At the ripe age of 32, former Virginia men's soccer star Claudio Reyna already has accumulated accomplishments and honors that even he never imagined possible.
"Who would have believed that I would have had this many appearances?" Reyna said. "I think that I have about 109 appearances for the national team."
"Captain America," as he is nicknamed by his teammates for his position as team captain, recorded his first cap against Norway in 1994 and has not stopped since.
From 1991 to 1993, Reyna helped lead Virginia to three of the four best soccer years in school history. His first year, the former Virginia midfielder accumulated 18 points en route to the first of the team's four consecutive national titles and ACC Championship titles.
"It was a great time," Reyna said. "We enjoyed success. We had a great team. ... I left my junior year and the class that I came in with won a fourth. It was an incredible achievement and I don't think anything like it will ever be done again."
Not only did Virginia enjoy success, but Reyna received a multitude of personal awards as well. The three-time All-American was awarded the Missouri Athletic Club's Player of the Year award, given to the nation's best soccer player, in 1992 and 1993, making him the only repeat winner.
"The individual awards came partly because of our success as a team," Reyna said. "They are nice to cap off a season as a player -- it is the perfect package to win as a team and to win individual honors, but it would not be as sweet without the titles."
After becoming one of the most decorated players in college soccer history, Reyna left Charlottesville to pursue his passion wherever it took him.
"I just took it a step at a time as I do today," Reyna said. "I set short-term goals because you never know where your life or career will take you. At the time, my first jump was to make the U.S. National team for the 1994 World Cup. I made the team and moved out to California."
In California, Reyna began a continuing 11-year stay with the U.S. National team that culminated with the 2002 World Cup, where the team endured a heartbreaking loss to Germany in the quarterfinals. With the long run in the second round of the Cup and his inspiring play leading the team, Reyna became the first American ever named to the World Cup's all-tournament team and helped open the eyes of many around the world.
"Win, lose or draw, you want to show a lot of passion," Reyna said. "We did that in 2002 and took a big step forward. We had to cross a big hurdle in our sport and our country."
In addition to logging many miles and hours traveling for the National team and Olympic team, Reyna has spent 12 years playing professionally in Europe.
"When I first came over, it was unheard of for Americans to be playing in big European soccer clubs," Reyna said. "And now, people don't blink any more when a player attracts interest form a European club nearly a decade later."
Reyna began his post-collegiate career with Bayer Leverkusen, a team in the German Bundesliga, in 1994. After two years with the team, Reyna has played two years with VfL Wolfsburg, Glasgow Rangers (a Scotland Premier League team) and currently with Manchester City (an English Premier League team).
"Playing in Europe is just a challenge," Reyna said. "It is the most difficult place to play because of the competition and, more so, the pressure you are put under. It is unlike anything in American sports on a daily basis, not only on a game-by-game situation."
From the pressure of playing in Europe and around the world, Reyna still remembers the time he spent at Virginia forming the individual he is today. Even his former Virginia coach and current U.S. national team coach, Bruce Arena feels that Reyna learned a lot from college.
"He is a kid who benefited greatly from the education and the culture [at Virginia]," Arena said. "You talk about people who benefit from an education and he is a perfect example, even though he did not walk away with a degree. Soccer was almost secondary, and he got a lot out his time in Charlottesville."
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