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Frank Klopas
Fotios "Frank" Klopas (Greek: Φώτιος "Φρανκ" Κλόπας; born 1 September 1966) is an American former soccer player who played as a forward. Following his retirement, he served as a color commentator for the Chicago Fire before later working as a front office executive and head coach for both the Fire and Montreal Impact.
Klopas emigrated to the United States from Prosymna, Peloponnese, Greece when he was eight years old and received U.S. citizenship on his 18th birthday. He and his family settled in Chicago, where he attended and played boys soccer, at Mather High School, which he led to the Chicago Public League championship his senior year.
In 1983, he signed with the Chicago Sting of the North American Soccer League straight out of high school, but an injury led to him missing the team's final outdoor season. Klopas would play for the indoor Sting in the MISL for four seasons. He earned second team All Star honors during the 1986–1987 season.
On 4 November 1988, Klopas moved to Greece and signed for AEK Athens. He played four seasons with the team winning 4 championships a Greek Super Cup and the Greek League Cup. However, he tore his anterior cruciate ligament in 1991. That injury and a subsequent infection hindered his playing for nearly two years.
In 1992, Klopas signed a contract with the U.S. Soccer Federation to play full-time for the United States men's national soccer team, which was made effective when his contact with AEK expired, in December 1993. After the 1994 FIFA World Cup, Klopas returned to Greece and signed with Apollon Athens in 1994 for the remainder of the 1994–1995 season, as well as the 1995–1996 season. He debuted with Apollon against his former club, AEK.
In 1996, Major League Soccer began developing teams for its inaugural season. In order to ensure an equitable distribution of talent to each team, MLS allocated known players to each team. MLS allocated Klopas to the Kansas City Wizards where he would spend two years. After being sent to the Columbus Crew just before the 1997 MLS Expansion Draft, he was traded in February 1998 to the Chicago Fire for Jason Farrell, who had been selected from the Crew. Klopas would play two years for Chicago before retiring, helping them to the MLS Cup in 1998 and the U.S. Open Cup to complete "The Double." In four years in MLS, Klopas scored 13 goals and added 16 assists. He had six goals and five assists in 40 games—24 starts—for the Fire, including both goals in a 2–0 win over the Tampa Bay Mutiny in the Fire's first ever game at Soldier Field on April 4, 1998. Klopas' most notable goal for the Fire came in Golden Goal overtime of a 2–1 win over the Columbus Crew in the 1998 U.S. Open Cup Final at Soldier Field.
Klopas retired following the 1999 season. He was inducted into Chicago's "Ring of Fire," which celebrates outstanding players and contributors to the organization, in 2004. He was inducted into the Illinois Soccer Hall of Fame in 2005.
Klopas made his debut for the U.S. national team in 1987, coming on in a 2–0 Olympic Qualifying loss at Canada on 23 May. Though this was technically his debut for the team, it isn't counted among his senior national team caps as Olympic play is not considered to be of full international status by FIFA even though many of the players that made up the side were full national team players. Klopas was also on the U.S. team at the 1987 Pan American Games. In total, Klopas earned five Olympic team appearances, scoring one goal in a 4–2 qualifying win at El Salvador on October 18, 1987, and helping the team qualify for the 1988 Olympics. Klopas would start and play the full 90 minutes in a 0–0 draw with hosts South Korea and a 4–2 loss to the Soviet Union as the U.S. failed to advance from their group.
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Frank Klopas
Fotios "Frank" Klopas (Greek: Φώτιος "Φρανκ" Κλόπας; born 1 September 1966) is an American former soccer player who played as a forward. Following his retirement, he served as a color commentator for the Chicago Fire before later working as a front office executive and head coach for both the Fire and Montreal Impact.
Klopas emigrated to the United States from Prosymna, Peloponnese, Greece when he was eight years old and received U.S. citizenship on his 18th birthday. He and his family settled in Chicago, where he attended and played boys soccer, at Mather High School, which he led to the Chicago Public League championship his senior year.
In 1983, he signed with the Chicago Sting of the North American Soccer League straight out of high school, but an injury led to him missing the team's final outdoor season. Klopas would play for the indoor Sting in the MISL for four seasons. He earned second team All Star honors during the 1986–1987 season.
On 4 November 1988, Klopas moved to Greece and signed for AEK Athens. He played four seasons with the team winning 4 championships a Greek Super Cup and the Greek League Cup. However, he tore his anterior cruciate ligament in 1991. That injury and a subsequent infection hindered his playing for nearly two years.
In 1992, Klopas signed a contract with the U.S. Soccer Federation to play full-time for the United States men's national soccer team, which was made effective when his contact with AEK expired, in December 1993. After the 1994 FIFA World Cup, Klopas returned to Greece and signed with Apollon Athens in 1994 for the remainder of the 1994–1995 season, as well as the 1995–1996 season. He debuted with Apollon against his former club, AEK.
In 1996, Major League Soccer began developing teams for its inaugural season. In order to ensure an equitable distribution of talent to each team, MLS allocated known players to each team. MLS allocated Klopas to the Kansas City Wizards where he would spend two years. After being sent to the Columbus Crew just before the 1997 MLS Expansion Draft, he was traded in February 1998 to the Chicago Fire for Jason Farrell, who had been selected from the Crew. Klopas would play two years for Chicago before retiring, helping them to the MLS Cup in 1998 and the U.S. Open Cup to complete "The Double." In four years in MLS, Klopas scored 13 goals and added 16 assists. He had six goals and five assists in 40 games—24 starts—for the Fire, including both goals in a 2–0 win over the Tampa Bay Mutiny in the Fire's first ever game at Soldier Field on April 4, 1998. Klopas' most notable goal for the Fire came in Golden Goal overtime of a 2–1 win over the Columbus Crew in the 1998 U.S. Open Cup Final at Soldier Field.
Klopas retired following the 1999 season. He was inducted into Chicago's "Ring of Fire," which celebrates outstanding players and contributors to the organization, in 2004. He was inducted into the Illinois Soccer Hall of Fame in 2005.
Klopas made his debut for the U.S. national team in 1987, coming on in a 2–0 Olympic Qualifying loss at Canada on 23 May. Though this was technically his debut for the team, it isn't counted among his senior national team caps as Olympic play is not considered to be of full international status by FIFA even though many of the players that made up the side were full national team players. Klopas was also on the U.S. team at the 1987 Pan American Games. In total, Klopas earned five Olympic team appearances, scoring one goal in a 4–2 qualifying win at El Salvador on October 18, 1987, and helping the team qualify for the 1988 Olympics. Klopas would start and play the full 90 minutes in a 0–0 draw with hosts South Korea and a 4–2 loss to the Soviet Union as the U.S. failed to advance from their group.
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