Califf with Philadelphia Union in 2010 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Full name | Daniel Benjamin Califf | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Date of birth | March 17, 1980 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Place of birth | Montclair, California, United States | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Position(s) | Defender | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
College career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
1998–1999 | Maryland Terrapins | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
2000–2004 | Los Angeles Galaxy | 103 | (5) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
2000 | → MLS Pro-40 (loan) | 2 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
2005 | San Jose Earthquakes | 20 | (2) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
2006–2008 | AaB | 69 | (2) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
2008–2009 | Midtjylland | 31 | (1) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
2010–2012 | Philadelphia Union | 65 | (1) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
2012 | Chivas USA | 19 | (1) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
2013 | Toronto FC | 4 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Total | 313 | (12) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
International career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1997 | United States U17 | 3 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
1999 | United States U20 | 4 | (1) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
2000 | United States U23 | 6 | (1) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
2002–2010 | United States | 26 | (1) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
Daniel Benjamin Califf (born March 17, 1980) is an American retired professional soccer player who played as a defender.
Califf (pronounced kāl'ĭ-f) was born in Orange, California. He started his youth career in soccer for Canyon Hills Soccer Association, playing on the Canyon Classic team coached by his father. He played college soccer at the University of Maryland from 1998 to 2000. As a freshman, he started all 24 of the team's games, and was named to the Soccer America All-Freshman team for helping to lead the Terrapins to the Final Four. In his second year of college, he started 20 games, and was named an NSCAA third-team All-American.
After his sophomore season, Califf signed a Project-40 contract with MLS and entered the 2000 MLS SuperDraft, where he was selected sixth overall by the Los Angeles Galaxy. Califf was immediately slotted into the Galaxy's starting line up, appearing in 18 games, 16 of them starts, as a rookie. Over the next three years, Califf would establish himself as one of the best central defenders in the league, starting 69 games for the Galaxy while helping the team to win a U.S. Open Cup in 2001 and a MLS Cup in 2002. Califf struggled with injuries in 2004, and was able to make only 10 starts, playing 855 minutes.
Califf was traded to the San Jose Earthquakes for an allocation prior to the 2005 season. [1] He then regained his old form and even improved, being named to the MLS Best XI for the first time. Califf has scored seven league goals and four assists in six years in MLS.
He left the Quakes after just one season to sign with Aalborg in the Danish Superliga. [2] In his first full season at Aalborg, Califf played 30 of 33 games, and helped the team win bronze medals in the 2006–07 Superliga season. Califf scored his first Aalborg goal on the last match day of the season, as bronze medal contenders Odense BK were defeated 3–1. After the season, during AaB's Intertoto Cup campaign, Califf was named club captain. In the 2007–08 Superliga season he helped Aalborg to a gold medal but after the season he could not agree with Aalborg on a new contract. He eventually signed with Danish Superliga rivals Midtjylland.
On December 3, 2009, the Philadelphia Union announced that they had acquired Califf's MLS rights from Houston Dynamo and that he would join the team for their inaugural 2010 season. [3] Before the Union's first game against Seattle Sounders FC he was announced as the team's captain. Califf scored his first goal for the Union in the 2011 MLS season opener win against Houston Dynamo on March 19, 2011. [4] He was named to the MLS Team of the week for this performance that match also. [5] On June 8, Califf was named a nominee for the MLS All-Star Game. [6] It was announced that he was fifth in defender voting for the All-Star Game. [7]
On May 17, 2012, Califf was traded to Chivas USA for Michael Lahoud and allocation money. [8] At the end of the 2012 season, Chivas USA declined Califf's contract option and he entered the 2012 MLS Re-Entry Draft. On December 14, 2012, Califf was selected by Toronto FC with the first pick of stage two of the draft and that day signed a contract with Toronto for the 2013 season. [9]
Califf announced his retirement from soccer on July 12, 2013. [10]
In 2014, Califf became an assistant coach under Charlie Dodds, President of YSC Sports, home of the Philadelphia Union Academy. After one year of coaching at YSC Sports, he returned to Toronto FC as a scout through 2016.
Califf has settled back in his hometown of Orange, CA with his family. Currently, he is the Founder and President of his own personal training company, Professional Soccer Resource (PSR) and holds the title of Technical Director for the youth soccer club Boca O.C.
Califf has played for the United States national team at every level from the U-17's to the senior team. He has appeared in the 1997 FIFA U-17 World Championship, the 1999 World Youth Championship in Egypt, and the 2000 Sydney Olympics . Additionally, he has appeared in 26 games for the full national team, getting his first cap against South Korea on January 19, 2002.
Califf played in the 2003 & 2009 Confederations Cup, the 2002, 2003, & 2009 Gold Cups and the 2007 Copa America.
He served as captain twice for the team on July 5, 2007, when the United States lost 1–0 to Colombia during their final group game in Venezuela (2007 Copa America) and again in 2009 With a win against Sweden in Carson, CA.
