Signed with the Galaxy in February 2009.
2007: Spent the second half of the season with the Colorado Rapids, appearing in nine games and making five starts. He made his Rapids debut in a 3-0 win over the Galaxy on 8/26.
2006: Appeared in 19 games in his final season with the Fire, making 15 starts and tallying one assist. He helped the club win the U.S. Open Cup, playing the full 90 minutes in the Final, a 3-1 win over the Galaxy. His lone assist of the season also came against the Galaxy, setting up Chris Rolfe’s goal in the first minute of a 2-1 Fire win at TOYOTA Park on 9/23.
2005: Limited by injuries in his first season with the Fire, Sanneh appeared in 12 games, making 11 starts for the club, which acquired him in a trade in January. He made his debut for the Fire on 5/21 in a win over Colorado and then registered his only assist of the year a month later on 6/18 against Kansas City.
2004: Returned to MLS in August 2004, signing with the Columbus Crew. He played in six regular season games for the club, scoring twice and adding an assist to help lead the Crew to the Supporter’s Shield. His debut came on 9/4 against LA, when he set up the game’s first goal and he scored his first goal four days later on 9/8 in a 1-0 win at San Jose. He added a goal against D.C. United on 9/25 in another 1-0 Columbus win. Sanneh played all 180 minutes of the postseason for Columbus, setting up Edson Buddle for his team’s only goal in a 2-1 aggregate goal series loss to New England.
1998: Reached a third MLS Cup in as many years with D.C. United, only to fall to Chicago in the Final. He appeared in 17 games that season for United and finished third on the team in scoring with five goals and six assists. He tallied a goal and an assist in the season opening win over Miami and added four goals in a five-game span from 5/13-6/3. He added two goals in the postseason, with both goals coming against Columbus in the Eastern Conference Finals.
1997: Appeared in a career-high 29 games, making 28 starts as he helped United win a second straight MLS Cup. He scored five goals and a career-best 11 assists. He had four multi-assist games on the year and United was 5-0 when he scored a goal. In the postseason he had three goals and three assists in five games, setting postseason highs in each. He set up a pair of goals in a 4-1 win over New England in the Conference Semifinals before scoring twice in Game One of the Conference Final against Columbus, the first multi-goal game of his MLS career. He then clinched a dream postseason by tallying and assist and scoring the game-winning goal in the MLS Cup against Colorado in front of 57,431 fans at RFK Stadium.
1996: Made his MLS debut under Bruce Arena at D.C. United on 5/12, setting up the game-winning goal in that game. He would go on to tally four goals and eight assists in 25 games for United to finish fourth on the team in scoring. He scored the first goal of his MLS career on 5/18 in a 3-2 loss at Dallas and then added his first postseason goal in the 73rd minute of the MLS Cup, cutting the Galaxy lead to 2-1 in a game that United would go on to win 3-2 in extra time. Sanneh won the Double that season as he tallied three assists in three Open Cup games as D.C. became the first MLS team ever to win the Open Cup.
2001-04: Joined FC Nürnberg prior to the start of the 2001-02 season and spent two and a half seasons with the club. He played in more than 50 games with the German club, scoring five goals despite missing more than a year with a back injury. He returned from injury in the 2003-04 season to help Nürnberg win promotion back to the Bundesliga after being relegated the season before.
1999- 2001: Moved to Germany following the 1998 MLS season, signing with Hertha Berlin of the German Bundesliga. He helped his side qualify for the Champions League his first season in Germany, scoring his first goal for the club during their late season push for a Champions League berth. He played in more than 40 games during his three seasons in Germany and also led the club to a UEFA Cup spot for the 2000-01 season.
1994-96: Signed with the Milwaukee Rampage of the USISL following the end of his college soccer career. He tallied 33 goals and 36 assists in just over two seasons with the Rampage and the Minnesota Thunder before joining D.C. United in May 1996. He also played one year of indoor soccer, in 1995, scoring 27 goals and adding 35 assists for the NPSL’s Chicago Power to finish second in the league’s Rookie of the Year voting.
Sanneh earned 43 caps with the U.S. National Team after making his debut on 1/29/97 against China. He scored his first goal in a 3-0 win over Germany on 2/6/99 and added goals against Honduras (6/2/04) and Uruguay (5/12/02). He finished his international career with three goals and four assists, tallying his first assist with the National Team in a World Cup Qualifier against Costa Rica on 3/23/97. Sanneh was a member of the U.S. team at the 2002 FIFA World Cup in Korea/Japan, appearing in and starting all five games in which the U.S. played in, tallying one assist. He made his last appearance for the National Team came in July 2005 against Costa Rica in the Gold Cup.
Sanneh played four years at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, scoring 53 goals and adding 32 assists to make him the school’s all-time leading scorer. He was a second team All-American in 1993 and All-Midwest Region in 1990, 1991 and 1993.
Sanneh is the oldest member of the Galaxy, starting the season at the age of 37. Nicknamed the “Big Cat”, Sanneh lists Diego Maradona, Ronaldo, Jean Tigana and former Galaxy head coach Rudd Gullit as some of his favorite players. He founded the Tony Sanneh Foundation, which helps provide inner-city kids in his native Minneapolis area the chance to play soccer. He also works with the House For All Youth Program, which teaches Cultural Diversity and Anti-Racism in soccer. In 2002, he was elected to the Milwaukee Rapage Hall of Fame, the Minnesota Thunder Hall of Fame and the USL Hall of Fame. His brother Mike lives in Los Angeles.
