Meet the Target USA CUP Hosts: Jimmy Conrad

The man, the myth, the legend

Who is this “Jimmy Conrad”? Where is he from? What has he done? When will he be in Blaine?

Get ready to learn more about one of the hosts of this year’s Target USA CUP!

Born in California, Jimmy “Conradinho” Conrad has been a part of soccer his entire life. Playing all four years in high school (1 year in JV and 3 in Varsity), going on to play for UCLA as a walk-on and winning the NCAA Division 1 National Championship his senior year, then, after not getting drafted right away, he played one year in the lower divisions before launching his career in Major League Soccer, and eventually representing the United States in the World Cup, Jimmy has made quite a name for himself.

Starting his MLS career with the San Jose Earthquakes and making 84 appearances, Jimmy was quickly starting to gain traction for his defensive style of play. He garnered interest from the Kansas City Wizards (now known as Sporting Kansas City) and after four seasons with the Quakes, where he helped the club win an MLS Cup in his third year, he was traded.

His move to Kansas, though, helped him take big steps in his career at the league and international level. Spending a total of seven years playing in Kansas, he made over 200 appearances and scored a total of 17 goals as a defender, got named to MLS’ Best XI on four different occasions, and won MLS Defender and Humanitarian of the Year awards.

Also, these successes mentioned above were just at the club level. In 2005 Jimmy earned his first cap for the US Men’s National Team at the CONCACAF Gold Cup and, a year after making his first appearance for his country, Jimmy made the roster for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany. He came on as a substitute against Italy, the eventual champions, and played every single minute against Ghana in the group stage of the tournament. At the end, he finished with 27 caps, 1 goal (but it was the game-winner against our biggest rivals, Mexico, so it should count for AT LEAST 10 goals), and captained the USMNT on five different occasions, which he states is one of his proudest achievements.

Not a bad career at all for the undrafted walk-on from the West Coast!

Since retiring from MLS in 2011, Jimmy has been everywhere online. From being the face of Youtube’s KICKTV, which garnered over a million subscribers in 3 1/2 years, to then branching out to host events and shows for CBS Sports, Target, Coca-Cola, AT&T, EA SPORTS, LaLiga, Twitch, and an Emmy-nominated Fox Sports show, “World Cup Now,” for the 2022 Men’s World Cup, Jimmy has his finger on the pulse for the beautiful game in this country.

In addition to the work stuff, Jimmy is currently on the path to getting his US Soccer “A” coaching license, which will not only continue to help him be a great host and analyst but also in his evolution as a coach overall. He is currently a part of the San Francisco Glens coaching staff in USL League 2.

If you haven’t seen him around in previous years, then you need to know that Jimmy has been involved with Target USA CUP since 2019, so we are ecstatic to have him be a part of the festivities again this year! He’ll be floating around campus at the beginning of the tournament, so if you see him, make sure to say hi!