SAN JOSE, Calif. – San Jose Earthquakes forward Chris Wondolowski has pledged to donate at least one percent of his salary to high-impact soccer charities by joining the Common Goal movement. Wondolowski is the first male professional in the United States to join the movement launched by Manchester United’s Juan Mata, and follows in the footsteps of U.S. Women’s National Team stars Megan Rapinoe, Alex Morgan and Heather O’Reilly as well as 20 other professionals from around the world.

“I want to look back on my career and be able to say I had an impact both on and off the pitch,” Wondolowski said. “To me, this not only means winning trophies but also doing my bit to advance the use of soccer as a tool for social change. This is something I’ve been passionate about for a long time and through Common Goal I can now join forces with other players who feel the same way.”

Wondolowski serves as a National Ambassador for Street Soccer USA and has experienced success at both the international and club levels, having won the CONCACAF Gold Cup with the U.S. Men's National Team in 2013, MLS Cup in 2006 and 2007, and MLS Golden Boot in 2010 and 2012.

Morgan and Rapinoe became the first U.S. players to make the pledge in September.

“Chris is a player who has led by example for more than a decade and helped raise the profile of U.S. Soccer in the process,” Rapinoe said. “With today’s announcement, I look forward to him raising the profile of Common Goal as well.”



ABOUT STREETFOOTBALLWORLD

Common Goal is a creation of streetfootballworld, the international leader in football for good. Over the past 15 years, the organisation has assembled a global network of more 120 local charities that use football as a tool to tackle social issues ranging from gender equality in India to peace building in Colombia to refugee integration in Germany. streetfootballworld will support Common Goal’s members by aligning their donations with football charities that generate the greatest impact around the world.

www.common-goal.org | www.streetfootballworld.org

Contact:

Juergen Griesbeck - juergen@common-goal.org