rights. However, on January 30, 2012, the club announced that it was unable to come to terms with Hejduk and that he would not play for the Galaxy in 2012. Rather than having microfracture surgery on his ankle and additional surgery to repair a broken wrist, Hejduk officially announced his retirement from professional soccer on April 19, 2012, opting to accept a position in the Crew front office. International career Hejduk was a frequent starter for the U.S. Men's National Team, and is the only individual to have represented the U.S. in the 1996 and 2000 Summer Olympic Games and the 1998 and 2002 FIFA World Cup Finals tournaments. In 1990, Hejduk spent time on the U.S. U-17 national team, but was not selected for 1991 U-17 World Cup. Upon leaving UCLA, Hejduk trained full-time with the U.S. U-23 as it prepared for the upcoming 1996 Summer Olympics. This time, Hejduk made the U.S. Olympic roster, playing all three games as the U.S. went 1–1–1 and failed to make the second round. Following the Olympics, Hejduk joined his professional club and made his debut with the senior U.S. national team. Hejduk received his first cap for the United States August 30, 1996, against El Salvador. In his first start in December of the same year, he scored a goal against Guatemala in a World Cup Qualifier. Hejduk became a regular on the U.S. team but became known for his lackadaisical "surfer" approach to his game. This attitude persisted until he missed a team flight to China on January 23, 1997, having spent the night with friends and overslept. U.S. coach Steve Sampson dropped Hejduk from the U.S. roster. Over the next year, Hejduk saw precisely six minutes on the field with the U.S., in an August 7, 1997, loss to Ecuador. During that year, he married his longtime girlfriend, Kim Walters, and after considerable thought decided to commit himself to a professional soccer career. Beginning with a February 1, 1998, victory over Cuba in the 1998 Gold Cup, Hejduk again became a regular with the national team. Since then he has remained a mainstay. Following the Gold Cup, Hejduk was named to the U.S. roster for the World Cup, where he started two of the United States' three matches. Although Hejduk's role with the United States waned during his years with Leverkusen, he seized an opportunity to regain his starting