season and Rongen moved to theFort Lauderdale Strikers where he would remain for the next three seasons. In 1984,Joe Robbie, owner of the Strikers, moved the team toMinneapolis, Minnesota where it was renamed theMinnesota Strikers. Rongen moved with the team and spent the 1984 outdoor season there.[6] The league collapsed at the end of the season.
The Strikers moved to theMajor Indoor Soccer League for the 1984–1985 season. On 22 May 1985, Rongen joined theSouth Florida Sun of theUnited Soccer League.[7] The league lasted six games, then collapsed.[8] In October 1985, Rongen signed as a free agent with theChicago Sting of MISL. At the end of the season, he moved to Florida to coach youth and high school soccer. In 1987, he played for theHouston Dynamos of theLone Star Soccer Alliance. On 8 January 1988, he became the first player to sign with theFort Lauderdale Strikers of the newly establishedAmerican Soccer League.[9] He continued to play for the Strikers until 1993.
Rongen began his coaching career as an assistant with thePope John Paul II High School boys' team in 1984. On 27 June 1986, he was named as head coach.[10] During his tenure coaching PJPII, he took the team to a 32–6–5 record and he was a two timeSun-Sentinel Coach of the Year. He resigned from his position on 16 May 1988.[11] He also coached with the Plantation Eagles Soccer Club.[12] This led to his selection as coach of the Florida U-23 soccer team which defeated theUnited States national team with goals fromZen Luzniak andHenry Gutierrez in an 8 March 1987 scrimmage.[13] Rongen also served as an assistant with theNova Southeastern University men's soccer team.[14] In August 1988, he was hired to coach theSouth Plantation High School boys' team.[15]
On 8 February 1989, he replacedWim Suurbier as head coach of the Strikers.[16] He took the Strikers to the1989 ASL title and then skippered the team to a victory over theSan Diego Nomads in thenational championship game.[17] He was the1990 APSL Coach of the Year.[18] In August 1994, he resigned as head coach.[19] In November 1990, he replaced Hal Henderson as head coach ofNova Southeastern University.[20] He coached the team for five seasons, compiling a 50–35–8 record.
Rongen was one of the inaugural coaches in MLS, coaching theTampa Bay Mutiny in their first season in 1996, with whom he won theMLS regular season (and what would retrospectively become theSupporters' Shield), and also wonMLS Coach of the Year Award.[21]
On November 5, 1996 theNew England Revolution traded their first-round pick in the1997 MLS College Draft to the Tampa Bay Mutiny in exchange for the right to hire Rongen as their new head coach.[22] Rongen coached the Revolution to their first-ever playoff appearance in the1997 season,[22] but was unable to replicate the success he had in Tampa Bay.[23] When asked about his struggles in New England, Rongen referenced "cancers" in the locker room that undermined team performance in 1998, and stated "a lot of things happened behind the scenes that I didn't know about until it was too late," adding that "there were different factions where players didn't know who to trust anymore.[23]
Ultimately Rongen announced his resignation on August 24, 1998, following an 8-18 campaign in his second and final year in New England.[22] In 58 matches in charge, Rongen led the Revolution to a 23-35 record.[22]
Following his two year stint with the Revolution, Rongen succeededBruce Arena as the head coach ofD.C. United, which he led to theSupporters' Shield andMLS Cup titles in1999.[24] He was a finalist for 1999 MLS Coach of the Year, but lost out toSigi Schmid.[21]Rongen's D.C. United missed the playoffs in both2000 and2001, and he lost his job with United in 2001, and was replaced withRay Hudson.[25]
Upon leaving United, Rongen was appointed head coach of theUnited States men's U20 national team, which he coached from 2001 to his appointment as head coach ofChivas USA for the team's inaugural season in 2005. However, ten games into the season, with the team's record standing at one win, one tie, and eight losses, he was let go of his head coaching duties.
Rongen was appointed head coach of the United States men's U20 national team again in 2006 and led the team to the2007 and2009 FIFA U-20 World Cups. He was fired from that position in May 2011 after the team failed to qualify for the 2011 U-20 World Cup.[26][27]
In 2011, Rongen became the head coach ofAmerican Samoa. With Rongen at the helm, and after three weeks training them both physically and inspirationally, American Samoa registered its second ever victory on 22 November 2011, againstTonga, in the2014 World Cup qualification. Under Rongen, American Samoa reached 173rd in theFIFA World Rankings. His work with the American Samoa team is at the center of the 2014 British documentary,Next Goal Wins[28] and theTaika Waititi directedfilm of the same name, starringMichael Fassbender as Rongen.
Rongen became director ofTFC Academy prior to the 2012 season, joining countrymenAron Winter andBob de Klerk atToronto FC.[29]
He was named head coach of theTampa Bay Rowdies in December 2014.[30] Rongen was fired along with General Manager and President,Farrukh Quraishi on 21 August 2015.[31]
In late 2016, Rongen was hired byBruce Arena as the head international scout for theUnited States national team program.
He is currently asports commentator forCBS Sports andbeIN Sports.[32]
Rongen married Gail Megaloudis in 1996. He is stepfather to Gail's children withNicky Megaloudis, Nicole and Chris. In 2004, Nicole died in a single car accident on I-64 West inGoochland County, Virginia, aged 19. Rongen wore his stepdaughter's baseball cap during American Samoa's win over Tonga, as shown inNext Goal Wins.
Fort Lauderdale Strikers
Tampa Bay Mutiny
D.C. United
United States U20
Individual
