Mike Sorber

Michael Steven Sorber (born May 14, 1971) is an American soccer coach and former player. He currently serves as Director of Soccer Operations for Los Angeles FC in Major League Soccer. He played professionally in the United States and Mexico and was a member of the U.S. national team at the 1994 FIFA World Cup.

Mike Sorber
Personal information
Full name Michael Steven Sorber
Date of birth (1971-05-14) May 14, 1971
Place of birth St. Louis, Missouri, United States
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Position(s) Midfielder
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1989–1992 Saint Louis Billikens
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1994–1996 UNAM 51 (1)
1996 Kansas City Wizards 22 (4)
1997–1999 MetroStars 74 (4)
2000 Chicago Fire 19 (1)
National team
1992–1998 United States 67 (2)
Teams managed
2001–2006 Saint Louis Billikens (assistant)
2007–2011 United States (assistant)
2012 Montreal Impact (assistant)
2013 United States (assistant)
2014–2017 Philadelphia Union (assistant)
2017– LAFC (director of soccer operations)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Youth and college

Sorber was born and raised in Florissant, Missouri in the St. Louis area, where his father Pete Sorber was the head coach of the St. Louis Community College-Florissant Valley men's soccer team for 30 years. During those years, he led the college to 10 National Junior College Athletic Association national championships.[1]

Under his father's tutelage, Mike developed into a polished youth player. He played boys' soccer at St. Thomas Aquinas-Mercy High School where he was part of two Missouri state championship teams in 1985 and 1988. His senior year, he was honored as part of the All-Great Midwest Conference team and was the North MVP at the St. Louis North-South High School Senior All-Star Game.

After graduating from high school in 1989, Sorber played NCAA soccer with the Saint Louis University men's soccer team. He was part of the Billikens’ 1991 Final Four appearance in the NCAA tournament and was a 1992 Hermann Trophy finalist. He ended his career at St. Louis with 13 goals and 29 assists. While he finished his college playing career in 1992, Sorber continued to work on his college education and graduated in 1994 with a bachelor's degree in communications with a minor in criminal justice.

Mexico

After spending two years contracted to the U.S. national team leading up to the 1994 World Cup, Sorber moved to Mexico to play first division soccer with UNAM. He played two seasons with Pumas and became the first American player ever to be named a Mexican League All Star.

MLS

In 1996, Sorber signed a contract with the newly established Major League Soccer (MLS). MLS allocated Sorber to Kansas City Wiz. However, he played only a single season with the Wiz before being traded to MetroStars for Damian Silvera on February 1, 1997.

Sorber played three years with MetroStars but the team made the playoffs only in 1998. MetroStars waived Sorber on February 21, 2000. He was claimed by New England Revolution but then traded to Chicago Fire during the 2000 preseason for a fourth-round pick in the 2001 MLS SuperDraft. Sorber played only one year with Chicago, helping the club win the Central Division title and reach the 2000 MLS Cup final. In five years in the league, he scored nine goals and added 17 assists, plus a goal and five assists in the playoffs.

International career

Sorber earned his first cap with the national team in a January 25, 1992 loss to the Commonwealth of Independent States team. He would go on to earn a total of 67 caps, scoring 2 goals with the national team.

Sorber played in the 1994 FIFA World Cup held in his home country. Following the tournament, national team coach Bora Milutinović stated "When you analyze the World Cup, Sorber was probably our MVP. It is difficult for me to explain what I feel about him. He is disciplined and intelligent." He earned his final cap in a 1998 friendly against Paraguay. Although named as an alternate for the 1998 FIFA World Cup team, he was not chosen for the final roster.

Coaching

Sorber retired in February 2001 and returned to his alma mater, Saint Louis University, where he joined the Billikens as their assistant coach.

Sorber was an assistant coach for the U.S. men's national team. He was named to the position by head coach Bob Bradley in May 2007.

On October 5, 2011, MLS expansion side Montreal Impact announced that Sorber had joined the club as an assistant coach. In January 2013, following the departure of head coach Jesse Marsch, the Montreal Impact announced that it will not retain the services of Mike Sorber for the 2013 season.[2] On February 1, 2014, Sorber was hired by the Philadelphia Union of MLS as an assistant coach.[3] He was named the Director of Soccer Operations for LAFC in 2017.

Career statistics

International goals
#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.September 3, 1992Canada Games Stadium, Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada Canada0–2WinFriendly
2.April 16, 1994Sam W. Wolfson Baseball Park, Jacksonville, Florida, United States Moldova1–1DrawFriendly
Correct as of October 7, 2015[4][5]

References
  1. Pete Sorber (soccer) – St. Louis Sports Hall of Fame. Retrieved January 16, 2020
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on May 8, 2010. Retrieved May 8, 2010.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. "Sources: Union hire Mike Sorber as assistant coach". Retrieved January 12, 2018.
  4. "International Matches 1992 – North and Central America and Caribbean". www.rsssf.com. Retrieved January 12, 2018.
  5. "International Matches 1994 – Intercontinental, January–April". www.rsssf.com. Retrieved January 12, 2018.
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