Quick Facts
Biography
Thomas Dooley (born December 5, 1961) is a retired American soccer defender and defensive midfielder, a long-time member and former captain of the United States national team. Dooley is the current head coach of the Philippines national team.
Club career
Dooley, born to a German mother and a U.S. Army father, started his professional career in 1984 with third division club FC Homburg. Prior to that, he had played as a forward with amateur team FK Pirmasens. He moved to midfield with Homburg and helped the team move steadily up the German leagues, until they finally reached the Bundesliga.
He moved to Kaiserslautern in 1988 and helped them to the German Cup in 1990 and the Bundesliga title in 1991. After the 1994 World Cup, he moved to Bayer Leverkusen, and to Schalke 04 a year after that, helping them to the 1997 UEFA Cup title. At the end of the season, he made his move to Major League Soccer (MLS), signing with the Columbus Crew. Dooley would spend three seasons in Columbus, and was named to the MLS Best XI in both 1997 and 1998.
In 2000, Thomas was traded to the MetroStars for Mike Duhaney, partially to help support Lothar Matthäus' adjustment to the United States. Dooley played one year for the Metros before retiring from soccer altogether.
International career
As US Soccer started to look abroad for players eligible to play for its national team in advance of its hosting the 1994 FIFA World Cup, Dooley was discovered; he assumed US citizenship in 1992, and made his first international appearance on May 30 against Ireland. Dooley became a regular for the US almost immediately, being named U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year in 1993 and then playing every minute at the 1994 FIFA World Cup. After John Harkes was dismissed from the U.S. national team, Dooley was named captain for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, and started every game for the U.S.
On February 21, 1999, Dooley was given a send-off match by the United States in a friendly against Chile. He would end his international career with 81 caps and seven goals.
Coaching career
After retiring, Dooley went back to Germany and became the head coach of FC Saarbrücken in 2002 and 2003. Dooley was appointed by US national team coach Jürgen Klinsmann to be an assistant coach in the match against Mexico on August 10, 2011.
Philippines
In February 2014, Dooley signed a one-year deal with the Philippine Football Federation to handle the Philippines national team. His first match was a friendly against Malaysia which ended 0–0, and a few days later, narrowly lost to European side Azerbaijan 1–0. Dooley earned his first win for the Philippines after his charges defeated Nepal 3–0 in another friendly match in Qatar.
Dooley earned national team manager Dan Palami's praise after his first few matches in charge. Palami commended Dooley's ability to foster a better understanding of the game to his squad and give subs and reserves chances to step up in the absence of star players."Our players have a better understanding of the role they have to play in their respective positions under Dooley's system that anyone can step up even if we don't have our stars playing," Palami said.
In his first match coaching the Philippines in a FIFA World Cup qualifier, his team defeated Bahrain 2-1. After an impressive run in qualifying that included a 3-2 win over North Korea that was considered an upset, Dooley's contract was extended for two years.