1. Brian Ching was born on May 24,1978 and is an American former professional soccer player who played for twelve years in Major League Soccer and represented the US national team for eight years.
64 Facts About Brian Ching
1. 2.
Brian Ching returned to first division soccer when the San Jose Earthquakes acquired him in the 2003 MLS supplemental draft.
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Brian Ching won an MLS Cup and Supporters' Shield with the Earthquakes, collected the MLS Comeback Player of the Year Award, the MLS Golden Boot, and was named to the MLS Best XI.
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In 2006, Brian Ching relocated to Houston when the Earthquakes became the Houston Dynamo.
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Brian Ching led the team to back-to-back MLS Cup Championships in 2006 and 2007 and four MLS finals overall.
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Brian Ching made his international debut May 26,2003, becoming the first Hawaiian-born player to represent the United States.
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Brian Ching became the first Hawaiian to be named to the US roster for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, although he did not see any playing time.
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Brian Ching lost his father, Francis, to cancer on December 25,1992, when he was 14 years old.
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Stephanie Whalen, Brian Ching's mother, raised him and his two brothers as a single parent.
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Brian Ching did not play soccer until he was seven years old, agreeing to only if his mother would coach.
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Brian Ching attended Kamehameha Schools Kapalama High School in Honolulu and played in the soccer team in his junior and senior year.
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Brian Ching was named as the Interscholastic League of Honolulu's MVP during his senior year with 14 goals and six assists.
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Brian Ching's junior year he was a second team All-ILH selection.
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Brian Ching was named the PDSL rookie of the year in 1998.
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Brian Ching joined the Bulldogs for the 1996 season, and as a freshman played in 18 matches with five starts.
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Brian Ching finished second on the team in scoring with 12 points on three goals and six assists.
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Brian Ching missed the entire 1998 season after surgery to repair injured meniscus in right knee.
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Brian Ching scored 13 goals and had 8 assists for 34 points.
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Brian Ching was named All-WCC first team and earned All-Far West Region first-team honors.
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Brian Ching finished his Gonzaga career with 34 goals, which still ties him third on the all-time GU list, and his 23 assists are a Gonzaga career record.
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Brian Ching began his professional career when the Los Angeles Galaxy drafted him as the 16th overall pick of the 2001 MLS SuperDraft.
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Brian Ching was the first ever Hawaiian selected in the MLS draft.
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Brian Ching joined a roster that included US Soccer Hall of Fame players Cobi Jones, Alexi Lalas, and Paul Caligiuri, Mexico's top World Cup scorer Luis Hernandez, Mauricio Cienfuegos, Ezra Hendrickson, Danny Califf, Kevin Hartman and was coached by Sigi Schmid.
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Brian Ching made his MLS debut against San Jose on April 7,2001, as a member of the starting lineup.
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Brian Ching finished the 2002 season second in the A-League in scoring with 16 goals and eight assists, and was selected as a member of the A-League All-League first team.
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Kinnear, assistant coach at the time, and head coach Frank Yallop were impressed with how Brian Ching matched up with Earthquakes defender Eddie Robinson, considered one of the best defenders in MLS at the time.
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Brian Ching played his first Earthquakes home game in the second leg against Municipal where he scored the first goal in the 35th minute.
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Brian Ching made his first Earthquakes start in the MLS regular season on April 12,2003, at Colorado Rapids and scored 53 seconds into the game.
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Brian Ching left the August 16,2003, game at New England Revolution with a ruptured right Achilles tendon.
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Brian Ching underwent surgery on August 19 and missed the rest of the 2003 season as the San Jose Earthquakes went on to win the 2003 MLS Cup.
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Brian Ching scored a then-career-high six goals and two assists during 2003.
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Brian Ching was named to the MLS Team of the Week for April 12 and May 3,2003.
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Brian Ching finished with a career-high 12 goals in MLS, sharing the MLS Golden Boot with Eddie Johnson.
