Lee Nguyen

PSV Eindhoven

Nguyen began his professional career by signing a three-and-a-half-year deal with Dutch Eredivisie team PSV Eindhoven in February 2006, but after making just two appearances with the club's senior team, he moved on to get more first-team time somewhere else.

Randers FC

On January 31, 2008, Nguyen signed with the Danish Superliga club Randers FC until the summer of 2009. He made 23 appearances with the club in parts of two seasons.

Hoàng Anh Gia Lai

With Nguyen still hoping to remain in Europe but ready for a change of scenery, V.League 1 club Hoàng Anh Gia Lai, based in the centrally located city of Pleiku, gave his Vietnamese father a contract offer in January 2009 to pass along to his son. The offer was much more lucrative than what he could have hoped for anywhere else, but by accepting it he took himself completely off the United States Men's National Team radar at the age of 23 after just three appearances. Nguyen became the Vietnamese league's first American player when he signed with Hoàng Anh Gia Lai on January 17, 2009. He scored 13 goals and 16 assists in 24 appearances in all competitions for the club in 2009. Through club partnership connections, Nguyen spent the middle of 2009 training with English club Arsenal in the hopes of earning another contract in Europe.

Becamex Binh Duong

In January 2010, Nguyen signed with another V.League 1 club, Becamex Binh Duong F.C. in Thủ Dầu Một. Injuries limited his impact as…

After playing for several United States junior level squads, namely the under-18s, under-20s, and under-23s, including being the only high school player named to the under-20 roster for the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship, Nguyen made his debut for the senior United States Men's National Team in a friendly against China on June 2, 2007. He made two other appearances with the team in 2007 as part of the Copa América roster. On November 10, 2014, Jürgen Klinsmann called up Nguyen for the first time in seven years for friendlies against Colombia and the Republic of Ireland, and again on January 9, 2015, for the training camp ahead of the friendlies against Chile and Panama. Nguyen made his reappearance with the USMNT as a substitute in a friendly match against Costa Rica on October 13, 2015.

On October 6, 2021, Nguyen worked with the Washington Spirit and went on to win the NWSL Championship. Following that season, he announced his retirement from professional soccer, and re-signed with the Washington Spirit as an assistant coach. On June 14, 2023, the Kansas City Current announced the hiring of Nguyen as an assistant coach under interim head coach Caroline Sjöblom. On January 9, 2024, Angel City FC announced they had hired Nguyen as an assistant coach to work under head coach Becki Tweed. He joined Seattle Reign FC as an assistant coach in February 2025. On July 2, 2026, USL Super League side Dallas Trinity FC unveiled Nguyen as both the club's new head coach and technical director.

Nguyen holds dual citizenship of the United States and Vietnam. Lee Nguyen's father, Pham Nguyen, fled to the United States a few years before the fall of Saigon, precisely in 1973, and later settled in Richardson, Texas, where Lee was born. Pham also played soccer in his youth. In 2012, Nguyen was named one of The Boston Globe's 25 Most Stylish Bostonians.