83 Facts About Ricardo Clark

Ricardo Anthony Clark was born on February 10,1983 and is an American former soccer player who played as a midfielder.

Ricardo Clark spent four seasons with the Dynamo, helping the club win two MLS Cups, before departing for Europe.

Ricardo Clark spent the next six years in Houston, departing at the end of 2017 with 304 appearances for the Dynamo across his two spells.

Ricardo Clark signed as a free agent with Columbus Crew SC, spending his final two professional seasons with the Crew before retiring following the 2019 season.

At international level, Ricardo Clark appeared for the United States at the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship.

Ricardo Clark earned his first senior cap in October 2005 against Panama, and went on to score three goals in 34 caps for his country.

Ricardo Clark represented the United States at two CONCACAF Gold Cups, helped the US to the final of the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup, and played at the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Ricardo Clark earned his final senior cap in January 2012.

Ricardo Clark was a two-time state champion and state player of the year with the Golden Lions, winning GHSA titles as a sophomore and senior and State Player of the Year nods as a junior and senior.

Ricardo Clark committed to play college soccer at Furman University, part of a recruiting class ranked fourth in the nation.

Ricardo Clark played only two collegiate seasons at Furman, making 37 appearances and notching three goals for the Paladins.

Ricardo Clark suffered through a foot injury during the second half of his freshman season, finishing the year with 15 appearances.

That goal came on September 21,2002; Ricardo Clark scored on September 27 against Fairfield and October 27 against South Carolina.

Ricardo Clark finished the season with three goals in 22 appearances, and was named as an NSCAA first team all-American.

Ricardo Clark was named to the NSCAA all-South Region first team, the College Soccer News all-America first team, and as a Soccer America MVP to conclude the season.

Ricardo Clark stepped immediately into the starting lineup for the Metros, making his professional debut on April 12,2003, against Columbus Crew.

Ricardo Clark would go on to set a club rookie record, starting the first 27 games of the season, and making 28 total appearances in MLS play.

Ricardo Clark scored once in 28 total appearances on the year, bringing his total with the club to four goals in 63 games.

Ricardo Clark was traded to San Jose Earthquakes on January 14,2005, in exchange for allocation money and a youth international roster slot.

The trade occurred on the same day as the 2005 MLS SuperDraft, meaning that Ricardo Clark became one of eight players that joined the Earthquakes on the day.

Ricardo Clark jumped immediately into the starting lineup in 2005, making his club debut with a start in the season opener against New England Revolution on April 2.

Ricardo Clark finished the season with 32 appearances and four goals across all competitions.

Ricardo Clark then picked up a pair of yellow cards in the playoffs, meaning that he would be suspended for MLS Cup 2006.

Ricardo Clark made 36 appearances on the season, scoring twice, and was named to the MLS Best XI.

Ricardo Clark began 2007 by making his continental debut in the 2007 CONCACAF Champions' Cup, appearing in three of Houston's four games against Puntarenas and Pachuca.

Ricardo Clark then missed more than a month of the 2007 season on national team duty, appearing in the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup and 2007 Copa America.

Ricardo Clark was sent off, received a nine-game suspension, and was fined $10,000, the most severe punishment in MLS history.

Ricardo Clark finished the season with 23 appearances and two goals across all competitions.

Ricardo Clark's suspension carried over for the first two games of the 2008 season, but he jumped immediately back into the Houston lineup afterwards.

Ricardo Clark played a large role in Houston's continental competitions, playing 16 times and scoring once across the three competitions.

Ricardo Clark made a career-high 43 appearances in all competitions in 2008, scoring three times.

Ricardo Clark missed time during the summer of 2009, earning a call up to the United States for the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup.

Thanks in part to his international duties, Ricardo Clark only made 22 appearances in league play.

Ricardo Clark saw his playing time in the CONCACAF Champions League decrease, appearing in two of the Dynamo's six games in the competition.

Ricardo Clark announced following the season that he would pursue opportunities abroad, departing Houston with eight goals in 129 appearances across four seasons with the Dynamo.

Ricardo Clark started each of the last three matches on the season for Eintracht as the club finished 10th in the league.

Ricardo Clark appeared in four of Eintracht's nine victories on the season, and six of their 16 total results, but could not prevent the club from slumping to 17th place and just the fourth relegation in club history.

Ricardo Clark finished the season having made just 12 appearances in all competitions for the club.

On July 18,2012, before that loan had even expired, Eintracht confirmed that Ricardo Clark's contract had been terminated by mutual consent, effective at the end of his loan spell in Norway.

Ricardo Clark officially departed Eintracht Frankfurt having appeared 16 times in all competitions for the club, and just once during his final season in Germany.

Ricardo Clark went 79 minutes in the opening leg defeat, but had to be replaced by Adnan Haidar before halftime in the second leg in what would mark his final match for the club.

