Athletes - John O'Brien

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	Athletes - John O'Brien

John O'Brien (born in August 29, 1977 in Los Angeles, California) is an American soccer player, one of the first Americans to earn a starting spot with a major European team, which he did with Ajax Amsterdam. After one injury riddled season, in which he only played three games for ADO Den Haag, it appears that John will be moving to Major League Soccer prior to the start of the 2006 MLS Season.

O'Brien had his first trial with Ajax at the age of 14 and signed an amateur contract with the Dutch giants in 1996 as a 17-year old. After two years on their youth teams, Ajax offered O'Brien a professional contract in 1998. He spent the 1998-99 season on loan to FC Utrecht and made his Ajax debut in 1999. He became a regular for a team, usually playing at left back, winning Eredivisie in 2002 and 2004. Unfortunately, chronic injuries have limited O'Brien's playing time in recent years. He left Ajax for ADO in February 2005.

With the U.S. national team, O'Brien earned his first cap against Austria on April 22, 1998, but was left off the U.S. squad for the . He played in the 2000 Summer Olympics, helping to lead the US to a fourth-place finish. O'Brien became a regular with the senior team under Bruce Arena, and came into his own at the . Playing in defensive midfield, he scored the opener in the shock 3-2 win over Portugal and played every minute of every game for the United States.

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