A defender who was captain of the United States in the World Cup and starred for clubs in both the United States and Europe.
Bocanegra played 110 full internationals for the United States between 2001 and 2012, including six games at the 2006 and 2010 World Cups. He was the regular captain of the U.S. men’s national team from 2007 to 2012, including the team that reached the second round of the 2010 World Cup, the team that reached the final of the 2009 Confederations Cup, and the team that won the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup. His national team record also included 31 World Cup qualifiers between 2004 and 2012. In 2013, he was chosen by the USSF to the U.S. men’s national team All-Time Best XI.
Bocanegra played six seasons in MLS between 2000 and 2014, the first four of those with the Chicago Fire and the last two with Chivas. He was runner-up for the MLS championship twice with Chicago, the first time in 2000, a season when he was the MLS Rookie of the Year, and 2003, a season when he was the MLS Defender of the Year for the second time. In 2002 and 2003, the two seasons when he was the MLS Defender of the Year, he also was chosen to the MLS Bext XI, and he won a U.S. Open Cup title in the second of those seasons.
In between his two MLS stints, he played five seasons in the English Premier League, three seasons in the French first divison, one season in the Scottish Premier League and one season in the Spanish second division.