6 February 1996 - The Wizard Of Kansas City

On 6 February 1996, Kansas City acquired the rights to former Everton and Portsmouth winger Preki, who went on to become the club's career leader in goals and assists.

The 32-year old Yugoslav-born American international, whose full name is Predrag Radosavljević, had played for a number of different clubs, including Red Star Belgrade and three different American indoor soccer teams, before joining Kansas City for the first MLS season. Despite a mid-table finish, they managed to reach the conference finals in the playoffs, while Preki shined as their star, scoring a team-high 18 goals that year.

He was the league MVP the following year, leading Kansas City to the top of the Western Conference table while individually finishing as the league's scoring champion (based on a combination of goals and assists in which the former were worth two points and the latter one). In 2000, the team finished with the best regular-season record and won the the MLS Cup.

After spending the 2001 season with Miami, he returned to Kansas City in 2002 and the next year was again the scoring champion and league MVP. (He rejoined Kansas City in a supplemental draft after Miami folded, but only after every other team in the league declined to sign him).

He retired from playing after the 2005 season, but moved quickly into management, joining Chivas USA as an assistant in 2006 and taking full rein of the club in 2007. Chivas won the conference that year, leading to Preki being named the MLS Coach of the Year. By 2009, however, the club was struggling, which led to his departure and a brief but unsuccessful spell in charge of Toronto in 2010, the same year he was inducted into the US Soccer Hall of Fame.

2 September 1961 - Vamos Valderrama

On 2 September 1961, midfielder Carlos Valderrama was born in Santa Marta, Colombia. He went on to become the national team's appearance leader with 111 caps.

Nicknamed "El Pibe" (the Kid) and easily recognized for his bushy blonde perm, Valderrama started his career with Unión Magdalena in 1981. By 1985, he was with Deportivo Cali and made his national team debut in a 3-0 loss to Paraguay and went on to captain the team for three successive World Cups (1990, 1994, 1998).

In the 1990 World Cup, he provided the assist for a stoppage-time equalizer against West Germany to send Colombia into the Round of 16 for the first and only time. He retired from international play after the 1998 tournament, having made a record 111 appearances.

Two years before that, he became one of the high-profile signings for the new American league, MLS, joining the Tampa Bay Mutiny for the league's first season in 1996. He later played for the Miami Fusion (1998), had another spell with Tampa Bay (1999-2000), and then one for the Colorado Rapids (2001-02) before retiring as the league's second-ranked all-time assist leader with 114 (he has since dropped to fourth in the assist table after being passed by Landon Donovan and Brad Davis).

21 March 1998 - The Fire Show Their Spark

On 21 March 1998, the Chicago Fire got off to good start, beating fellow MLS expansion team Miami Fusion 2-0 in their first league match.

Chicago and Miami joined MLS that year as the league's eleventh and twelfth teams and met in Fort Lauderdale on the season's opening day. Playing before a crowd of 14,653 at Lockhart Stadium, the two were inseparable in the first half, going into the break scoreless despite playing open and attacking football.

They combined for a total of 30 shots on the day (14 for Chicago and 16 for Miami), though they got only five each on goal. Fortunately for Chicago, two of theirs went in, as Roman Kosecki (76') and Ritchie Kotschau (87') found the back of the net to give the Fire a 2-0 victory.

It was the start to a fantastic season for Chicago, who went on to finish second in the league's Western Conference, then won the MLS Cup with a 2-0 win over DC United in October.

29 August 1976 - So I Guess That's Really 62.5 Caps

On 29 August 1976, former US international midfielder and current Colorado Rapids manager Pablo Mastroeni was born in Mendoza, Argentina.

At the age of 4, he moved with his parents to Phoenix, Arizona. Although his father had hoped that Mastroeni would someday play for his native Argentina, young Pablo decided at 9 years old that he wanted to play for the US.

He got his wish in 2001, when US manager Bruce Arena called him up for World Cup qualifiers against Honduras and Costa Rica. He earned his first cap on 7 June 2001 in a match against Ecuador and made his first start in the opening match of the 2002 World Cup as the US upset Portugal, 3-2.

Mastroeni has made 63 appearances for the United States, but is probably best known for receiving a 45th-minute red card in the 2006 World Cup after roughly tackling Italy's Andrea Pirlo.

He has spent his club career in the MLS, first playing for the Miami Fusion (1998-2001), the Colorado Rapids (2002-2013), and the LA Galaxy (2013). In 2014, he took charge of the Rapids as interim manager following the departure of former boss Oscar Pareja.

