Club Career
DaMarcus Beasley wasn't the first soccer phenom in the family, as he emulated brother Jamar by signing with MLS at a tender age. After gaining Parade All-American status at Fort Wayne's South Side High, the 16-year old entered Project-40 as a member of the Los Angeles Galaxy. Beasley never featured for the team, however, and was shipped to the Chicago Fire in February of 2000 for a pair of SuperDraft first round picks eventually used by the Galaxy to select Danny Califf and Isaias Bardales, Jr.
The speedy winger made 11 starts from 18 appearances during his rookie season, scoring twice and registering a pair of assists. Beasley would go on to tally three assists during the Fire's run to the MLS Cup, where they fell to Kansas City 1-0.
In 2001, Beasley was first choice for each of his 24 matches, recorded two goals with six assists, and was named to start the All-Star Game. The following term saw his Fire duty frequently interrupted by national team commitments, yet he managed three goals and four assists in 19 MLS outings. Dutch power Ajax were very close to buying the young star after World Cup 2002, but changed their mind at the last minute to acquire Victor Sikora from Fulham instead. Former Serie A battlers Perugia also showed interest, but his two-way influence would stay with Chicago for the time being.
Transfer speculation surrounding the Fire phenom was at an all-time high in 2004 as PSV Eindhoven and Southampton made multiple bids for his services. Beasley made 15 appearances before PSV Guus Hiddink (who remembered the player from World Cup, when he coached South Korea to a 4th place finish) named the right price. On July 26th, the PSV $2.5 million signing was presented to the media on Open Day at Philips Stadion with the #11 shirt - a high compliment considering he was taking it directly from Chelsea-bound Holland ace Arjen Robben.
PSV captured the Eredivisie title, the Amstel Cup and reached the UEFA Champions League semifinal in Beasley's first year with the club. Unfortunately his season was cut short due to an injury at the end of April, but not before the rookie he netted a team third-best 12 goals in 44 appearances including four Champions League goals.
The following season, Beasley and PSV once again tasted title success. The Yank struggled for form during the winter months, but ended the season four goals and four assists in 27 league appearances. He also notched an assist in five games on the Farmers run to the knockout round of the Champions League.
After recovering from a preseason hamstring injury, Beasley was loaned out to Manchester City near the August 2006 transfer deadline. The hamstring injury would continue to plague Beasley during his time at Manchester and the winger only appeared in 18 games scoring three goals.
In the summer of 2007, Scottish Premier League side Rangers paid a ?700,000 transfer fee for Beasley to join the Glasgow side. Beasley became the second American to play for Rangers following in the footsteps of Claudio Reyna. Beasley got off to a quick start scoring several goals in early Champions League play. The injury bug would rear its ugly head though as Beasley was sidelined after a collision with VfB Stuttgart goalkeeper Raphael Schafer during a Champions League match. This blow put Beasley out of commission until the last weeks of the SPL season. Beasley returned to play in May of 2008 and started the Scottish Cup final scoring a goal and picking up an assist in a 3-2 victory over Queen of the South.
The 2008-2009 campaign has been a quiet one for Beasley. Coaching decisions and injuries have contributed to Beasley's frustrations resulting in just a handful of appearances on the season.
A rib injury sustained in a March 2009 match sent Beasley to the training room and the attacker never saw action with the Light Blues for the rest of the season.
Rumors of a transfer to clubs in Holland and Germany surfaced during the summer window yet a deal was never struck and Beasley returned to Glasgow for another season.
International Career
Beasley began an extensive international resume with an Under-16's cap against France in May of 1997, before his well rounded game first gained prominence two years later.
In July, Beasley and partner in crime Landon Donovan helped the U.S. U-23's capture bronze at the Pan-Am Games in Winnipeg. He then shot to prominence with a Silver Ball showing at the U-17 World Championships in New Zealand, in which the US came within a penalty kick shoot-out of the final and finished fourth. It was during this October competition that Beasley's magic collaboration with Golden Ball winner Landon Donovan became readily apparent.
Beasley garnered the first of senior caps in January of 2001, working the full 90 minutes in a 2-1 victory over China in Oakland. It was from there, his international career picked up steam. He scored his first U.S. goal against South Korea during their run to a Gold Cup title, later adding strikes in consecutive wins over Jamaica and Uruguay as the squad worked their way through a stern schedule towards World Cup 2002. Less than 17 months after his first cap, Beasley went the distance as the U.S. stunned Portugal 3-2 in Suwon, South Korea to open a stirring World Cup quarterfinal run.
In 2005, he was named to the CONCACAF Gold Cup tournament team after scoring three goals on the way to the title. Beasley also helped the US qualify for World Cup 2006, scoring four goals in 13 starts.
In Germany, Beasley started two of the the three games and assisted on the US' only goal of the tournament, as they failed to make it out of the group stages.
Beasley was an integral part of the U.S. National Team's Gold Cup title in 2007 which included scoring two goals against El Salvador during the tournament. U.S. coach Bob Bradley has once again called on the experienced winger during CONCACAF qualifying for the 2010 World Cup. Beasley has answered the call scoring two goals against Cuba in October of 2008.
The 2009 international playing arena was unkind to Beasley who was called up by Bradley for the USMNT's World Cup qualifier in early June versus Costa Rica. Beasley was ineffective playing at left back during the match and that irregular play was carried into that month's Confederations Cup.
A slip up in a match versus Brazil where Beasley whiffed on a corner kick which kickstarted a Brazilian counterattack for a goal resulted in Bradley dropping Beasly from his lineup. The Rangers man would not see the field for the USMNT for the rest of the tournament and has not been called in for any other national team matches since.
Eric fesses up that he preferred watching the World Cup in the land of the champions and asks... Can US soccer grip our hearts?
Jack feels that it is time for Americans to become proactive about its soccer and stop being... A soccer nation on the fence
Eric Wynalda's free kick vs Switzerland '94
Earnie Stewart's finish vs Colombia '94
John O'Brien's opener vs Portugal '02
Brian McBride's diving header vs Portugal '02
Brian McBride's side-footed opener vs Mexico '02
Landon Donovan's header vs Mexico '02
Landon Donovan's roofer vs Slovenia '10
Michael Bradley's equalizer vs Slovenia '10
Other
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