Frankie Hejduk

Acquired by Los Angeles: From Sporting Kansas City in exchange for the rights to Luke Sassano on December 15, 2010. Signed with the club on December 30, 2010.

One of the last MLS originals still playing in the league, Frankie Hejduk is in his first season with the Galaxy after joining the club in December. A Southern California native, Hejduk won his first MLS Cup at The Home Depot Center in 2008 when he captained the Columbus Crew to the championship. A longtime veteran of the U.S. National Team and a member of two World Cup squads, Hejduk will provide depth across the back line where he will be able to help mentor many of the club’s top young defenders.

MLS Highlights

2010: In his final year in Columbus, Hejduk played in 20 games, tallying two assists and helping his team return to the postseason for the third straight year. He helped set up Adam Moffat’s goal in a 2-2 draw with Dallas on 4/10. A month later on 5/20, he set up Eddie Gaven’s game-opening goal in a 3-1 win at New York. Limited by injury for much of the season, Hejduk was healthy for the postseason, playing every minute of both legs of the Eastern Conference Semifinal Series. He also helped lead the Crew to the knockout stages of the CONCACAF Champions League as well as the U.S. Open Cup Final. 2009: Missed much of the season with various injuries, but still managed to start 14 games, scoring once and adding three assists as the Crew repeated as Supporters’ Shield winners. His lone goal came in the first half of a 2-1 win over Houston on 9/13. Of his three assists, two came in a win over Toronto FC while the third came in a 3-2 win over Kansas City. In the playoffs, Hejduk played in both of the Crew’s games, playing a total of 164 minutes. 2008: Captained the Crew to their first MLS Cup championship and the Supporters’ Shield. He equaled his career-high with 24 games played and started. He finished the year with a goal and four assists and then added the first goal of his postseason career, scoring the Crew’s final goal in a 3-1 win over New York. Once again selected to the MLS All-Star Game, Hejduk scored his only regular season goal of the year on 9/18 in a 3-1 Columbus win, while also adding an assist in that game. He added an assist in the regular season finale against D.C. United, setting up Brad Evans’ game-winning goal. The Crew were 4-0-0 when Hejduk tallied an assist. Despite missing time while on international duty, Hejduk was named the Crew’s Glidden Man of the Year. 2007: Recovered from his knee injury to appear in a career-high 24 games. He started all 24 of those games, tallying three assists with the Crew going 2-0-1 when he had an assist. The Columbus captain once again, Hejduk was named the Crew’s Defender of the Year and Comeback Player of the Year and was once again named to the MLS All-Star Team though he did not play in the All-Star Game. 2006: Was named the Columbus captain and started all four games in which he appeared in before suffering a torn right ACL. He suffered the injury on 4/29, forcing him to miss the remainder of the season, as well as that summer’s World Cup. 2005: An MLS All-Star for the third consecutive season, playing in 18 games and making 15 starts. He tied his career-high with three goals, two of which came in a 2-0 home win over Real Salt Lake. He then added a goal on 9/10, scoring late in a 3-1 loss at New England. 2004: Helped the Crew win the Supporters’ Shield for the first time in club history, playing in 20 games while scoring twice. He scored Columbus’ first goal of the season on 4/3 in a loss to the MetroStars. He added his second goal in a 2-1 win over New England on 6/6. Named to the MLS All-Star Team for the second consecutive season and was a near-constant fixture as the Crew went on an MLS-record unbeaten streak at the end of the season. He played in both of their postseason games that season while also scoring once in the U.S. Open Cup. 2003: Returned to MLS after signing with the Crew from St. Gallen of the Swiss Super League in March 2003. He started and appeared in 23 games for the club despite missing time while with the U.S. National Team at the Gold Cup. He finished the year with four assists, including the game-winner in his second game with Columbus, a 1-0 win over the MetroStars on 4/12. He added assists against LA, San Jose and D.C. United while earning a spot on the MLS All-Star Team. 1998: In his final season with Tampa Bay, Hejduk set a career-high with three goals while tallying an assist in 18 games. He missed much of the season while with the U.S. National Team. He set a career-high with two goals in a 3-1 win vs. Dallas on 4/11. He added a goal in his first game back from the World Cup on 7/4. 1997: Appeared in 23 games, scoring once and adding a career-high six assists. He scored his only goal of the season in his second appearance, tallying the game-winning goal as well as an assist in a 4-0 win at New England on 4/6. His next five assists all came in a two month span between 5/23 and 7/18 as he helped the Mutiny return to the postseason. 1996: Originally drafted by the Tampa Bay Mutiny in the seventh round of the 1996 Inaugural Player Draft, Hejduk missed most of his rookie season while playing with the U.S. Olympic Team, which was coached by Bruce Arena. After joining the club on 8/3, he played in nine games, scoring once and adding two assists. He made his MLS debut on 8/10 and tallied the first goal and first assist of his professional career in a 2-0 win over the MetroStars on 9/4. In the postseason, Hejduk appeared in four of Tampa’s five games, tallying one assist.

Career Highlights

2002-03: Spent one season at St. Gallen in the Swiss Super League after joining the club from Bayer Leverkusen in September 2002, making his debut for the club on 9/11/02. He returned to MLS prior to the start of the 2003 season, joining the Columbus Crew. 1998-2002: Signed with Bayer Leverkusen after the 1998 World Cup and joined the club following the completion of the MLS season. In four years in Germany, Hejduk appeared in more than 30 games for the club in all competitions, including a run that saw him start 10 of their last 11 games in the 1998-99 season as Leverkusen finished second in the Bundesliga, earning a spot in the Champions League. During that run, Hejduk scored his first goal for the club, helping Bayer earn a 2-0 win over Vfl Bochum on 5/9/99. He went on to play in five of his team’s six games in the Champions League the following season.

College Highlights

Played three years at UCLA (1992-94), helping the Bruins reach the NCAA Tournament semifinals as a junior in 1994. That year he earned Second Team NSCAA All-American honors and First Team All-Far West when he scored all six of his collegiate goals. He also had eight assists in his college career, which ended after the 1994 season as he left UCLA to train full-time with the U.S. Under-23 National Team in advance of the upcoming Olympic Games in Atlanta. In his three years with the Bruins, he helped the team record a 49-11-3 record and three trips to the NCAA Tournament.

National Team

A veteran of two World Cups and two Olympic tournaments, Hejduk has collected 85 caps in his National Team career, scoring seven goals. A member of the U.S. World Cup teams in both 1998 and 2002, he was named to the roster for the 2006 World Cup only to suffer a knee injury that forced him to miss the tournament. He played six games for the U.S. during his two World Cups, including four of their five games in 2002 when they reached the tournament quarterfinals. He scored his first goal for the U.S. in a World Cup Qualifier against Guatemala in El Salvador on 12/21/96 and then got his seventh and final goal in the same stadium against El Salvador in a World Cup Qualifier on 3/28/09, nearly 13 years later. In between those two goals, he added a pair of goals against Mexico, as well as one against Austria, one against Canada and another against Guatemala. A member of the U.S. teams that won the CONCACAF Gold Cup in 2002, 2005 and 2007, Hejduk also represented the U.S. at the 1996 and 2000 Olympics in Atlanta and Sydney respectively. Prior to playing in MLS in 1996, Hejduk represented the U.S. at the U-17 and U-23 levels.