Mike Sorber
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Mike Sorber | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Mike Sorber | |
| Date of birth | June 14, 1971 (age 35) | |
| Place of birth | Florissant, Missouri, United States | |
| Height | 5 ft 10 in | |
| Nickname | Sorbs, Skooter | |
| Playing position | Midfielder | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | Retired | |
| Youth clubs | ||
| 1989-1992 | St. Louis University | |
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1994-1996 1996 1997-1999 2000 2000 |
UNAM Pumas Kansas City Wizards MetroStars New England Revolution Chicago Fire |
51 (1) 28 (4) 76 (5) 0 (0) 24 (1) |
| National team2 | ||
| 1992–1998 | United States | 67 (2) |
| Teams managed | ||
| 2001- | St. Louis University (assistant) | |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
Mike "Sorbs" Sorber (born May 14, 1971 in Florissant, Missouri) is a retired American soccer defensive midfielder and current college soccer coach.
Sorber's father, Pete "Sorbs" Sorber was the head coach of the St. Louis Community College-Florissant Valley soccer team for 30 years. During those years, he led the college to 10 National Junior College Athletic Association national championships. Under his father’s tutelage, Mike developed into a polished youth player. He played boy’s soccer at Aquinas Mercy High School (1985, 1988), where he was part of two state championship teams. His senior year, he was honored as part of the All-Great Midwest Conference team. After high school, Sorber played NCAA soccer with the Saint Louis University men’s soccer team. He was part of the Billikins’ 1991 Final Four appearance in the NCAA tournament and was a 1992 Hermann Trophy finalist. He ended his career at St. Louis with 13 goals and 29 assists. While he finished his college playing career in 1992, Sorber continued to work on his college education and graduated in 1994 with a bachelor’s degree in communications with a minor in criminal justice.
Sorber earned his first cap with the national team in January 25, 1992 loss to the Commonwealth of Independent States team. He would go on to earn a total of 67 caps, scoring 2 goals with the national team. He has a mixed reputation from his time with the national team. He played a position typically associated with hard-tackling physicality with a polished smoothness and a preppy demeanor – he tended to play with his jersey collar turned up. As such he has been consistently underrated. However, Bora Milutinovic, coach of the United States’s 1994 FIFA World Cup team said, “When you analyze the World Cup, Sorber was probably our MVP. It is difficult for me to explain what I feel about him. He is disciplined and intelligent.” Milutinovic felt so highly of Sorber that he started all four U.S. games in that cup. He played his last game in a 1998 tie with Paraguay. Although named as an alternate for the 1998 FIFA World Cup team, he was not chosen for it and did not play in the games.
After the 1994 World Cup, Sorber moved to Mexico to play first division soccer with the UNAM Pumas. He played two seasons with the Pumas and became the first U.S. player to be named a Mexican All Star.
In 1996, Sorber signed a contract with the newly established Major League Soccer (MLS). MLS allocated Sorber to the Kansas City Wiz. However, he played only a single season with the Wiz before being traded to the MetroStars for Damian Silvera on February 1, 1997.
Sorber played three years with the MetroStars. However, the team made the playoffs only in 1998. The MetroStars waived Sorber on February 21, 2000. The New England Revolution claimed Sorber, but traded him to the Chicago Fire during the 2000 preseason for Chicago’s fourth round 2001 draft pick. Sorber played only one year with the Fire, helping it win the Central Division title and reach the MLS Cup final. In five years in the league, he scored nine goals and added 17 assists, plus a goal and five assists in the playoffs.
Mike Sorber retired from playing professional soccer in February 2001 and moved to Saint Louis University, where he joined the Billikens as their assistant coach.
 |
United States squad - 1994 FIFA World Cup | |
|---|---|---|
|
1 Meola | 2 Lapper | 3 Burns | 4 Kooiman | 5 Dooley | 6 Harkes | 7 Perez | 8 Stewart | 9 Ramos | 10 Wegerle | 11 Wynalda | 12 Sommer | 13 Jones | 14 Klopas | 15 Moore | 16 Sorber | 17 Balboa | 18 Friedel | 19 Reyna | 20 Caligiuri | 21 Clavijo | 22 Lalas | Coach: Milutinović |
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Categories: 1971 births | Living people | American soccer players | United States men's international soccer players | UNAM Pumas footballers | Kansas City Wizards players | MetroStars players | Chicago Fire players | Saint Louis University alumni | People from St. Louis | FIFA World Cup 1994 players
