Damani Ralph

Damani Ralph

240px Ralph as a trialist with New York Red Bulls.
Personal information
Full name	Damani Ralph
Date of birth	(1980-11-06) 6 November 1980
Place of birth	Kingston, Jamaica
Height
Position(s)	Forward
Youth career
1998	Harbour View F.C.
1999-2001	Meridian Community College
2001-2003	University of Connecticut
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2003–2004	Chicago Fire	51	(22)
2005–2007	Rubin Kazan	25	(2)
Total		76	(24)
International career‡
2002-2005	Jamaica	18	(1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 2 August 2009

Damani Ralph (born 6 November 1980) is a former Jamaican footballer who played as a forward. His professional career spanned five years, two with Chicago Fire S.C. (2003–2004) and three with FC Rubin Kazan (2005–2007). He also earned 18 caps with the Jamaica national football team from 2002 to 2005. He has been a Licensed FIFA player agent with Global Premier Management since 2011 and is also currently its Vice President.

Club career

Amateur/College

Ralph began playing football as a boy in Jamaica. This included time with Harbour View and St. George's College before moving to the United States. Ralph began his career in America playing college soccer at Meridian Community College in Meridian, Mississippi, where he scored 59 goals in 45 games and was named MVP of the NJCAA Tournament. After two years with Meridian, Ralph left for the University of Connecticut, where he continued his dominant play. During his two years at Connecticut he scored 28 goals and added 11 assists, and was a Hermann Trophy finalist his senior year.

Major League Soccer

Chicago Fire

Ralph was then drafted 18th overall by the Chicago Fire in the 2003 MLS SuperDraft. He quickly earned a spot in the starting lineup, and finished the season with 11 goals and 6 assists in 25 games. In scoring 11 goals, Ralph broke the MLS record for goals scored by a rookie, previously held by Rodrigo Faria, Josh Wolff, and Jeff Cunningham, and was named MLS Rookie of the Year for his accomplishments. In his second year with the Fire, he scored 11 goals again and added 3 assists to lead the team in scoring. Ralph scored the game-winning goal in the 2003 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup final to win the Fire their third U.S. Open Cup.

Europe

Rubin Kazan

Ralph actively pursued a move to Europe almost from his first day in Chicago. Some of the clubs reported as interested in Ralph included British clubs Sunderland and Bolton. In 2004, there were rumors that Ralph would move to the Spanish club Malaga, but MLS turned down a reputed $1 million (U.S.) transfer offer. However, in 2005 Ralph finally secured his long desired transfer to Europe. The move was for undisclosed terms - thought to be $2 million (U.S)- to Russian Club FC Rubin Kazan. The contract would run for three years with a starting yearly salary of $650,000.

In his first season for Rubin, he scored only twice in 25 league games as his team gained a fourth-place finish.

Injury

In February 2006, before the new Russian season started, Ralph had surgery in Germany to repair damage to his left knee. Later that year he was treated for a second time and he was sidelined for over 2.5 years after undergoing a third consecutive knee operation at the start of 2008.

Attempted Return to MLS

After almost three years out of professional football due to injury, during which he finished his economics degree at the University of Connecticut, Ralph reappeared on trial with Major League Soccer club New York Red Bulls during their 2010 pre-season. The trial ended without a contract offer from the club.

International career

Ralph struggled to cement a starting place on the Jamaica national team, largely because of competition from a number of naturalized Jamaican forwards from England. He made his debut in an August 2002 friendly match against Grenada and earned 18 caps, scoring once. He played in 8 FIFA World Cup qualification matches.

His final international was an October 2005 friendly against Australia.

Honors

Club

Chicago Fire

• Supporters' Shield: 2003
• Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup: 2003

Rubin Kazan

• La Manga Cup (2): 2005, 2006

Individual

• MLS Rookie of the Year: 2003

External links

• MLS profile