Brian Dunseth Reflects on Getting Cut From His Youth Team, Playing at the Olympics, and the USMNT

Brian Dunseth Reflects on Getting Cut From His Youth Team, Playing at the Olympics, and the USMNT

MLS broadcaster and former pro Brian Dunseth discusses his unorthodox career path, representing the USMNT at the Olympics, and more in an exclusive Q&A interview.

From afar, Brian Dunseth’s career journey looks pretty typical. A player-turned-broadcaster is pretty standard in the industry after all. But there is no straight and narrow path in the world of pro soccer, and no one knows this better than Dunseth.

The center back enjoyed a 10-year playing career that saw stops across various MLS teams including the New England Revolution, Columbus Crew, and Real Salt Lake, in addition to a stint overseas with Swedish side Bodens BK.

But when he was 12 years old, that career was nearly erased after he was cut from his hometown club team in Upland, California.

Dunseth stepped back from soccer and took some odd jobs, including a dishwasher at a convalescent hospital for $2.75 an hour and a bus boy at a steakhouse, but he never quite gave up his soccer dreams. Instead, he started thriving as Damien High School’s attacking midfielder and doing enough to be one of the last players recruited to Cal State Fullerton.

Going into college, Dunseth spent the summer training every morning by himself at Claremont McKenna College before working one of his four jobs for the rest of the day. He transitioned from a No. 10 into a center back during his time in Fullerton, establishing himself as a vital cog in defense for the Titans as a freshman and sophomore. In the summer of 1997, which would’ve been going into his junior year, he’d get his big break.

He represented the United States in the 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship in Malaysia, which led to him joining the inaugural class of MLS Project-40 contract signees.

Photo by Eliot Schechter / Allsport

Now called Generation adidas, the Project-40 program allowed Dunseth and his cohorts to be fast-tracked into the nascent Major League Soccer without having to wait to become eligible for the MLS SuperDraft.

Dunseth was assigned to the New England Revolution on July 5, 1997. One day later, he made his professional debut in an MLS match against the San Jose Clash, and he’d go on to make 82 appearances for the club, scoring a goal and an assist in that span.

During his time with the Revs, Dunseth was also able to compete in the 2000 Summer Olympics, making his debut and wearing the captain’s armband in a 2-0 loss to Chile in the bronze medal match in Sydney.

Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images

Following New England, Dunseth made a brief stop in Miami, playing with the Fusion in their final season before folding, and he’d head to Columbus to join the crew ahead of the 2002 camapign. In Ohio, Dunseth would enjoy the peak of his powers, helping the Crew win the U.S. Open Cup in his first season.

Stints with the Dallas Burn, Bodens BK in Sweden, Real Salt Lake, Chivas USA, and the LA Galaxy would round out his career, and Dunseth became the first-ever player in MLS history to be on the roster of seven different teams.

He’d hang up his boots in 2006, and despite making a cameo for amateur side Hollywood United in the 2008 U.S. Open Cup, Dunseth has pivoted to the world of broadcasting as part of the Real Salt Lake commentating crew.

He’s spent the past 20 years raising his three boys in Salt Lake City, honing his commentary skills for major outlets like Fox Soccer Channel, ESPN, SiriusXM, and NBC Sports, and last summer, he was part of DAZN/TNT’s U.S. broadcasting team for the FIFA Club World Cup, where he provided color commentary alongside Luke Wileman for major matches including the final between PSG and Chelsea.

Today, he’s working alongside Max Bretos and commentating MLS matches on a weekly basis for Apple TV, in addition to serving as the co-host of Counter Attack on SiriusXM FC and the Week In The Tackle podcast.

We caught up with Dunseth for a Q&A session, discussing his pro career, representing the U.S. at the Olympics, and the differences between his generation and the current generation of American soccer players.

Urban Pitch: What was it like getting cut from your team after playing in England?

Brian Dunseth: Everyone talks about these Michael Jordan moments for professional athletes, when they hit adversity, and something went sideways, and this was mine. From that moment on, man, all I could focus on was skyrocketing to the moon, and in my backyard, getting touches on this little wall on the cement. Then the little wall went into the grass, and I’d be striking balls left foot, right foot, and get in my touches.

