by Jason Davis

Before there was Jermaine Jones, there was Thomas Dooley. In 1992, with a World Cup at home looming and international reinforcements needed, a international net was cast for US-eligible players. What came back was Dooley, a German defender with a dual citizenship by virtue of his American serviceman father. Like with Jones, the US benefited from a player being passed over for the German National Team; in Dooley, head coach Bora Milutinović found a player who dreamed of appearing in the World Cup, and provided that player an unforeseen path to making the dream a reality.