Tony Sanneh

Youth and college

Tony Sanneh was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota to an African father from Gambia and an American mother from Wisconsin. He attended the St. Paul Academy and Summit School and played for the local soccer team, St. Paul Blackhawks. He graduated in 1990 having been selected twice to the All State team. He went on to play college soccer for the NCAA Division I Milwaukee Panthers, where, as a striker, he became the school's all-time scoring leader, with 53 goals and 32 assists from 1990 to 1993. He was named an NCAA Second-Team All-American in 1993.

Professional

In 1994, his first year out of college, Sanneh played with USISL's Milwaukee Rampage, where he scored 14 goals and 14 assists while teaming up with Brian McBride. His partnership with McBride was highlighted by a goal that the latter scored during the opening 2002 World Cup match against Portugal, which originated from a cross by Sanneh. During the winter 1994 season, Sanneh joined the indoor soccer Chicago Power of the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL). He played 34 games, scoring 27 goals in the 1994–95 season. He also played goalkeeper in four games for a total of 79:15 minutes. In the 1995–96 indoor season, he played in only nine games, scoring four goals, but also played 4:19 minutes as a goalkeeper. In 1995, he played with a former Milwaukee Panthers teammate, Manny Lagos, on the Minnesota Thunder, amassing 18 goals and 22 assists with the team. He also played the 1995–96…

Sanneh made his debut for the United States national team on January 29, 1997, in a 2–1 loss to China but failed to make Steve Sampson's final squad and was left out of the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France. Sanneh then had very good seasons from there on out, enough to impress new U.S. coach Bruce Arena scoring his first international goal in a shock 3–0 win over Germany. Eventually, he became an important part of the team by the time the 2002 FIFA World Cup came around and was one of the US best players in the tournament, playing every minute of every game. In the US first game of the tournament, a 3–2 upset of Portugal, his precise cross from the right side of the field provided an assist to Brian McBride's goal. He was also instrumental, both defensively and offensively, in the US narrow 1–0 loss to Germany in the quarterfinals, barely missing an equalizing goal on two occasions in the 47th and 89th minute. After the 2002 FIFA World Cup, Sanneh was rarely picked due to injury and an influx of young talent into the national team pool. However, after playing impressively for the Columbus Crew and Chicago Fire in MLS, he was recalled for the 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup, starting in group games against Cuba and Costa Rica. The US later won the tournament upon beating Panama in the final. Following the tournament he was never called back into the national team and Sanneh finished his career for the US national team with three goals in 43 appearances.

International goals…

Sanneh operates his own soccer camp system in the Midwest and U.S. Virgin Islands. He also is a coach and consultant for the club soccer team Minneapolis United. In addition to overseeing youth development, he is the founder and executive director of his own charitable foundation headquartered in St. Paul (www.thesannehfoundation.org) which, among other initiatives, aims to help urban youth and also assists in recovery efforts in Haiti. As of 2013, Sanneh has been playing with Brits Pub FC a local recreational team in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In the summer of 2013, Sanneh formed a Minnesota Thunder Legends team for a match against the Stegman's Old Boys of Minneapolis in partnership with The Free Beer Movement to help raise money for The Sanneh Foundation. Sanneh has also been an active participant in the Sports Diplomacy Sports Envoy program for the U.S. Department of State. In this function, he has traveled to Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Cyprus, Haiti, and Malaysia, where he worked with to conduct soccer clinics and events that reached more than 3000 youth from underserved areas. In so doing, Sanneh helped contribute to Sports Diplomacy's mission to reach out to youth populations in order to promote growth and a mutual understanding through sports. In November 2014, Sanneh received the Athletes in Excellence Award from The Foundation for Global Sports Development, in recognition of his community service efforts and work with youth. In 2017, Sanneh was inducted into the…