I put my little boombox out there and put on Beastie Boys, and I’d just be flying around for two hours and training by myself. There were no personal trainers; we couldn’t afford a lot, but I bought a pair of Copas once a year. My parents would give me 50 bucks, and I had to make up the other $22.78 and figure out a way to get the can of mink oil to keep them nice and fresh all the time. That was kind of the start, and then I played at Damien High School and was very late recruited to Cal State Fullerton.

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – SEPTEMBER 29: Ivan Zamorano #9 of Chile contols the ball in front of Brian Dunseth #2 of the United States during the Olympic Men’s Soccer Bronze Medal Game at Sydney Football Stadium in Sydney, Australia on September 29, 2000. Chile won 2-0. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

September 29, 2000. You wore the captain’s armband for the United States and faced off against Iván Zamorano, who scored a brace for Chile and finished as the Golden Boot winner. Even though he was clearly on the decline at nearly 34 years old, do you consider Zamorano the toughest opponent that you have faced in your career?

Yes. At the time, because of his form. I just remember that it felt like he was untouchable. If I had to think about just my Major League Soccer career, I’d say Jaime Moreno from DC United and Dwayne de Rosario from San Jose Earthquakes, I still don’t think Dwayne gets the respect he deserves. He had everything, absolutely everything. I would throw in two more: I would say Eduardo ‘El Tanque’ Hurtado, the Ecuadorian striker. He was a menace, such a big man.

I might also say Jeff Cunningham, who was my teammate at Columbus. He was one of the most talented, strong, athletic, intelligent guys, and he was always a handful. You also had Brian McBride and Stern John. Stern John was, in his day, an absolute stud, just a beast. On the international level, I didn’t get to play against Samuel Eto’o in that game against Cameroon, but yeah, Zamorano was fun, man. At that moment, he was probably the biggest player at the biggest game at the biggest moment that I played against, and I felt really good about the way that I came out of that one.

What was it like making your senior debut for the U.S. in one of the biggest stages in all of sports, the Summer Olympics?

You know what’s weird, Zach, is I don’t even know what counted back then as an appearance, to be quite honest. I always joke with DaMarcus Beasley on the broadcast, because the four times that Bruce Arena was going to put me into a game, I was standing on the sideline, the board goes up, and Bees is like, “I’ve got a hammy!”

Bruce would say, “Dunseth, come on back to the bench,” and it was gut-wrenching. I can remember playing these games for the U.S. men’s national team team like unsanctioned friendlies against Galatasaray. I must have been in, like, 15, 16 national team camps.

When Steve Sampson had Clive Charles as his assistant, I was at Gold Cups and all these friendlies and training camps, and he had no problem with me going and being a part of it. I don’t effectively know what is considered or not considered a cap, I don’t even think that I officially have one, which is one of those things in life, where, it’s not a regret, but it’s like, “Damn, that’s one of the main targets I never achieved,” right? I could never say I went to a World Cup, I was never on a World Cup roster, and there’s a part of me that always will think, had Clive Charles been the coach of the U.S. men’s national team, I probably would have had anywhere from a handful to 20-something caps.

But you know, Zach, I was also in a generation, where it was so hard to get a cap. I went from Cle Kooiman, Marcelo Balboa, Alexi Lalas. I’m missing a boatload of guys that were as good, into the generation that was Eddie Pope, and Carlos Llamosa, Tony Sanneh, and Gregg Berhalter. That then turned into another generation of guys like Oguchi Onyewu and Carlos Bocanegra, and then you throw in guys like Jimmy Conrad and Jeff Agoos, when he converted to a center back. Trying to break into the national team in that center back role was elusive as guys like Nat Borchers and Justen Glad have come to find out in recent years.

It was great to see Walker Zimmerman and Aaron Long get their opportunities, primarily coming up and coming through Major League Soccer, but I’ll tell you, it wasn’t like some of the more recent times where, as long as you performed in Major League Soccer, that effectively meant that you would kind of get a cap in this eight-year cycle, with all the changes. But yeah, not having that type of career is always, from an insecure standpoint, one of the things that I really feel like I missed out on.