George Edward Pope (born December 24, 1973) is an American former soccer player who last played for Real Salt Lake of Major League Soccer and spent eleven years as a defender for the United States national team. He spent most of his career playing for D.C. United. Pope is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame.

Youth

Born in High Point, North Carolina, Pope attended Southwest Guilford High School. Pope had a very successful career playing for the North Carolina Tar Heels where he also kicked for Mack Brown's football team. In 1994, he was a first-team All-American, and also earned All-ACC and All-South Region honors.

Professional club career

In 1996, D.C. United selected Pope in the first round (second overall) in the MLS College Draft. His first season in Washington, D.C. was split between United and the men's Olympic team, which was preparing for the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.

International career

Pope began his international career with the United States men's national soccer team on November 10, 1996, in a World Cup qualifier against Trinidad and Tobago. At the time, he was in his rookie season with D.C. United. He quickly became a fixture for the national team, which surprised the world when it defeated Brazil 1-0 and made its way to the finals of the CONCACAF Gold Cup. Pope also played in two games for the disappointing U.S. campaign at the 1998 FIFA World Cup. In 2002, he started all five U.S. matches in the World Cup, and played a big part in the surprising success of the United States in that tournament.

Pope started every game he played with the national team. On August 3, 2006, Pope announced his retirement from international soccer. His international career included 82 caps and 8 goals over an eleven-year period.

Post-playing career

Pope served as the director of player relations for the MLS Players Union following his playing retirement. In 2015, Pope left the MLS Players Union to work at the Octagon sports agency.

In 2022, Pope was named as sporting director of the newly founded MLS Next Pro club Carolina Core FC, to begin play in 2024. The club is based in his hometown of High Point, North Carolina.

Career statistics

Club

[https://www.mlssoccer.com/players/eddie-pope]

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

|-

! colspan=3 | Club performance

! colspan=2 | League

! colspan=2 | Cup

! colspan=2 | League Cup

! colspan=2 | Continental

! colspan=2 | Total

|-

! Season !! Club !! League

! Apps !! Goals

! Apps !! Goals

! Apps !! Goals

! Apps !! Goals

! Apps !! Goals

|-

|-

! colspan=3 | U.S.

! colspan=2 | League

! colspan=2 | Open Cup

! colspan=2 | League Cup

! colspan=2 | North America

! colspan=2 | Total

|-

|1996||rowspan="7"|D.C. United||rowspan="12"|Major League Soccer||18||2||1||1||6||1||0||0||25||5

|-

|1997||29||3||0||0||5||0||0||0||34||3

|-

|1998||20||1||0||0||6||0||0||0||26||1

|-

|1999||19||1||0||0||6||0||0||0||25||1

|-

|2000||21||0||1||0||0||0||0||0||22||0

|-

|2001||19||0||3||1||0||0||0||0||22||1

|-

|2002||17||1||0||0||0||0||0||0||17||0

|-

|2003||rowspan="2"|MetroStars|||20||0||4||2||2||0||0||0||26||2

|-

|2004||22||0||1||0||2||0||0||0||25||0

|-

|2005||rowspan="3"|Real Salt Lake|||20||1||0||0||0||0||0||0||20||1

|-

|2006||22||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||22||0

|-

|2007||27||1||0||0||0||0||0||0||27||1

|-

! rowspan=1 | Total

! colspan=2 | U.S.

!254||10||10||4||27||1||0||0||291||15

|-

! colspan=3 | Career total

!254||10||10||4||27||1||0||0||291||15

|}

International goals

{| class="wikitable collapsible expanded"

! # !! Date !! Venue !! Opponent !! Score !! Result !! Competition

|-

| 1 || March 16, 1997 || Palo Alto, California || || 2–0 || 3–0 || 1998 World Cup qualifying

|-

| 2 || April 20, 1997 || Foxboro, Massachusetts || || 1–1 || 2–2 || 1998 World Cup qualifying

|-

| 3 || February 7, 1998 || Oakland, California || || 1–0 || 2–1 || 1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup

|-

| 4 || August 16, 2000 || Foxboro, Massachusetts || || 1–0 || 7–0 || 2002 World Cup qualifying

|-

| 5 || April 17, 2002 || Dublin, Ireland || || 1–1 || 1–2 || Friendly

|-

| 6 || April 29, 2004 || Dallas, Texas || || 1–0 || 1–0 || Friendly

|-

| 7 || January 29, 2006 || Carson, California || || 3–0 || 5–0 || Friendly

|-

| 8 || February 10, 2006 || San Francisco, California || || 1–0 || 3–2 || Friendly

|}

Honors

;DC United

  • MLS Cup: 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000
  • MLS Best XI: 1997, 1998, 2003, 2004
  • MLS 10th Anniversary Team

References

  • Eddie Pope: His Holiness - Profile on Total Soccer Show