Eddie Johnson has played his last professional game.
On [DAY GOES HERE], Johnson announced his retirement after 14 seasons as a professional, citing a heart condition that’s kept the former United States national team striker off the field for D.C. United since last October.
ADDITIONAL HEART CONDITION DETAILS – Athletic heart syndrome?
JOHNSON QUOTE GOES HERE
Johnson calls to an end a career that began as a 16-year-old Dallas Burn SuperDraft pick and ended as a well-travelled 31-year-old forward with 90 professional goals and 63 international caps (19 goals), including two appearances at the 2006 World Cup, to his name.
The Bunnell, Florida, native, who often found himself in the headlines because of his outspoken nature and lively social media presence, made MLS stops with FC Dallas, the Kansas City Wizards, Seattle Sounders and D.C. United, scoring 71 goals in 202 regular season games (162 starts) and three goals in 14 career playoff appearances.
TEAM QUOTE SUMMING UP CAREER
Johnson was a regular for the United States as well, earning his first senior cap and scoring his first senior goal in October 2004 against El Salvador. He followed that up by scoring a hat trick in just 25 minutes against Panama just four days later to establish himself as one of the most exciting US prospects in the player pool.
Johnson’s goalscoring exploits earned a place on Bruce Arena’s 2006 World Cup squad in Germany. He narrowly missed out on subsequent trips to South Africa and Brazil under Bob Bradley and Jurgen Klinsmann as his international career ebbed and flowed with his form.
KLINSMANN? GULATI? QUOTE
Johnson first burst on the US soccer scene in 2000 and 2001 as a US U-17 forward, and MLS signed him to a Project-40 deal that saw Dallas pick up the teenager in the second round of the 2001 draft.
His 41 league goals for the Burn then FC Dallas and Kansas City – highlighted by a 15-goal, six-assist season for the Wizards in 2007 – drew the interest of Fulham, who paid a $6 million transfer fee to bring Johnson to the English Premier League in January 2008.
Though he joined friend and US teammate
Clint Dempsey
with the Cottagers, Johnson failed to score a goal during his time in west London, embarking on loans to Cardiff City (two goals) and Preston North End in the Championship and Aris (five goals) in Greece.
After a failed negotiation with Liga MX side Puebla, Johnson returned to MLS in 2012 with the Seattle Sounders and made an immediate impact. He scored 14 goals in 28 games (24 starts) in his first season in rave green, and added nine the following season as Dempsey joined him in Seattle.
SEATTLE QUOTE?
But relations between Johnson and the Sounders broke down – a goal celebration in Columbus that doubled as a plea for higher pay perhaps the most public example – and he was traded to D.C. United for allocation money ahead of the 2014 season. Johnson signed a Designated Player deal with the capital outfit, but scored just seven goals in a season that saw D.C. finish atop the Eastern Conference.
According to the Washington Post, high blood pressure and dehydration sent him to the hospital two days before a playoff match against the Red Bulls. There Johnson’s heart condition was reportedly discovered for the first time, eventually leading to his retirement.
JOHNSON SUM UP QUOTE?
