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John Harkes (born March 8, 1967 in Kearny, New
Jersey|Kearny, New Jersey) is a talented United
States|American soccer player. A mainstay of the
United States men's national soccer team|United
States national soccer team for most of the 1990s,
he became known as "Captain for Life" with 90
career appearances on the team.

After playing soccer at the University of
Virginia, he began his professional career at
Sheffield Wednesday F.C.|Sheffield Wednesday in
1990. In 1993, he became the only American to
score in a League Cup Final in a 2-1 loss to
Arsenal F.C.|Arsenal. That goal was also the first
one ever scored by an American at Wembley Stadium.
Harkes then went on to play for England|English
teams Derby County F.C.|Derby County and West Ham
United F.C.|West Ham United.

John Harkes played in the Football World Cup
1990|1990 and Wc|1994s and was controversially cut
from the team weeks before the Football World Cup
1998|1998 tournament by national team coach Steve
Sampson.

In 1996, John Harkes returned to America to be
captain for D.C. United in their inaugural season.
That year he led the team to a Major League Soccer
championship and a U.S. Open Cup win. With Harkes
at the helm, D.C. United successfully defended
their MLS title the following year. He later
played with the New England Revolution, Columbus
Crew, and English squad Nottingham Forest
F.C.|Nottingham Forest.

In 2003, John Harkes announced his retirement from
professional soccer. He is currently the director
of youth development for D.C. United and acts as a
color commentator for soccer broadcasts in the
United States. His autobiography, titled Captain
for Life (ISBN 188694749X) was co-written with
Denise Kiernan and published in 1999.

Harkes was elected to the National Soccer Hall of
Fame on the first ballot, in 2005.

==External link==
http://www.ussoccerplayers.com/players/john_harkes
/ U.S. Soccer Players biography page