- Eric Wynalda
Infobox Football biography| playername= Eric Wynalda
fullname = Eric Wynalda
nickname = "Waldo"
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1969|6|9
cityofbirth = Fullerton, CA
countryofbirth =United States
height = height|ft=6|in=1
currentclub =Bakersfield Brigade
position = Forward
youthyears = 1987–89
youthclubs = San Diego State
years = 1988-1989
1990–92
1992–94
1994–96
1996–98
1999
1999–2000
2000–01
2001
2007-
clubs =San Diego Nomads
→San Francisco Bay Blackhawks "(loan)"
SaarbrückenVfL Bochum San Jose Clash
→ León ("loan")Miami Fusion New England Revolution
Chicago FireBakersfield Brigade
caps(goals) = 06 0(0)
17 0(5)
61 (21)
29 0(4)
57 (21)
05 0(3)
12 0(3)
08 0(0)
21 (10)
04 0(0)
nationalyears = 1990–2000
nationalteam = United States
nationalcaps(goals) = 107 (34)
pcupdate = 23 July 2008
ntupdate =Eric Wynalda (born
June 9 ,1969 in Fullerton,California ) is an American international center forward, currently playing forBakersfield Brigade in theUSL Premier Development League . Wynalda scored the first goal ever inMajor League Soccer in 1996 and was elected to theNational Soccer Hall of Fame in 2004.Youth and college
Wynalda grew up in
Westlake Village, California . As a child his team (the Westlake Wolves) won the state championship inAYSO soccer as Wynalda scored more goals than the entire division his team played in, combined (56 goals in 16 games)). He later attended Westlake High School and was a three time All State selection with the school's boys soccer team and a youth club team mate of fellow national team playerCobi Jones .He attended
San Diego State University from 1987 to 1989 where he played for the Aztecs men's soccer team, scoring 34 goals and assisting on 25 others during his three seasons. His freshman year, SDSU went to theNCAA Men's Soccer Championship game where it lost to the Bruce Murray ledClemson Tigers . While at SDSU, he also played two seasons with the local semi-proSan Diego Nomads of theWestern Soccer Alliance . In 1988, he played a single game and in 1989, he played 5 games with the Nomads. [http://a-leaguearchive.tripod.com/]Professional career
Leading up to the
1990 FIFA World Cup , Wynalda signed a contract with theU.S. Soccer Federation (USSF). After the World Cup, Wynalda signed as an on loan player from USSF with theSan Francisco Bay Blackhawks of theAmerican Professional Soccer League . During his nearly three seasons with the Blackhawks, he played only a handful of games with the team, devoting most of his time to the national team. However, in 1992, he experienced a falling out with both the national team and the Blackhawks. In May 1992, national team coachBora Milutinović kicked Wynalda out of a national team training camp after he elbowed a teammate in the face. A month later, he was kicked off the Blackhawks for being disruptive, and constantly bickering with the coach,Laurie Calloway . When no U.S. based team expressed an interest in Wynalda, he announced his intentions to pursue a move to Europe. In August 1992, USSF loaned Wynalda to Bundesliga club Saarbrücken for $45,000. [ ["Reject Kicks Bad Rap, Stars in Germany". Chicago Tribune, October 17, 1992. Phil Hersh - see Discussion page for quotes] ] When he arrived at Saarbrucken, he became the first American-born player to play for a top level German club. He had an immediate impact on the club, scoring eight goals in the first half of the season. This led Saarbrücken to purchase Wynalda's contract from USSF for $405,000. However, his output dropped after the winter break and he only scored once in the second half.Saarbrücken finished the 1992-1993 at the bottom of the Bundesliga standings and was relegated to the Second Division. Wynalda scored twelve goals in the 1993-1994 season and was transferred to fellow Second Division clubVfL Bochum at the end of the season for $850,000. Wynalda failed to equal his scoring exploits with Bochum, and experienced a falling out with the club. He had a hernia operation on August 30th which put him out of action. While convalesing, he criticized the club and its coach, leading to the coach suspending Wynalda. [http://www.socceramerica.com/article.asp?Art_ID=891]Wynalda came back to the States in 1996, signing with
Major League Soccer (MLS). As part of the process of creating the new league, known players were distributed throughout the league's new teams (except for the Dallas Burn, which alone amongst all MLS sides never received a US National Team allocation from the 1994 World Cup era). The league allocated Wynalda to theSan Jose Clash . OnApril 6 ,1996 Wynalda scored the first goal in league history in its inaugural game as the Clash beatD.C. United 1-0. He was namedU.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year .After the 1998 World Cup, Wynalda began seeking a move back to Europe. While he had publicly declared that he would never return to Germany, including turning down a January 1998 offer from Kaiserslautern, he now began putting out feelers there. When no German teams expressed an interest in Wynalda, he then sought a move to England. In December, he had a trial with Charlton Athletic, but the team did not offer Wynalda a contract and Wynalda returned to the Clash. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F07EFDF143FF93BA15751C1A96E958260]
Wynalda was loaned out to
