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Clinton Drew "Clint" Dempsey (born March 9, 1983) is an American soccer player who plays for Seattle Sounders FC in Major League Soccer and has served as the captain of the United States national team. He has also played for New England Revolution, Fulham and Tottenham Hotspur. Growing up in Nacogdoches, Texas, Dempsey played for one of the top youth soccer clubs in the state, the Dallas Texans, before playing for Furman University's men's soccer team. In 2004, Dempsey was drafted by Major League Soccer club New England Revolution, where he quickly integrated himself into the starting lineup. Hindered initially by a jaw injury, he would eventually score 25 goals in 71 appearances with the Revolution. Between 2007 and 2012, Dempsey played for Premier League team Fulham and is the club's highest Premier League goalscorer of all time. Dempsey became the first American player to score a hat-trick in the English Premier League, in the 5–2 win over Newcastle United in January 2012. Dempsey first represented the United States at the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship and made his first appearance with the senior team on November 17, 2004, against Jamaica. He has earned over 100 caps and scored 48 international goals, making him the nation's sixth-most capped player and second top scorer of all time. He has represented the nation at four CONCACAF Gold Cups (winning two), helped them to the final of the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup and played at three FIFA World Cups, becoming the first American male to score in three World Cups. ==Early life and career== Dempsey was born in Nacogdoches, Texas, and, for much of his childhood, his family lived in a trailer park, where he and his siblings grew up playing soccer with Hispanic immigrants. In his teens, Dempsey maintained these ties playing in a local Mexican-dominated adult league. Dempsey is of Irish descent on his father's side.〔http://www.irishcentral.com/sports/clint-dempsey-us-soccer-hero-an-irish-rags-to-riches-story-96228884-238036381.html〕 His older brother Ryan was offered a tryout for the Dallas Texans, an elite youth soccer club, and brought Clint, who was noticed and recruited while passing time juggling a ball on the sidelines. Dempsey became a standout on the team at an early age but had to quit due to his family's time and money constraints as his eldest sister Jennifer was becoming a ranked youth tennis player. Several parents of his teammates with the Texans offered to assist the Dempseys with expenses and travel, allowing him to rejoin the club. On November 27, 1995, Dempsey lost his then 16-year-old sister Jennifer to a brain aneurysm. Dempsey was devastated with the family's loss and later explained that this event helped him develop a deeper motivation to pursue soccer in honor of his sister. He went on to be the captain and high scorer of the Texans and was honored with the MVP of the Tampa Bay Sun Bowl tournament. Dempsey studied the play of Argentina's national team, especially Diego Maradona, and was heartbroken when the news came to Nacogdoches that Maradona would not be playing in the 1994 World Cup game played in the Cotton Bowl. He attended Furman University as a health and exercise science major and a key player for Paladins soccer. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Clint Dempsey」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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