Carlos Bocanegra

Carlos Manuel Bocanegra is a professional football (soccer) player from the United States. Bocanegra was born May 25, 1979 in Upland, California, United States. He is best known for currently playing in the football club, Rennes, in the French Ligue 1. He is also the United States national team captain.

Bocanegra started off playing football while studying at the University of California. He was then signed with the Major League Soccer and was subsequently drafted by Chicago Fire and was the fourth pick in the MLS SuperDraft of 2000. During the said time, he was still signed under a Project-40 contract, and for the said year, he was only able to play in two games. However, he did stay with the Fire for four years. He was the MLS Rookie of the Year Award, and through the four years he had on MLS, he was able to score five goals with 8 assists.

After leaving MLS, Bocanegra signed with Fulham in 2004 and stayed there until 2008. While at Fulham, Bocanegra was positioned as a centre back and during the 2006-2007 season of the Premier League, he already established himself as Fulham’s second leading scorer behind Brian McBride with his five goals.

Bocanegra, being the current United States national team captain, he is active in his international football career. He has made a total of 83 caps for the United States, as well as scored 12 goals. He has also played in two FIFA World Cup tournaments (2006 and 2010).