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Brian Ching was named to the MLS Best XI and recognized as the MLS Comeback Player of the Year.
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Brian Ching finished as the Earthquakes scoring champion and Most Valuable Player for the 2004 season.
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In 2005, Brian Ching scored seven goals in 16 games and tallied a career-high five assists in MLS play.
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Brian Ching registered a goal or an assist in five straight games before missing 15 matches with a hamstring injury.
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Brian Ching ended the regular season having recorded a goal or assist in six straight games.
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Brian Ching scored four goals in Houston's first-ever game on April 2,2006, against the Colorado Rapids, becoming the seventh player in MLS history to score four goals in a single game.
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Brian Ching missed six MLS games while he was with the US national team at the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
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In 2007, Brian Ching ended the season tied for the team lead with seven goals despite missing 10 games entirely due to injuries and national-team call-ups.
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Brian Ching contributed in the 2007 MLS Cup Playoffs with two playoff goals but sat out the 2007 MLS Cup final after straining his calf in the Western Conference final.
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Brian Ching was a staple in the Dynamo lineup during international competition.
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Brian Ching participated in the 2007 Superliga, playing in all three group stage matches.
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On his Twitter page, Brian Ching referred to the referee as "a joke" and "a cheat" for calling a Fredy Montero shot cleared off the line a goal.
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In 2010, Brian Ching shrugged off injuries and national team disappointment to score seven goals and add three assists in 20 games, making 16 starts, to win the team's Golden Boot for the fourth straight year.
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Brian Ching took over as the Dynamo team captain after the retirement of Wade Barrett.
48.
Brian Ching was limited to 1,242 minutes in 20 appearances due to injury in 2011, the lowest minute total of his Houston career, but still tied for team lead with five goals.
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Brian Ching started all four matches the Dynamo took part in the 2011 MLS Cup Playoffs, scoring a goal and adding an assist, to help lead the Dynamo back to the MLS Cup final.
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Brian Ching was left exposed by Houston in the 2011 MLS expansion draft and was selected by expansion side Montreal Impact less than a week after playing in the MLS Cup final.
51.
Brian Ching was traded back to Houston on February 16,2012, for a first-round draft pick in the 2013 MLS SuperDraft, after training with Montreal for about a month, coincidentally playing a preseason game against the Houston Dynamo.
52.
Brian Ching started opening day on for the Dynamo for the sixth time in seven years and nearly scored at Chivas USA when his first-touch volley off a long cross from Brad Davis hit inside of post and caromed away for near goal.
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Brian Ching would go on to set a career-high with 30 games in 2012 regular season, tying his career-high of five assists.
54.
Brian Ching signed a deal in early 2013 to return to the Dynamo as a player-coach and later announced his retirement effective at the end of the 2013 season.
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Brian Ching made two more appearances on the match day squad, his last being in a CONCACAF Champions League game on September 25,2013, but was an unused substitution.
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Brian Ching did not feature in the Dynamo's 2013 MLS Cup Playoffs run as he was not called up to the matchday squad for any of the playoff games.
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Brian Ching is the first Hawaiian and the second Chinese-American to play for the United States.
58.
On May 2,2006, Brian Ching was named to the US men's squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany but did not make an appearance in the tournament.
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Brian Ching drew a penalty in the box of the second half of the Gold Cup Final against Mexico.
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Brian Ching was called in to the USA side to face Barbados in the first round of CONCACAF World cup Qualifying for the 2010 World Cup.
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On May 11,2010, Brian Ching was named to the preliminary US men's squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa but did not make the final 23-man roster.
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Under his last contract with the MLS club, Brian Ching served the title of assistant coach.
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Brian Ching manages the day-to-day duties on both the business and technical sides under the supervision of Dash and Dynamo team president Chris Canetti.
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In 2009, Brian Ching made a commitment to give back to his adopted community by raising money to build an affordable home through Houston Habitat for Humanity.