Ronnie O'Brien
Irish footballer / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Ronnie O'Brien (born 5 January 1979) is an Irish retired footballer.
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Ronnie O'Brien | ||
Date of birth | (1979-01-05) 5 January 1979 (age 45) | ||
Place of birth | Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland | ||
Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1997–1999 | Middlesbrough | 0 | (0) |
1999–2002 | Juventus | 0 | (0) |
1999 | → AC Lugano (loan) | 8 | (0) |
2000–2001 | → Crotone (loan) | 4 | (0) |
2001 | → Lecco (loan) | 8 | (0) |
2001–2002 | → Dundee United (loan) | 6 | (0) |
2002–2006 | FC Dallas | 108 | (12) |
2007 | Toronto FC | 13 | (0) |
2008 | San Jose Earthquakes | 28 | (4) |
Total | 175 | (16) | |
International career‡ | |||
1997–1998 | Republic of Ireland U16 | ||
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 17 August 2018 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 7 April 2018 |
Although released early in his career by his first club Middlesbrough, he was subsequently signed by Juventus in 1999. During three years with the Italian club, he played only occasionally for the first team and was loaned out to Lugano in Switzerland, lower division Italian clubs Crotone and Lecco, and Dundee United in Scotland. After leaving Juventus in 2002, O'Brien spent the rest of his career playing in Major League Soccer (MLS) for FC Dallas, Toronto FC and San Jose Earthquakes before retiring in 2008. He was named in the MLS Best XI in both 2004 and 2005, and was selected for the MLS All-Star Game for four years running.
O'Brien also represented the Republic of Ireland under-16 team and was part of the squad that won the 1998 Under-16 European Championship.