Ricardo Clark made his second debut for the Dynamo two days later, coming on as a second-half substitute in a defeat against New York Red Bulls.

Ricardo Clark finished the campaign with one goal in 18 appearances in all competitions.

Ricardo Clark jumped straight into the 2013 season, scoring in the season opener against DC United and earning a nod to the MLS Team of the Week for week one.

Ricardo Clark finished the season with final stats of 36 appearances and five goals; for his efforts, he was named as the Dynamo Player's Player of the Year.

The 2014 season was a disappointing one for Houston, who failed to qualify for the playoffs for only the second time in club history, as well as for Ricardo Clark, who appeared in only 25 games because of injury.

Ricardo Clark tallied strikes in back-to-back games against Sporting Kansas City and Montreal, sparking the Dynamo to a six-match unbeaten run.

Ricardo Clark made 25 appearances on the season, scoring four times.

Ricardo Clark scored his first career US Open Cup goal, coming two minutes into stoppage time of a fourth round victory over Austin Aztex.

Ricardo Clark earned recognition from the fans as Midfielder of the Year.

Ricardo Clark scored four times on the season, twice against San Jose and twice in the Texas Derby against FC Dallas.

Ricardo Clark appeared 33 times in all competitions, augmenting his four goals with a career-high four assists.

Ahead of the 2017 season, Ricardo Clark was named as the sixth club captain in Dynamo history, taking over from DaMarcus Beasley when Wilmer Cabrera was named as the head coach.

Ricardo Clark did not score a goal in any competition in 2017, the first time in his MLS career that he did not tally a league goal.

The Dynamo returned to the playoffs for the first time in four seasons, with Ricardo Clark appearing twice as part of the club's run to the Western Conference finals.

Ricardo Clark finished the season having appeared 30 times in all competitions.

Ricardo Clark departed the Dynamo after 175 appearances and 23 goals through his second stint with the club, bringing his all-time mark in Houston to 304 appearances and 31 goals.

On February 2,2018, Ricardo Clark joined his fourth MLS club, signing as a free agent with Columbus Crew SC.

Ricardo Clark was on the field for less than a minute before the final whistle.

On his second appearance, and first start, Ricardo Clark scored his first goal for the club.

Ricardo Clark played sparingly across the remainder of the season, finishing the season with one goal in 13 appearances.

Ricardo Clark officially retired from playing professional soccer on February 12,2020.

Ricardo Clark signed a ceremonial one day contract with Houston Dynamo for the announcement.

Ricardo Clark received his first taste of international soccer with the United States U18 national team, earning six caps and scoring three goals during his two eligible years at that level.

Ricardo Clark was a key member of the squad that won the 2001 International Tournament of Lisbon, where he started all three matches.

Ricardo Clark closed out 2002 at the CONCACAF U20 qualifying tournament, helping the United States qualify for the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship.

Ricardo Clark received his first senior cap for the United States on October 12,2005, in a World Cup qualifier against Panama.

Ricardo Clark was not named to the squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, and thus did not earn another cap for more than a year.

Ricardo Clark returned to the team after Bob Bradley was named as the new head coach, making his first start for the US in a friendly victory over Denmark on January 20,2007.

That summer, Ricardo Clark was named to two American squads: the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup in the United States and the 2007 Copa America in Venezuela.

Ricardo Clark appeared four times in the Gold Cup, coming off the bench in all three knockout stage matches; in the final against Mexico, he replaced Pablo Mastroeni at halftime as part of the American comeback victory.

At the Copa America, Ricardo Clark appeared in all three matches as the United States was knocked out of the competition in the group stage.

Ricardo Clark played in just two of the six Third Round qualifiers for the United States, but found a larger role in the Hexagonal, appearing in four of the ten American matches in the final round.

On September 10,2009, Ricardo Clark scored his first World Cup qualifying goal, and just his second for the United States.

Ricardo Clark went the distance in the semifinal victory over Spain, helping the United States to their first-ever Confederations Cup final.

Ricardo Clark was named as part of the 30-man preliminary squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Ricardo Clark was one of nine midfielders selected to the team.

Ricardo Clark started in the Round of 16, a match that saw the United States defeated by Ghana after an extra time goal by Asamoah Gyan.

Ricardo Clark came in for criticism following the match, as he had committed the turnover that led to Ghana's opening goal in the fifth minute, picked up a yellow card in the seventh minute, and was substituted in the 31st minute.

Ricardo Clark only appeared three more times for the United States following the World Cup.

In Jurgen Klinsmann's debut as head coach, Ricardo Clark was an 84th-minute substitute against Mexico, replacing Jose Francisco Torres.

Ricardo Clark scored his third and final international goal on January 22,2012, a header seven minutes into second-half stoppage time to beat Venezuela.

Ricardo Clark earned 34 caps for the United States, scoring three goals across his eight years with the national team.