Former Houston Dynamo defender and U.S. Soccer star DaMarcus Beasley became the first American to play in four World Cups.
TEXAS, USA — Former Houston Dynamo star and U.S. Soccer legend DaMarcus Beasley was elected Saturday to the U.S. National Soccer Hall of Fame and will be inducted May 6 along with Lauren Cheney Holiday.
Beasley was elected along with fellow legend Landon Donovan. Vote totals were not announced by the hall.
Donovan, 40, was a midfielder and forward who scored 57 goals in 157 international appearances from 2000-14. He is tied with Clint Dempsey for the U.S. scoring record and is second in appearances behind Cobi Jones’ 164. Donovan was voted the U.S. Soccer Federation’s Male Athlete of the Year in 2003, ‘04, ’09 and ’10.
He scored five World Cup goals, including one in second-half injury time against Algeria to advance the U.S. to the round of 16 in 2010. He helped the Americans to CONCACAF Gold Cup titles in 2002, ‘05, ’07 and ’13.
Donovan won Major League Soccer titles with the LA Galaxy in 2005, ’11, ’12 and ’14 and a U.S. Open Cup championship in 2005. He scored 145 goals in 340 games for LA and the San Jose Earthquakes, second to Chris Wondolowski’s 171 on the MLS career list.
Donovan played for San Jose (2001-04), Bayer Leverkusen (2004-05), LA (2005-16), Bayern Munich (2009), Everton (2010, ‘121) and León (2018), plus indoors for the San Diego Sockers (2018-19).
He became the first coach of the second-tier San Diego Loyal of the United Soccer League ahead of the 2020 season.
Beasley, 40, became the first American to play in four World Cups: 2002, ‘06, ’10 and ’14. A defender and midfielder, he scored 17 goals in 126 international appearances from 2001-17. Beasley won five CONCACAG Gold Cup titles, the first four with Donovan and also in 2017.
In 2005, he became the first American to play in a European Champions League semifinal, with PSV Eindhoven.
Beasley played for Chicago (2000-04), PSV (2004-06), Manchester City (2006-07), Glasgow Rangers (2007-10), Hannover (2010), Puebla (2011-14) and Houston (2014-19).
He won the U.S. Open Cup in 2000, ‘03 and ’18, the Dutch Eredivisie in 2004–05 and ‘05–06, the Dutch Cup in 2004-05, the Scottish Premier League in 2008–09 and ’09–10, the Scottish FA Cup in 2007-08 and 2008-09 and the Scottish League Cup in 2007-08 and ’09-10.