Robbie Findley life and biography

Robbie Findley (born August 4, 1985 in Phoenix, Arizona) is an American soccer player who currently plays for Real Salt Lake in Major League Soccer.

Findley attended Shadow Mountain High School in Phoenix, Arizona, where he was named First Team All-State in 2002 and 2003 as well as Northeast Valley Player of the Year both seasons, and broke the school record for goals in a season with twenty-seven in his senior year. He led Shadow Mountain to the 5A Arizona state tournament quarterfinals in 2003.

Findley played his youth soccer for the national powerhouse Sereno Golden Eagles. With Sereno, he won eight consecutive Arizona state championships, four Region IV championships, and reached the prestigious Dallas Cup finals. Sereno also competed in the USYSA National Championships in three straight years: 2002, 2003 and 2004. Findley was awarded the Golden Boot at the 2003 National Championships as Sereno took second place. At Sereno, Findley was teammates with current and former MLS players Michael Gavin, Brandon McDonald and Rob Valentino.

Findley tallied 28 goals (10 game-winners) and 15 assists for 71 points at Oregon State. He earned All-Pacific-10 honors in all four seasons and was the Pac-10 Freshman of the Year in 2003. He was named an NSCAA All-Far West selection three times, and finished his Oregon State career as the career leader in game-winning goals and also ranking third in goals, third in points, and fourth in assists.

Findley also played for Boulder Rapids Reserve in the USL Premier Development League in the summers of 2005 and 2006 along with former Oregon State teammate and Jamaica midfielder Ryan Johnson. Findley recorded sixteen goals in eighteen games in the two seasons.

Findley was selected by the Galaxy in the second round of the 2007 MLS SuperDraft as the sixteenth pick overall. On April 8, 2007, Findley made his MLS debut in Galaxy's season opener against the Houston Dynamo. He came on as a substitute for Cobi Jones in the sixtieth minute. Four days later, Findley scored his first career MLS goal in the eighty-sixth minute against FC Dallas after coming on for Jones in the fifty-eighth minute.

On June 21, 2007, Findley was traded along with midfielder Nathan Sturgis to Real Salt Lake in exchange for veteran forward Chris Klein. He made an immediate impact in his debut for RSL, scoring two goals and leading the club to its first win of the 2007 season. Despite playing only sixteen games for Salt Lake that season, he led the club in scoring with six goals. The following season (2008), he tallied another six goals, finishing just behind Yura Movsisyan for the team lead. He also finished second on the team with five assists. Additionally, he picked up two honors during the season: MLS Player of the Week and Sierra Mist Goal of the Week (both in week ten against the San Jose Earthquakes). More importantly, he led the club to its first-ever appearance in the MLS Cup playoffs, where RSL advanced to the Western Conference finals.

He joined Danish Superliga side Brøndby IF on trial in January 2009. However, he failed to secure a contract with the club despite scoring two goals during the practice game they used to assess him. He returned to Salt Lake and produced his best season ever as a professional, scoring a team-high twelve goals. That total was good for third-best in MLS (tied with Juan Pablo Angel, Landon Donovan, Fredy Montero, and Guillermo Barros Schelotto). He had three multi-goal matches during the season, including the first hat trick in franchise history in a 4–1 victory over Columbus Crew on April 2, 2009. On August 8, 2009, he scored his twentieth career goal for RSL, passing Jeff Cunningham as the franchise's all-time leader. In the last match of the 2009 regular season, Findley scored two goals to lead RSL to a 3–0 victory over Colorado, securing another playoff bid for the club. For his performance, he was named MLS Player of the Week.

In the first leg of the quarterfinal round of the 2009 MLS Cup Playoffs, his 88th minute goal gave RSL a 1–0 aggregate lead over top-seeded Columbus. He tallied again in RSL's 3-2 victory in Columbus, which advanced the team to the Eastern Conference finals against the Chicago Fire. After playing to a scoreless draw in regulation, Salt Lake defeated Chicago in penalty kicks and advanced to the MLS Cup Final against Findley's old team, the Galaxy. Despite being heavy underdogs, RSL played tough against the stars from Los Angeles. Findley scored in the 64th minute, knotting the match at 1-1. The two teams remained deadlocked for the rest of regulation; Salt Lake emerged victorius in penalty kicks, claiming the MLS Cup in one of the biggest upsets in the history of American pro soccer.

International

Findley has dual citizenship with the United States and Trinidad and Tobago. He qualifies for Trinidad and Tobago through his parents, who emigrated to the United States from the Caribbean nation. Despite impressing throughout high school and college, Findley was not selected to become a part of the United States national team set-up. In 2006, he attended a Trinidad and Tobago U-23 national team camp. On October 9, 2007, Findley received a call-up to the United States senior national team for its friendly against Switzerland on October 17, and entered the match as a last-minute substitute. On November 28, 2007, Findley received a call-up to the United States U-23 team for their December camp and friendlies against China. On August 27, 2009, Findley was awarded a spot on the U.S. roster that trained for critical FIFA World Cup qualifiers against El Salvador and Trinidad & Tobago. However, he did not enter either match. In May of 2010, he was one of six forwards invited to Team USA's World Cup training camp in Princeton, New Jersey. On May 26, he was selected by coach Bob Bradley to be on the 23-man roster for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. On June 12, 2010, he made his World Cup debut against England. On June 18, 2010 in a match against Slovenia, Findley was the victim of a controversial yellow card given by Koman Coulibaly for a handball that bounced off his face. Due to this yellow card accumulation, Findley will miss the last game of the group stage against Algeria.

Read more