Clint Dempsey joined an impressive list last night. No, not a list of U.S. players who have lost in World Cup qualifiers in picturesque, tropical land of Costa Rica, although that list is chock-full of talented yanks, considering the United States still has never won a qualifier there.
Dempsey joined the relatively short list of United States men with 100 caps.
Cobi Jones owns the all-time mark with 164 appearances, although he is probably just holding the spot for Landon Donovan, who will apparently soon own every U.S. record that doesn’t involve a goalkeeper glove.
(MORE: Questions linger in U.S. camp over Clint Dempsey’s fitness for upcoming qualifiers)
Dempsey talked about the achievement in a Q&A with U.S. Soccer (that was posted just before Friday’s match). Among his thoughts: “Things that jump out to me when I look back are of course my first cap against Jamaica, my first goal with the National Team against England, my first goal in the World Cup, being able to get to the Confederations Cup Final and winning our group at the last World Cup. Hopefully there will be more, but those are the ones that immediately jump out to me.”
Here’s the list of U.S. men with 100 or more caps (with number of full U.S. national team appearances):
- Cobi Jones, 164
- Donovan, Landon, 152
- Jeff Agoos, 134
- Marcelo Balboa, 127
- Claudio Reyna, 112
- Carlos Bocanegra, 110
- Paul Caligiuri, 110
- DaMarcus Beasley, 110
- Eric Wynalda, 106
- Kasey Keller, 102
- Earnie Stewart, 101
- Clint Dempsey, 100
- Tony Meola, 100
- Joe-Max Moore, 100