6 February 1996 - The Wizard Of Kansas City

On 6 February 1996, Kansas City acquired the rights to former Everton and Portsmouth winger Preki, who went on to become the club's career leader in goals and assists.

The 32-year old Yugoslav-born American international, whose full name is Predrag Radosavljević, had played for a number of different clubs, including Red Star Belgrade and three different American indoor soccer teams, before joining Kansas City for the first MLS season. Despite a mid-table finish, they managed to reach the conference finals in the playoffs, while Preki shined as their star, scoring a team-high 18 goals that year.

He was the league MVP the following year, leading Kansas City to the top of the Western Conference table while individually finishing as the league's scoring champion (based on a combination of goals and assists in which the former were worth two points and the latter one). In 2000, the team finished with the best regular-season record and won the the MLS Cup.

After spending the 2001 season with Miami, he returned to Kansas City in 2002 and the next year was again the scoring champion and league MVP. (He rejoined Kansas City in a supplemental draft after Miami folded, but only after every other team in the league declined to sign him).

He retired from playing after the 2005 season, but moved quickly into management, joining Chivas USA as an assistant in 2006 and taking full rein of the club in 2007. Chivas won the conference that year, leading to Preki being named the MLS Coach of the Year. By 2009, however, the club was struggling, which led to his departure and a brief but unsuccessful spell in charge of Toronto in 2010, the same year he was inducted into the US Soccer Hall of Fame.

2 September 1961 - Vamos Valderrama

On 2 September 1961, midfielder Carlos Valderrama was born in Santa Marta, Colombia. He went on to become the national team's appearance leader with 111 caps.

Nicknamed "El Pibe" (the Kid) and easily recognized for his bushy blonde perm, Valderrama started his career with Unión Magdalena in 1981. By 1985, he was with Deportivo Cali and made his national team debut in a 3-0 loss to Paraguay and went on to captain the team for three successive World Cups (1990, 1994, 1998).

In the 1990 World Cup, he provided the assist for a stoppage-time equalizer against West Germany to send Colombia into the Round of 16 for the first and only time. He retired from international play after the 1998 tournament, having made a record 111 appearances.

Two years before that, he became one of the high-profile signings for the new American league, MLS, joining the Tampa Bay Mutiny for the league's first season in 1996. He later played for the Miami Fusion (1998), had another spell with Tampa Bay (1999-2000), and then one for the Colorado Rapids (2001-02) before retiring as the league's second-ranked all-time assist leader with 114.

21 March 1998 - The Fire Show Their Spark

On 21 March 1998, the Chicago Fire got off to good start, beating fellow MLS expansion team Miami Fusion 2-0 in their first league match.

Chicago and Miami joined MLS that year as the league's eleventh and twelfth teams and met in Fort Lauderdale on the season's opening day. Playing before a crowd of 14,653 at Lockhart Stadium, the two were inseparable in the first half, going into the break scoreless despite playing open and attacking football.

They combined for a total of 30 shots on the day (14 for Chicago and 16 for Miami), though they got only five each on goal. Fortunately for Chicago, two of theirs went in, as Roman Kosecki (76') and Ritchie Kotschau (87') found the back of the net to give the Fire a 2-0 victory.

It was the start to a fantastic season for Chicago, who went on to finish second in the league's Western Conference, then won the MLS Cup with a 2-0 win over DC United in October.

29 August 1976 - So I Guess That's Really 62.5 Caps

On 29 August 1976, future US international midfielder Pablo Mastroeni was born in Mendoza, Argentina.

At the age of 4, he moved with his parents to Phoenix, Arizona. Although his father had hoped that Mastroeni would someday play for his native Argentina, young Pablo decided at 9 years old that he wanted to play for the US.

He got his wish in 2001, when US manager Bruce Arena called him up for World Cup qualifiers against Honduras and Costa Rica. He earned his first cap on 7 June 2001 in a match against Ecuador and made his first start in the opening match of the 2002 World Cup as the US upset Portugal, 3-2.

Mastroeni has made 63 appearances for the United States, but is probably best known for receiving a 45th-minute red card in the 2006 World Cup after roughly tackling Italy's Andrea Pirlo.

He has spent his club career in the MLS, first playing for the Miami Fusion (1998-2001) and then the Colorado Rapids (2002-present).