Thomas Rongen
Encyclopedia
Thomas Rongen is a Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 soccer coach, formerly the head coach of D.C. United
D.C. United
D.C. United is an American professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. which competes in Major League Soccer , the top professional soccer league in the United States and Canada. It is one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, having competed in the league since its inception, in 1996.Over the...

, the Sporting Director of Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer is a professional soccer league based in the United States and sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation . The league is composed of 19 teams — 16 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada...

 club Chivas USA, and the coach of the American Samoa national association football team. He played professionally in the North American Soccer League
North American Soccer League
North American Soccer League was a professional soccer league with teams in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984.-History:...

, Major Indoor Soccer League
Major Soccer League
The Major Indoor Soccer League, known in its final two seasons as the Major Soccer League, was an indoor soccer league in the USA from 1978 to 1992. After the folding of the North American Soccer League in 1984, the MISL was the Division I soccer league for the United States...

, and American Soccer League
American Soccer League
The American Soccer League has been a name used by three different professional soccer leagues in the United States. The first American Soccer League was established in 1921 by the merger of teams from the National Association Football League and the Southern New England Soccer League. For...

.

Player

Rongen began his playing career with Ajax Amsterdam
Ajax Amsterdam
Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax , also referred to as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam or simply Ajax , is a professional football club from Amsterdam, Netherlands...

, with whom he played defensive midfielder and defender from 1975 to 1979, but he never played for the first team. In 1979, Rongen moved to the United States, joining the Los Angeles Aztecs
Los Angeles Aztecs
The Los Angeles Aztecs were a soccer team that competed in the North American Soccer League from 1974-81. The team was based in Los Angeles, California and part-owned by Elton John.-History:...

 of the North American Soccer League
North American Soccer League
North American Soccer League was a professional soccer league with teams in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984.-History:...

. Rongen spent the entire 1979 season with the Aztecs. He then began the 1980 season in Los Angeles. On July 12, 1980, the Aztecs sold his contract to the Washington Diplomats
Washington Diplomats
The Washington Diplomats were an American soccer club based in Washington, D.C.. Throughout their existence, the club played their home games at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium...

. The team folded at the end of the season and Rongen moved to the Fort Lauderdale Strikers where he would remain for the next three seasons. In 1984, Joe Robbie, owner of the Strikers, moved the team to Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...

 where it was renamed the Minnesota Strikers
Minnesota Strikers
The Minnesota Strikers was an American professional soccer team located in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area. The team played one season in the North American Soccer League and 4 seasons in the Major Indoor Soccer League....

. Rongen moved with the team and spent the 1984 outdoor season there. The league collapsed at the end of the season and the Strikers moved to the Major Indoor Soccer League
Major Soccer League
The Major Indoor Soccer League, known in its final two seasons as the Major Soccer League, was an indoor soccer league in the USA from 1978 to 1992. After the folding of the North American Soccer League in 1984, the MISL was the Division I soccer league for the United States...

 for the 1984-1985 season. On May 22, 1985, Rongen joined the South Florida Sun of the United Soccer League
United Soccer League
The United Soccer League was a professional soccer league in the United States in the mid-1980s.After the demise of the second incarnation of the American Soccer League in 1983, four ASL teams founded the USL...

. The league lasted six games, then collapsed. In October 1985, Rongen signed as a free agent with the Chicago Sting
Chicago Sting
The Chicago Sting was an American professional soccer team based in Chicago, Illinois. The Sting played in the North American Soccer League from 1975 to 1984 and in the Major Indoor Soccer League from in the 1982-83 season and again from 1984 to 1988...

 of MISL. At the end of the season, he moved to Florida to coach youth and high school soccer. In 1987, he played for the Houston Dynamos
Houston Dynamos
Houston Dynamos was a U.S. soccer team which existed in various forms from 1983 to 1991. In 1991, the team’s owners changed the name to Houston International, but the team lasted only through the 1992 season before folding.-1984: United Soccer League:...

 of the Lone Star Soccer Alliance
Lone Star Soccer Alliance
Lone Star Soccer Alliance was a soccer league that existed from 1987 to 1992. While the majority of the teams came from Texas, some also came from Oklahoma and Kansas.-History:...

. On January 8, 1988, he became the first player to sign with the Fort Lauderdale Strikers of the newly established American Soccer League
American Soccer League
The American Soccer League has been a name used by three different professional soccer leagues in the United States. The first American Soccer League was established in 1921 by the merger of teams from the National Association Football League and the Southern New England Soccer League. For...

.

