Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Zachary Pfeffer | ||
Date of birth | January 6, 1995 | ||
Place of birth | Dresher, Pennsylvania, U.S. | ||
Height | 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) | ||
Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
Youth career | |||
2005–2008 | Montgomery United | ||
2008–2009 | YMS Celtic | ||
2009–2010 | FC DELCO | ||
2010 | IMG Soccer Academy | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | ( Gls) |
2011–2015 | Philadelphia Union | 30 | (3) |
2013 | → 1899 Hoffenheim (loan) | 0 | (0) |
2014–2015 | → Harrisburg City Islanders (loan) | 4 | (1) |
2016 | Colorado Rapids | 0 | (0) |
2016 | → Charlotte Independence (loan) | 16 | (0) |
2016 | → Colorado Springs Switchbacks (loan) | 2 | (0) |
Total | 52 | (3) | |
International career‡ | |||
2010–2011 | United States U17 | 5 | (0) |
2012–2013 | United States U18 | 9 | (2) |
2014–2015 | United States U20 | 12 | (5) |
2015 | United States U23 | 1 | (0) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of September 22, 2016 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of June 7, 2015 |
Zachary "Zach" Pfeffer (born January 6, 1995) is an American former professional soccer player. In 2010 at the age of 15 he became the fourth-youngest player ever to sign a Major League Soccer contract. He retired from soccer in 2016 at 21 years of age.
Pfeffer is Jewish and was born in Dresher, Pennsylvania. [1] He attended Upper Dublin High School, finishing on time as he played soccer for Union. [2] [1] He played for YMS Celtics, FC Delco Academy along with the Montgomery Maniacs as a young man in Pennsylvania before spending a semester at the U-17 national team residency at IMG in 2010. [3] [4]
After retiring from soccer in 2016 at 21 years of age, as of January 2017, he was a junior at the Fox School of Business and Management department of Temple University; he became an investment banker thereafter. [5] [6] [7]
Pfeffer then spent several months training with the Philadelphia Union first team and made an appearance for them in a friendly against C.D. Guadalajara on September 1, 2010. [8] Pfeffer was a member of Philadelphia's U-17 squad that competed in the MLS U-17 SUM Cup in Houston, Texas.
On December 22, 2010, the Union signed Pfeffer at the age of 15 as their first-ever homegrown player. [9] [7] He was the fourth-youngest player ever to sign an MLS contract, behind Freddy Adu, Fuad Ibrahim, and Diego Fagundez. [6]
He scored his first goal for the Union in a preseason friendly against UCF on February 14, 2011, off a brilliant, long-range effort. [10] He made his regular season Philadelphia Union debut on September 17 against Columbus Crew, at 16 years of age. [7] In 2015 in 21 games (11 starts) he had two goals and an assist. [2] Pfeffer was one of the longest-tenured Union players when he left the team. [2]
Pfeffer was loaned to TSG 1899 Hoffenheim for the whole of 2013, beginning on January 7, 2013. [11] In the 2012–2013 campaign, Pfeffer scored 2 goals in 9 matches playing for the Hoffenheim U-19 side.
Pfeffer was traded to the Colorado Rapids in January 2016 in exchange for the overall second pick in the 2016 MLS SuperDraft, which was used to draft defender Josh Yaro. [2] [12] [13] [14] [15] In 2014 and 2015 he played in the Major League Soccer Homegrown Game. [16]
He decided to leave soccer, to go to college and then pursue a career in finance. [2] Pfeffer explained: "I sat down and took a look where I wanted to be long-term, and I knew that in a year, five years, 10 years, the financial industry is where I wanted to be. Everything came together nicely with my contract expiring and where I was at academically and where I was professionally.... I looked at where my heart was and where my passions were. Obviously I love the game and I always will, but there was an overriding passion to pursue this next part of my life." [2] Jim Curtin, who had been his manager at Union, said: "I want to say he should still be playing because he’s that talented... It’s too young to have a career come to an end." [2]
Pfeffer represented the United States at the U-14 and U-15 levels and trained at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, as part of U.S. Soccer's U-17 residency program. [4] On April 18, 2011, he was called up to the U-17 National Team to play in the Mondial Minimes Montaigu Tournament in Montaigu, France, from April 18–26. [17]
Pfeffer was called into the first U-18 National Team camp of 2012 by then-Manager Richie Williams. [18] He was also called up to numerous U-18 National Team camps in 2012. He scored a goal in their November friendly against Canada. [19]
Club performance | League | Cup | League Cup | Continental | Total | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Season | Club | League | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
USA | League | Open Cup | League Cup | North America | Total | |||||||
2011 | Philadelphia Union | Major League Soccer | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 3 | 0 | |
2012 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 1 | 0 | ||||
2013 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 0 | 0 | ||||
2014 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 5 | 1 | ||||
2015 | 21 | 2 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 23 | 2 | ||||
Total | USA | 30 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 3 | |
Career total | 30 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 3 |
Updated January 15, 2016 [20]
Pfeffer had taken Penn State online courses during his soccer career, and completed over three semesters of college before he stopped playing soccer. [2] He as of 2020 was an investment banking analyst for Goldman Sachs. [7]
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Zachary Pfeffer | ||
Date of birth | January 6, 1995 | ||
Place of birth | Dresher, Pennsylvania, U.S. | ||
Height | 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) | ||
Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
Youth career | |||
2005–2008 | Montgomery United | ||
2008–2009 | YMS Celtic | ||
2009–2010 | FC DELCO | ||
2010 | IMG Soccer Academy | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | ( Gls) |
2011–2015 | Philadelphia Union | 30 | (3) |
2013 | → 1899 Hoffenheim (loan) | 0 | (0) |
2014–2015 | → Harrisburg City Islanders (loan) | 4 | (1) |
2016 | Colorado Rapids | 0 | (0) |
2016 | → Charlotte Independence (loan) | 16 | (0) |
2016 | → Colorado Springs Switchbacks (loan) | 2 | (0) |
Total | 52 | (3) | |
International career‡ | |||
2010–2011 | United States U17 | 5 | (0) |
2012–2013 | United States U18 | 9 | (2) |
2014–2015 | United States U20 | 12 | (5) |
2015 | United States U23 | 1 | (0) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of September 22, 2016 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of June 7, 2015 |
Zachary "Zach" Pfeffer (born January 6, 1995) is an American former professional soccer player. In 2010 at the age of 15 he became the fourth-youngest player ever to sign a Major League Soccer contract. He retired from soccer in 2016 at 21 years of age.
