Conor Casey (born July 25, 1981 in Gilpin, Colorado) is an
American soccer player, who currently plays striker for Mainz of
the German Bundesliga.
Casey played two years of college soccer at the University of
Portland for legendary coach Clive Charles, from 1999 to 2000.
In his first year at Portland, Casey was named Soccer America's
Freshman of the Year. In his second, he led the NCAA in scoring
with 23 goals and 7 assists.
After playing well in the 2000 Olympics, Casey signed a four
year contract with German giants Borussia Dortmund. After
playing a year for the Dortmund reserves, Casey was loaned out
in the 2001-2 season to second division club Hannover 96, where
he scored 7 goals in 19 games, helping the club reach the first
division. The subsequent year, Casey stayed with Dortmund, but
only saw action in four games, scoring one goal. In 2003-4, he
was again loaned to a second division club, Karlsruhe, where he
established himself as one of the best young forwards not in the
top-flight, scoring 14 goals in 30 games. During the 2004
offseason, Casey was sold to Mainz for approximately 300,000
Euros.
Casey played at the 2001 World Youth Championship in Argentina
and has since graduated to the senior US national team, getting
his first of six caps on March 31, 2004 against Poland. He is
seen by some as the eventual successor to target forward Brian
McBride. |