Club León inMexico in 1999. He tore both the ACL andmedial meniscus on his left knee while with Leon which put him out of action for several months. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0DE7DF173EF932A25750C0A96F958260] After missing the first eleven games of the 1999 season, the Clash traded Wynalda to theMiami Fusion . On July 8, 2000, the Fusion turned around and traded Wynalda to theNew England Revolution forIvan McKinley after Wynalda failed to improve the Fusion's offensive output. On May 3, 2001, the Revs sent him to the Chicago Fire forJohn Wolyniec , where he finished his MLS career, ending up with a total of 34 MLS goals (plus two in the playoffs). In 2002, Wynalda joined theLos Angeles Galaxy , announcing that he planned to retire with the team. However, he left the Galaxy during the team's pre-season tour of Chile in order to pursue an offer to play professionally in China. When that offer fell through, he returned to the Galaxy only to leave it for theCharleston Battery of theUSL First Division after feuding with the MLS front office about his salary. MLS was offering to pay Wynalda $43,000 for the 2002 season which Wynalda considered much too low. [http://www.uslfans.com/features/2002/fea,2002,0006.shtml] As the Battery had offered him $75,000, Wynalda joined that team only to tear his anterier cruciate ligament in a pre-season match. [http://www.charlestonbattery.com/news02/041502.htm] He elected to retire from professional soccer and became a broadcast announcer.National team
Wynalda earned his first cap against Costa Rica on
February 2 ,1990 . On March 14, 1990, he signed a contract with theUnited States Soccer Federation which made him a full time national team player. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE5DF1F31F936A25750C0A966958260] Later that year, Wynalda played in his first World Cup gaining the dubious honor of becoming the first U.S. player to be ejected from a World Cup game. That came when Czechoslovakian midfielderLubomir Moravcik baited Wynalda in front of a referee. Wynalda, showing his immaturity, retaliated and was shown red. [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FCN/is_5_23/ai_67492179]In the
1994 FIFA World Cup , Eric scored on a free kick from 20 yards as the United States tied Switzerland. He also played inCopa America 1995 , where he was named to the all-tournament team after scoring against Chile and Argentina.In 1998, Wynalda participated in his third World Cup, one of four U.S. players (
Tab Ramos ,Tony Meola andMarcelo Balboa ) to earn that honor.Claudio Reyna andKasey Keller have since gone on to be named to a record four World Cup rosters.Wynalda retired from the US National Team as its all-time leading scorer with 34 goals in 106 appearances. He was the sole owner of the record until 2007, when
Landon Donovan tied the record with a penalty kick goal against Mexico in the2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup final. He was named theHonda US Player of the Decade for the 1990s and elected to theNational Soccer Hall of Fame in 2004.Post retirement soccer career
In 2005,
Bakersfield Brigade of theUSL Premier Development League hired Wynalda as its technical director [http://www.uslsoccer.com/home/116103.html] , and in 2007 he agreed a short-term playing contract with the team during the last few matches of their season. [http://www.uslsoccer.com/home/191708.html] . On May 1, 2008, he signed a formal season-long agreement to play the entire campaign with the Brigade as a full member of the 2008 playing squad. [http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2008/may/02/wynalda-joins-bakersfield-brigade/]He has also continued to play with an over-30s amateur team in Los Angeles,
Hollywood United , alongside former U.S. internationalsAlexi Lalas andJohn Harkes , former French internationalFrank Leboeuf , former Welsh international playerVinnie Jones , and actorAnthony La Paglia . [http://www.evenison.com/love-of-the-game/hollywood-united-football-club] United plays in the Los Angeles Olympic Soccer League. [http://eteamz.active.com/olympicsl/index.cfm?]Broadcast career
Wynalda was a soccer analyst for
ESPN . He was also the in-studio analyst for2006 FIFA World Cup on United States, English-language broadcasts. He was one of the most vocal critics of USA's head coach,Bruce Arena , in the 2006 World Cup. However, after the World Cup, he was amicably paired in-studio with Arena as co-analysts for some 2006 MLS Cup playoff games, a successful arrangement which continued with ESPN's coverage of the US National Team in 2007. Wynalda was one of the main analysts for ESPN and ABC during the 2007 Major League Soccer season.After a number of controversies, he left ESPN prior to the 2008 season, a year before his contract was due to expire.
Controversy
During a discussion with the soccer blog Fulham USA on
April 4 ,2007 he made some disparaging remarks aimed at fellow ESPN broadcaster, and frequent soccer critic,Jim Rome . Wynalda was quoted as saying "Jim Rome can suck my dick! And he should be very afraid, because I’m the kind of guy, if I get too many drinks in me, I will club his ass." [ [http://fulhamusa.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=498&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0 Beers with Wynalda: Fulham fan interviews US Soccer's most outspoken Analyst and Critic :: FulhamUSA :: US Supporters Club for Fulham FC, American Fulham Supporters, McBride, Fulham USA, USA Supporters ] ] He was suspended one game, and later apologized.In 2006, Eric was appointed a Goodwill Ambassador [ [http://www.pomun.org/goodwill_ambassadors.htm IIMSAM, Permanent Observer Mission to the United Nations ] ] of the Intergovernmental Institution for the use of Micro-algae Spirulina Against Malnutrition, IIMSAM.
References
External links
* [http://www.fulhamusa.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=498&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0 Beers With Wynalda - Eric Wynalda's Candid Interview on FulhamUSA.com]
* [http://www.soccerhall.org/famers/Eric_Wynalda.htm Eric Wynalda on the National Soccer Hall of Fame]
* [http://www.soccertimes.com/usteams/roster/men/wynalda.htm Eric Wynalda's profile on Soccertimes.com]
* [http://www.nhsoccer.com/rev/roster/wynalda.htm New England Revolution bio]
* [http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F60617F83E5F0C738DDDA80994DE494D81 NY Times article on Wynalda's talent and arrogance.]
* [http://www.sams-army.com/index.php?Mlist=player&Pid=19 Sams-Army profile, includes an extensive career timeline]
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