Coach

Rongen began his coaching career as an assistant with the Pope John Paul II High School
Pope John Paul II High School (Boca Raton, Florida)
Pope John Paul II High School is a college preparatory Roman Catholic secondary school with a campus in East Boca Raton, Florida, adjacent to the main campus of Lynn University. The school opened in 1980, and has a co-ed student body consisting of 600 students and 75 lay and religious teachers as...

 boy's team in 1984. On June 27, 1986, he was named as head coach. During his tenure coaching PJPII, he took the team to a 32-6-5 record and he was a two time Sun-Sentinal Coach of the Year. He resigned from his position on May 16, 1988. He also coached with the Plantation Eagles Soccer Club. This led to his selection as coach of the Florida U-23 soccer team which defeated the U.S. national team with goals from Zen Luzniak
Zen Luzniak
Zenon “Zen” Luzniak is a U.S. soccer defender who spent three seasons in the American Professional Soccer League and two in the USISL. He also earned one cap with the U.S. national team.-High school and college:...

 and Henry Gutierrez
Henry Gutierrez
Hendrig "Henry" Gutierrez is a retired American soccer player who began his career in the lower French divisions before finishing it in the United States. He was a member of the U.S. teams at the 1985 FIFA U-16 World Championship and the 1987 FIFA World Youth Championship...

 in a March 8, 1987 scrimmage. Rongen also served as an assistant with the Nova Southeastern University
Nova Southeastern University
Nova Southeastern University, commonly referred to as NSU or Nova, is a private, coeducational, nonsectarian, research university located in Broward County, Florida, with its main campus in the town of Davie...

 men's soccer team. In August 1988, he was hired to coach the South Plantation High School
South Plantation High School
South Plantation High School, also known locally as simply "South" , is a four-year, public high school located in Plantation, a large suburb of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in the United States....

 boy's team. On February 8, 1989, he replaced Wim Suurbier as head coach of the Strikers. He took the Strikers to the 1989 ASL title and then skippered the team to a victory over the San Diego Nomads
San Diego Nomads
-History:The Nomads joined the Western Soccer Alliance in 1986. In 1989, the WSA changed its name to the Western Soccer League and in 1990, the team joined the American Professional Soccer League in 1990 when the WSL merged with the American Soccer League. After winning the WSL championship in...

 in the national championship game. He was the 1990 APSL Coach of the Year. In August 1994, he resigned as head coach. In November 1990, he replaced Hal Henderson as head coach of Nova Southeastern University
Nova Southeastern University
Nova Southeastern University, commonly referred to as NSU or Nova, is a private, coeducational, nonsectarian, research university located in Broward County, Florida, with its main campus in the town of Davie...

. He coached the team for five seasons, compiling a 50-35-8 record.

Rongen was one of the inaugural coaches in MLS, coaching the Tampa Bay Mutiny
Tampa Bay Mutiny
The Tampa Bay Mutiny was a charter franchise of Major League Soccer active from 1996 - 2001. They initially played in Tampa Stadium and were immediately successful, winning the first MLS Supporters' Shield behind MLS MVP Carlos Valderrama and high-scoring forward Roy Lassiter, whose 27 goals in...

 in their first season in 1996, with whom he won the MLS regular season, and also won MLS Coach of the Year Award
MLS Coach of the Year Award
The MLS Coach of the Year Award is an award given by Major League Soccer to the best coach in any given season. The award has been given since the league's inception in 1996.-Winners:...

. After a year with the Mutiny, Rongen moved to the New England Revolution
New England Revolution
The New England Revolution is an American professional association football club based in Foxborough, Massachusetts which competes in Major League Soccer , the top professional soccer league in the United States and Canada...

, which he would coach in 1997 and 1998. After the Revolution, Rongen succeeded Bruce Arena
Bruce Arena
Bruce Arena is a former coach of the United States men's national soccer team as well as a former professional soccer and lacrosse player...

 as the head coach of D.C. United
D.C. United
D.C. United is an American professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. which competes in Major League Soccer , the top professional soccer league in the United States and Canada. It is one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, having competed in the league since its inception, in 1996.Over the...

, which he would lead to an MLS Cup
MLS Cup
The MLS Cup is the championship match of Major League Soccer, the highest tier of professional soccer in the United States and Canada. As the final match of the MLS Cup playoffs, the winner is crowned the season champion in the same manner as other North American sports leagues...

 in 1999. However, Rongen lost his job with United in 2001, and was replaced with Ray Hudson
Ray Hudson
Ray Hudson , is a retired professional football player and former coach who currently works as an English-language football commentator on Gol TV.-Career:...

. Upon leaving United, Rongen was appointed head coach of the United States U-20 men's national soccer team
United States U-20 men's national soccer team
The United States U-20 men's national soccer team is the national under-20 soccer team of the United States of America and is controlled by the United States Soccer Federation. The highest level of competition in which the team competes is the FIFA U-20 World Cup, which is held every two years.The...

, which he coached from 2001 to his appointment as head coach of Chivas 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 Under-20 United States men's national team again in 2006 and led the team to the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup
2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup
The 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the sixteenth edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup , hosted by Canada from June 30 to July 22, 2007. Argentina defeated Czech Republic in the title game by the score of 2–1, thus managing a back-to-back world title, its fifth in the past seven editions, and sixth...

 and 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup
2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup
The 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup, was the 17th U-20 tournament, which was hosted by Egypt from 24 September to 16 October, in the cities of Cairo, Alexandria, Port Said, Suez and Ismaïlia...

. He was fired from that position in May 2011.

American Samoa

With Rongen at the helm, American Samoa registered its first ever victory on 22 November 2011, against Tonga, in the 2014 World Cup Qualification. American Samoa will no longer be last in the rankings when FIFA publish the December 2011 edition.

External links

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