Chris Wondolowski joins Juan Mata's Common Goal project

U.S. international Chris Wondolowski has become the first MLS player to join Common Goal.

The 34-year-old San Jose Earthquakes captain is the 21st footballer to pledge one percent of his salary to charity as part of the project pioneered by Manchester United midfielder Juan Mata.

Wondolowski is the first American male professional player to donate after U.S. women's national team players Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan signed up in September.

He said: "I've followed Common Goal with interest since Megan and Alex joined a couple of months back.

"What really attracted me to the movement is the idea of us players uniting as a team and working together to support high-impact soccer charities from around the world.

"I'm proud to call Megan, Alex and Heather my teammates and hope to see many more players join us from both the USMNT and USWNT. This is an opportunity to unite us all."

Wondolowski has been capped 35 times by the United States and won the MLS Golden Boot in 2010 and 2012.

He has won the MLS Cup twice with Houston Dynamo in 2006 and 2007.

He added: "I want to look back on my career and be able to say I had an impact both on and off the pitch.

"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 joins a host of other footballers to join Common Goal, including Mats Hummels, Giorgio Chiellini, Shinji Kagawa and Hoffenheim manager Julian Nagelsmann.