Ex-USA defenseman Oguchi Onwenyu is hired as the US Soccer Federation’s vice president of sports, where he will help find the team’s new head coach in the wake of the Gregg Berhalter scandal
- Oguchi Onyewu retired from his board position to become VP of sporting for the USSF
- Onyewu represented the USMNT 69 times, including the 2006 World Cup
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Former defenseman Oguchi Onyewu was hired by the U.S. Soccer Federation on Wednesday as vice president of sports, a newly created role that the governing body says is not a replacement for men’s general manager Brian McBride.
The USSF said Onyewu will report to Matt Crocker, who will begin as sporting director on August 2, and help hire a men’s national team coach. Onyewu will work with men’s and women’s national teams at all levels and help manage relationships with clubs and leagues.
Gregg Berhalter, whose contract expired on Dec. 31, remains a candidate to stay on as head coach of the men’s national team after a law firm hired by the USSF concluded that he had not improperly withheld information about a 1992 domestic violence incident involving the woman who later became Berhalter’s wife. . Anthony Hudson, one of Berhalter’s assistants, was hired as an interim coach in January.
The USSF said Crocker will decide whether to fill McBride’s position.
Onyewu, a 40-year-old from Olney, Maryland, scored six goals in 69 games for the US from 2004-14, started three games at the 2006 World Cup and two more in 2010. year 2006.
Oguchi Onyewu stepped down from his board position to assume the position of Vice President of Sports at USSF
Onyewu represented the U.S. men’s team 69 times, including the 2006 World Cup
Onyewu was elected to the USSF board of directors in 2021 and resigned last week to take on the staff position.
His club career spanned 2002-2017 and included time at Standard Liege (2004-2009) and limited appearances at Newcastle (2007), Sporting Lisbon (2011-13), Sheffield Wednesday (2014) and Charlton (2014-15). He last played with Philadelphia in 2017.
He transferred to AC Milan ahead of the 2009–10 season but played in just one game, 31 minutes against Zurich in the Champions League group stage on 30 September 2009. He tore the patellar tendon in his left knee during a World Cup qualifier against Costa Rica on October 14.
In November 2010, Onyewu made headlines when he got into a fight with star Zlatan Ibrahimovic during a training session in Milan.
After retiring as a player, Onyewu became Sporting Director of Orlando City B in 2018 and General Secretary of Royal Excelsior Virton in Belgium in 2020. He has also broadcast for CBS.