Gyasi Zardes

At 33 years old, Gyasi Zardes has this physical status:

Club career

Zardes spent time with the Galaxy Academy U-18s in the 2008–09 and 2009-10 DA seasons, as well as with the Galaxy U-20s in the 2009 USL Super-20 campaign. Zardes, a red shirt freshman at CSU Bakersfield, led the Galaxy U-20 team to the national championship in 2010.

Zardes burst onto the scene in 2011 after tallying five goals and a team-best seven assists in his first season of college soccer, winning 18 times in 20 games and leading Bakersfield to a berth in the NCAA Division I Tournament for the first time in school history. His 18 goals for Division I college soccer were the fourth most in that season, and he was named the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Player of the Year and a semifinalist for the MAC Hermann Trophy, which is given annually to the top player in college soccer.

Zardes continued his breakout season by scoring 15 goals and adding nine assists, each of which were team-highs, in 17 games, while the Roadrunners set a winning record for the fourth straight season. In four of his 17 games, he had four or more goals, with seven goals in a two-game stretch in mid-October.

On December 20, 2012, the Los Angeles Galaxy signed Zardes as a Homegrown Player. In a 1–1 draw with Seattle Sounders Reserves on April 15, 2013, Zardes made his debut as a replacement for the Los Angeles Galaxy Reserves. In a 2–0 win over Real Salt Lake on April 27, 2013, Zardes made his first appearance for the Galaxy as a replacement. In a 3–1 loss to the Vancouver Whitecaps on May 11, 2013, Zardes came on as a replacement in 67th min and scored his first goal for the Galaxy. In a 1–0 victory over Chivas USA on June 23, 2013, Zardes scored the only goal.

In a 5-1 victory over the Galaxy, Zardes scored his first brace for the Galaxy against New England Revolution on July 16, 2014. Gyasi Zardes scored two goals in the Galaxy's 6–0 home victory over Colorado Rapids on September 5, 2014. Zardes made Major League Soccer history by braceing Diego Fagndez to become the highest scoring Homegrown Player in a single season.

Zardes became the first Homegrown Player to score in the MLS Cup final on December 7, 2014. After receiving a cross from Stefan Ishizaki, Zardes scored in the 53rd minute. Galaxy wins the New England Revolution 2–1, making LA Galaxy the first team to win the trophy five times in extra time. Captain Robbie Keane scored as Galaxy defeated the New England Revolution 2–1. Zardes was the sixth highest scorer of the season, but only three behind Robbie Keane.

Zardes signed for Columbus Crew SC in a swap contract that saw Ola Kamara go in the opposite direction on January 20, 2018. Zardes found new life in Columbus after an injury-plagued end to his Galaxy career, scoring 11 goals in the first 19 games of the season, just barely missing out on the 2018 MLS All-Star Game. Zardes' absence from the game had earned him high praise from then Columbus coach Gregg Berhalter, who said, "[a]bsolutely he should be]," "the team's work has been outstanding." Zardes ended the 2018 season with 19 goals, earning the 2018 MLS Comeback Player of the Year Award. Zardes signed a multi-year deal with the Crew on May 13, 2019 and was named a designated player. During the 2019 season, he would have scored 13 goals in 28 appearances.

Zardes was traded to the Colorado Rapids in return for $300,000 in GAM, as well as potential add-ons, which could raise the total value of the transaction to $1,400,000 GAM.

International career

After a stellar 2014 season in which he scored 19 goals in all sports, he was given his first international call up to represent the United States in January 2015 for games against Chile and Panama. Zardes made his international debut on January 28, 2015, when he was brought on as a replacement for Clint Dempsey against Chile in the 68th minute. Zardes made his USMNT debut in a friendly against Panama on February 8, 2015, where he assisted Dempsey in the second goal as the US defeated the United States 21-0.

In a friendly against the Netherlands on June 5, 2015, Zardes scored his first goal for the US. Zardes was accepted to the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup roster and began playing in several games, including a group stage match against Haiti in which he served as a replacement at halftime. In the Gold Cup quarterfinals against Cuba, which culminated in a 6–0 win for the United States, he scored his first international competitive goal on July 18, 2015.

Zardes was called up in the early stages of 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification for the United States and scored his fifth goal in a 6–1 win over Saint Vincent and the Grenadines on November 13, 2015. After a defensive mistake, he had been instrumental in losing the first goal of the game to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Zardes was added to the United States roster for the 2016 Copa América Centenario, scoring twice in a warm-up friendly against Bolivia on May 28. Clint Dempsey's shot was the winning goal in the 2–1 quarterfinal match against Ecuador in Seattle, winning by a point.

Zardes did not score in the tournament but rather provided an assist to Jordan Morris in a narrow 3–2 victory over Martinique in the group stage of the CONCACAF Gold Cup. His next international goal would come three years later in a friendly against Ecuador on March 21, 2019, which was defeated 1–0 by the United States. Zardes earned his third of four goals in the team's opening group stage match against Guyana before joining the United States in the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup. A shot by Paul Arriola was deflected by a Guyanese defender, who struck Zardes in his left eye before bouncing into the goal. Zardes scored twice in three minutes in the next match against Trinidad and Tobago, but the team won by 6–0 over the knockout stage. Despite having multiple opportunities to finish his hat-trick, including a shot that missed the wall, Zardes was unable to finish his hat-trick.

In the 86th minute of play off a cross from Nicholas Gioacchini, Zardes emerged the game champion in the semifinal match against Qatar in the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

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