Mike Sorber

Mike Sorber
Personal information
Full name	Michael Steven Sorber
Date of birth	(1971-05-14) May 14, 1971
Place of birth	St. Louis, Missouri, United States
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Playing position	Midfielder
Youth career
1989–1992	Saint Louis University
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1994–1996	UNAM	51	(1)
1996	Kansas City Wizards	22	(4)
1997–1999	MetroStars	74	(4)
2000	Chicago Fire	19	(1)
National team
1992–1998	United States	67	(2)
Teams managed
2001–2006	Saint Louis University (assistant)
2007–2011	United States (assistant)
2012	Montreal Impact (assistant)
2013	United States (assistant)
2014–	Philadelphia Union (assistant)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

Michael "Mike" Steven Sorber (born May 14, 1971) is a retired American soccer player and currently serves as an assistant coach for the Philadelphia Union in Major League Soccer. He played professionally in the United States and Mexico, and was a member of the U.S. national team at the 1994 FIFA World Cup.

Youth and college

Sorber was born and raised in in Florissant, Missouri in the St. Louis area, where his father Pete 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 boys' soccer at St. Thomas Aquinas-Mercy High School where he was part of two Missouri state championship teams in 1985 and 1988. His senior year, he was honored as part of the All-Great Midwest Conference team and was the North MVP at the St. Louis North–South High School Senior All Star Game.

After graduating from high school in 1989, Sorber played NCAA soccer with the Saint Louis University men's soccer team. He was part of the Billikens’ 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.

Mexico

After spending two years contracted to the U.S. national team leading up to the 1994 World Cup, Sorber moved to Mexico to play first division soccer with UNAM. He played two seasons with Pumas and became the first American player ever to be named a Mexican League All Star.

MLS

In 1996, Sorber signed a contract with the newly established Major League Soccer (MLS). MLS allocated Sorber to Kansas City Wiz. However, he played only a single season with the Wiz before being traded to MetroStars for Damian Silvera on February 1, 1997.

Sorber played three years with MetroStars but the team made the playoffs only in 1998. MetroStars waived Sorber on February 21, 2000. He was claimed by New England Revolution but then traded to Chicago Fire during the 2000 preseason for a fourth round pick in the 2001 MLS SuperDraft. Sorber played only one year with Chicago, helping the club win the Central Division title and reach the 2000 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.

International career

Sorber earned his first cap with the national team in a 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.

Sorber played in the 1994 FIFA World Cup held in his home country. Following the tournament, national team coach Bora Milutinović stated "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." He earned his final cap in a 1998 friendly against Paraguay. Although named as an alternate for the 1998 FIFA World Cup team, he was not chosen for the final roster.

Coaching

Sorber retired in February 2001 and returned to his alma mater, Saint Louis University, where he joined the Billikens as their assistant coach.

Sorber was an assistant coach for the U.S. men's national team. He was named to the position by head coach Bob Bradley in May 2007.

On October 5, 2011, MLS expansion side Montreal Impact announced that Sorber had joined the club as an assistant coach. In January 2013, following the departure of head coach Jesse Marsch, the Montreal Impact announced that it will not retain the services of Mike Sorber for the 2013 season.^[1] On February 1, 2014, Sorber was hired by the Philadelphia Union of MLS as an assistant coach.^[2]

References

United States squads

United States squad – 1993 Copa América

1 Meola 2 Lapper 3 Doyle 4 Murray 5 Kooiman 7 Woodring 8 Kinnear 9 Ramos 10 Vermes 11 Harbor 12 Agoos 13 Jones 14 Moore 15 Armstrong 16 Sorber 17 Chung 18 Friedel 19 Henderson 20 Caligiuri 21 Clavijo 22 Lalas Coach: Milutinović

United States squad – 1994 FIFA World Cup

1 Meola (c) 2 Lapper 3 Burns 4 Kooiman 5 Dooley 6 Harkes 7 Pérez 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

United States squad – 1995 Copa América Fourth Place

1 Friedel 2 Lapper 3 Berhalter 4 Burns 5 Dooley 6 Harkes 7 Moore 8 Stewart 9 Ramos 10 Sorber 11 Wynalda 12 Sommer 13 Jones 14 Klopas 15 Bliss 16 Kirovski 17 Balboa 18 Keller 19 Kerr 20 Caligiuri 21 Reyna 22 Lalas Coach: Sampson

United States squad – 1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup Third Place

1 Friedel 2 Hejduk 3 Pittman 4 Burns 5 Dooley 6 Harkes 7 Moore 9 Ramos 11 Wynalda 12 Agoos 13 Jones 14 Klopas 15 Lassiter 16 Sorber 17 Balboa 18 Keller 19 Kirovski 20 Caligiuri 21 Reyna 22 Lalas Coach: Sampson

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