Club | Season | League | National cup [a] | League cup [b] | Continental | Total | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Los Angeles Galaxy | 2000 | MLS | 18 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 2 |
2001 | MLS | 24 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 1 | – | 35 | 4 | ||
2002 | MLS | 25 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 1 | – | 34 | 2 | ||
2003 | MLS | 23 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 28 | 0 | |||
2004 | MLS | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | – | 16 | 2 | ||
Total | 103 | 5 | 15 | 0 | 19 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 137 | 8 | ||
San Jose Earthquakes | 2005 | MLS | 20 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 23 | 2 | |
Aalborg BK | 2005–06 [11] | Danish Superliga | 9 | 0 | – | – | ||||||
2006–07 [11] | Danish Superliga | 30 | 1 | – | – | |||||||
2007–08 [11] | Danish Superliga | 30 | 1 | – | 11 | 1 | 41 | 2 | ||||
Total | 69 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 11 | 1 | 95 | 3 | ||
FC Midtjylland | 2008–09 [11] | Danish Superliga | 26 | 1 | 0 | 0 | – | 3 | 0 | 29 | 1 | |
2009–10 [11] | Danish Superliga | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | ||
Total | 31 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 34 | 1 | ||
Philadelphia Union | 2010 | MLS | 28 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 0 |
2011 | MLS | 33 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 36 | 1 | |
2012 | MLS | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | |
Total | 65 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 69 | 1 | ||
Chivas USA | 2012 | MLS | 19 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 22 | 1 | |
Toronto FC | 2013 | MLS | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 6 | 0 | ||
Career otal | 311 | 12 | 29 | 0 | 32 | 3 | 14 | 1 | 386 | 16 |
He scored his only international goal against Haiti on March 16, 2004.
# | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | March 16, 2004 | Miami, Florida | ![]() | 0–1 | 1–1 | Friendly match |
Los Angeles Galaxy
San Jose Earthquakes
Aalborg
United States
Individual
The LA Galaxy are an American professional soccer club based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. The Galaxy began play in 1996 as one of the league's ten charter members.
Brian Ching is an American former professional soccer player who played for twelve years in Major League Soccer and represented the U.S. national team for eight years.
Alejandro Enrique Moreno Riera is a Venezuelan former professional footballer who played as a forward, and who is a television commentator for ESPN FC, ESPN Deportes and ESPN Latin America. Moreno won three MLS Cups during his professional career. Moreno was chosen in 2021 to work as a commentator in the 2020 European Championship.
Ryan Shepard Suarez is an American soccer former player, who last played in United Soccer Leagues for the California Victory.
Kevin Eugene Hartman is an American former soccer player who played 17 seasons in Major League Soccer, being on the field for a record 37,260 minutes. Nicknamed El Gato because of his agility, reflexes, physical qualities, and shot-stopping ability, Hartman has more saves than any other goalkeeper in MLS history, and was the MLS Goalkeeper of the Year in 1999. Considered to be one of the greatest and most successful goalkeepers in MLS history, he was also known for his longevity.
Panayiotis Alexiou "Peter" Vagenas is an American former soccer player.
Paulo Roberto Corradi Nagamura is a Brazilian former professional footballer and coach. He spent most of his playing career in MLS, where he won two MLS Cups and three U.S. Open Cups.
James Riley is an American former soccer player who played as a defender and is currently the head coach for USL League Two club Ballard FC. Riley previously spent eleven seasons in Major League Soccer (MLS) with the New England Revolution (2005–2007), San Jose Earthquakes (2008), Seattle Sounders FC (2009–2011), Chivas USA (2012), D.C. United (2013), LA Galaxy (2014), and the Colorado Rapids (2015). Riley served as the captain of the Cascadia soccer team in the 2018 ConIFA World Football Cup.
Chivas USA were an American professional soccer club based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The club competed in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. The team played from 2005 to 2014. It was a subsidiary of Mexican club C.D. Guadalajara, sharing common ownership and branding. The team played its home games at StubHub Center in Carson, California.
Eric Humberto Avila is an American professional soccer player who has played as a midfielder and defender.
Marcus Garin Tracy is an American soccer player who plays as a striker.
Michael Lahoud is a Sierra Leonean former footballer. He is a broadcaster for CBS Sports Golazo Network, and a former broadcaster for Austin FC.
The 2012 Major League Soccer season was the 17th season of Major League Soccer. It was also the 100th season of FIFA-sanctioned soccer in the United States, and the 34th with a national first-division league.
The 2010 Philadelphia Union season was the first season of the team's existence, competing in Major League Soccer, the top flight of American soccer. The Union were the sixteenth franchise to join the league in 2010 and were managed under former MLS player Peter Nowak.
Jean-Marie Daniel "Danny" Mwanga is a Congolese-American former professional soccer player who played as a forward.
The 2012 Chivas USA season was the club's eighth year of existence. It was the club's eighth consecutive season in Major League Soccer, the top division in American soccer. Chivas USA competed in Major League Soccer's Western Conference.
The 2012 Philadelphia Union season was the third season of the team's existence, competing in Major League Soccer, the top flight of American soccer. The team was initially managed by former MLS player Peter Nowak, in his third season with the club. In June, Nowak resigned and assistant coach John Hackworth was promoted to manager on an interim basis. Hackworth was officially made permanent head coach in August, making him the second head coach in the club's history.
The 2013 Philadelphia Union season was the fourth season of the team's existence, competing in Major League Soccer, the top flight of American soccer. The team was managed by John Hackworth, in his second season with the club and first full season after taking over from Peter Nowak midway through the 2012 season.
The 2005 San Jose Earthquakes season was the tenth season of the team's existence and last before their move to Houston to become the Houston Dynamo. The season also marked the franchise's first Supporters' Shield.
The 2013 Colorado Rapids season was the club's eighteenth season of existence, and their eighteenth season in Major League Soccer, the top tier of the American and Canadian soccer pyramids.