Pfeffer is Jewish and was born in Dresher, Pennsylvania. [1] He attended Upper Dublin High School, finishing on time as he played soccer for Union. [2] [1] He played for YMS Celtics, FC Delco Academy along with the Montgomery Maniacs as a young man in Pennsylvania before spending a semester at the U-17 national team residency at IMG in 2010. [3] [4]
After retiring from soccer in 2016 at 21 years of age, as of January 2017, he was a junior at the Fox School of Business and Management department of Temple University; he became an investment banker thereafter. [5] [6] [7]
Pfeffer then spent several months training with the Philadelphia Union first team and made an appearance for them in a friendly against C.D. Guadalajara on September 1, 2010. [8] Pfeffer was a member of Philadelphia's U-17 squad that competed in the MLS U-17 SUM Cup in Houston, Texas.
On December 22, 2010, the Union signed Pfeffer at the age of 15 as their first-ever homegrown player. [9] [7] He was the fourth-youngest player ever to sign an MLS contract, behind Freddy Adu, Fuad Ibrahim, and Diego Fagundez. [6]
He scored his first goal for the Union in a preseason friendly against UCF on February 14, 2011, off a brilliant, long-range effort. [10] He made his regular season Philadelphia Union debut on September 17 against Columbus Crew, at 16 years of age. [7] In 2015 in 21 games (11 starts) he had two goals and an assist. [2] Pfeffer was one of the longest-tenured Union players when he left the team. [2]
Pfeffer was loaned to TSG 1899 Hoffenheim for the whole of 2013, beginning on January 7, 2013. [11] In the 2012–2013 campaign, Pfeffer scored 2 goals in 9 matches playing for the Hoffenheim U-19 side.
Pfeffer was traded to the Colorado Rapids in January 2016 in exchange for the overall second pick in the 2016 MLS SuperDraft, which was used to draft defender Josh Yaro. [2] [12] [13] [14] [15] In 2014 and 2015 he played in the Major League Soccer Homegrown Game. [16]
He decided to leave soccer, to go to college and then pursue a career in finance. [2] Pfeffer explained: "I sat down and took a look where I wanted to be long-term, and I knew that in a year, five years, 10 years, the financial industry is where I wanted to be. Everything came together nicely with my contract expiring and where I was at academically and where I was professionally.... I looked at where my heart was and where my passions were. Obviously I love the game and I always will, but there was an overriding passion to pursue this next part of my life." [2] Jim Curtin, who had been his manager at Union, said: "I want to say he should still be playing because he’s that talented... It’s too young to have a career come to an end." [2]
Pfeffer represented the United States at the U-14 and U-15 levels and trained at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, as part of U.S. Soccer's U-17 residency program. [4] On April 18, 2011, he was called up to the U-17 National Team to play in the Mondial Minimes Montaigu Tournament in Montaigu, France, from April 18–26. [17]
Pfeffer was called into the first U-18 National Team camp of 2012 by then-Manager Richie Williams. [18] He was also called up to numerous U-18 National Team camps in 2012. He scored a goal in their November friendly against Canada. [19]
Club performance | League | Cup | League Cup | Continental | Total | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Season | Club | League | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
USA | League | Open Cup | League Cup | North America | Total | |||||||
2011 | Philadelphia Union | Major League Soccer | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 3 | 0 | |
2012 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 1 | 0 | ||||
2013 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 0 | 0 | ||||
2014 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 5 | 1 | ||||
2015 | 21 | 2 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 23 | 2 | ||||
Total | USA | 30 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 3 | |
Career total | 30 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 3 |
Updated January 15, 2016 [20]
Pfeffer had taken Penn State online courses during his soccer career, and completed over three semesters of college before he stopped playing soccer. [2] He as of 2020 was an investment banking analyst for Goldman Sachs. [7]