Thomas Dooley (born May 12, 1961, in Bechhofen , Germany) is an German-American soccer defender and defensive midfielder, a long-time member and captain of the United States national team.
Dooley, born to a German mother and a U.S. Army father, started his professional career in 1984 with third division club Homburg. After helping the team all the way up to 1. Bundesliga, he moved to Kaiserslautern in 1988 and helped them to the German Cup in 1990 and the Bundesliga title in 1991. As US Soccer started to look abroad for players eligible to play for its national team, Dooley was discovered and gained his US citizenship in 1992, and made his first international appearance on May 30th 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 World Cup. After the World Cup, he moved to Bayer Leverkusen, and to Schalke 04 a year after that, helping them to the UEFA Cup title. In 1997, he made his move to Major League Soccer, 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. After John Harkes was dismissed from the US national team, Dooley was named captain for the 1998 World Cup, and started every game for the US.
On February 21, 1999, Dooley was given a send-off match by the United States in a game against Chile. He would end his international career with 81 caps in 7 goals. In 2000, Thomas was traded to the MetroStars for Mike Duhaney, in many ways to help support Lothar Matthäus' adjustment to the United States. Dooley played one year for the Metros before retiring from soccer altogether. He then went back to Germany, becoming the head coach of FC Saarbrucken.
