MLS Cobi Jones - Retirement of a Soccer Legend

Cobi Jones announced Monday that the 2007 campaign will be his last... he's hanging up his cleats. As the only Major League Soccer player to have played all 12 MLS seasons with the same club (Los Angelas Galaxy), and with the most national team call-ups of any American player (164 caps) his longevity is a tribute to his passion for the sport.

Easily recognizable for his thick mane of dreadlocks - Cobi was easily the most recognizable soccer player in America, and became the face of his generation of soccer stars. Playing along side American soccer legends such as Paul Caligiuri, Alexi Lalas, Brad Friedel, and Joe-Max Moore, Cobi helped set the stage for the new rising of American soccer.

Cobi Jones played for the UCLA Bruins from 1988 to 1991, and earned NSCAA All-American honors in 1991. He went to England after college, playing one season with Coventry City of the English Premier League. Cobi then played 1/2 a season with Brazil's Vasco Da Gama before joining Major League Soccer's Los Angelas Galaxy in 1996 - scoring the Galaxy's very first goal on April 13, 1996. With Cobi's help, the Galaxy won MLS Championships in 2002 and 2005. With one season remaining, Cobi has scored 66 goals for the Galaxy over 281 games - both are club records.

Cobi Jones donned the United States jersey a record 164 times - with his first cap coming Sept. 3, 1992 vs. Canada. Cobi has scored 15 times for his country, and played in three different World Cups - playing every minute of the 1994 and 1998 World Cups, and came off the bench during the 2002 World Cup.

He won both the 1998 Honda U.S. Player of the Year award and the 1998 Chevrolet U.S. Soccer Male Athlete of the Year award, and was the youngest player in the world to reach 100 caps - coming in an historic 1-0 win over Brazil in the semifinals of the 1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

In December of 2005, Cobi was honored by FIFA, who extended an invitation to Cobi to take part in the 2006 World Cup draw ceremony. Cobi joined football legends Pele, Johann Cruyff, Lothar Matthaeus and others to pull countries names out of the pots to determine first round matchups in Germay.

In November of 2006, Cobi joined forces with the Sports Authority to create a campaign titled Little Feet, Big Goals (www.littlefeet.com) with the goal of gifting 50,000 soccer balls to Iraqi children. The goal has been expanded to give soccer balls to kids world wide.

Cobi Jone's retirement marks the end of an era - Cobi and his fellow soccer stars helped put American on the world soccer stage. He helped get us here, it's up to the younger stars to pick up his cleats and keep pushing our way to the top.