

For O'Malley and Chico State soccer, he's also family.

Fifteen years ago Chico State Men's Soccer Coach Mike O'Malley saw something special in an underappreciated young soccer player with an unrelenting motor and a penchant for poaching goals. Those same traits have caught the eye of U.S. Men's National Team head coach Jurgen Klinsmann. Chris Wondolowski, who led Chico State to the 2003 NCAA Division II Championship title match, was named to Klinsmann's final 23-man U.S. Men's 2014 FIFA World Cup Roster Thursday in a historic announcement for Chico State and NCAA Division II."I'm just blown away," said O'Malley, who now serves as an advancement associate in Chico State's College of Business. "For Chris to be able to do what he'sdone and reap the rewards of all his hard work is just so satisfying for me and everyone else who knows him and what he's all about."According to O'Malley, the time Klinsmann took to get to know Wondolowski was the key."Honestly I wasn't a big fan of Klinsmann at first because I don't think he was taking enough to time to get to know Wondo the person and the player," said O'Malley. "But I knew the more time he spent with Chris the more he would fall in love with him as a person and as a player."He did.At Friday's press conference Klinsmann praised Wondolowski for his efforts to make his way up the ladder of players.Robert Jonas of CSN Bay Area quoted Klinsmann as saying: "We are very excited for Wondo. He deserves to be on the plane to Brazil. He worked very hard for it."Current Chico State Head Coach Felipe Restrepo, who took the reigns from O'Malley six seasons ago, was amazed at the familiar way Klinsmann talked about Wondolowski at the press conference"I was watching the Klinsmann press conference and I thought I was listening to O'Malley talk about Wondo," said Restrepo. "It was awesome. He gets Wondo now."That's exactly what O'Malley hoped for. Wondolowski is still underappreciated at times despite winning two Major League Soccer Golden Boots and a League MVP award. He's not the fastest or the flashiest but he gets the job done."I think it was a marriage made in heaven. I think he felt appreciated at Chico State and he loved it. He liked the people. He liked what Chico was all about," explained O'Malley, who lives next door to Wondolowski's former teammate Robbie Busick and was on the way to another of his former teammate's wedding – Ryan Grange – when we spoke. "We're all family. We all love each other. To see someone from our family reach the pinnacle of soccer… It's a real special thing."The wedding will not be O'Malley's first celebration this week (or likely his last). He celebrated yesterday's historic announcement and the eve of his birthday in fitting fashion last night."Today is my birthday and that's the best damn birthday present a guy could ever hope for," said O'Malley. "Last night I played soccer with a bunch of Chico State soccer alums to celebrate and afterward we toasted Wondo."As did Wildcats and U.S. soccer fans all over the world. Here's to you Wondo as you go take on the world!