Alexi Lalas

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Alexi Lalas
Personal information
Full name	Alexi Lalas
Date of birth	June 1, 1970 (age 36)
Place of birth	Birmingham, Michigan, United States
Nickname	Buffalo Bill
Playing position	Defender
Youth clubs
1988-91	Rutgers
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1994-1996 1996-1997 1997-1998 1998-1999 1999-2001 2001-2003	Padova New England Revolution Emelec loan MetroStars Kansas City Wizards Los Angeles Galaxy	57 (3) 27 (4) 30 (9) 69 (7)
National team
1990-1996	United States	96 (9)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)

Panayotis Alexander (Alexi) Lalas (b. June 1, 1970, Birmingham, Michigan) is a former football defender, who became one of the most famous soccer players in the United States after he played in the 1994 FIFA World Cup. He became the first and only modern-era American soccer player to play in the Italian Serie A,^[1] and in 2006, he was elected to the National Soccer Hall of Fame. He is currently the President and General Manager of the Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer.

Contents 1 National team 2 Post-playing career 3 Trivia 4 References and notes 5 External links

[edit] National team

Lalas joined the U.S. National Team (his first cap came on May 6, 1990 against Canada), and became a starter by the 1994 World Cup, when his wild red hair, outgoing personality, and steady play on the field made him a fan favorite.^{[citation needed]}

Lalas also competed for the United States in the 1992 and 1996 Summer Olympics. He retired with 96 caps and nine goals for the national team.

Lalas remains something of a folk-hero among English soccer aficionados, on account of his goal for the United States in their 2 – 0 win over England in 1993, as much as for his flamboyant personality. England were managed by Graham Taylor, who is widely regarded as the worst England team manager of the modern era^{[citation needed]}. The defeat by the USA is seen in England as a particularly bad result, and Taylor was sacked soon afterwards [1].

[edit] Post-playing career

During his sabbatical from soccer in 2000, he announced soccer matches on NBC for the 2000 Summer Olympics and co-hosted ESPN2's MLS Extratime. He also performed in-studio analysis for ESPN and ABC Sports coverage of the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

After his retirement from MLS, Lalas took a job as the General Manager of the San Jose Earthquakes, becoming one of the youngest executives in American sports.^{[citation needed]} In 2005, he was transferred within the Anschutz Entertainment Group organization to become the President and GM of the MetroStars and oversaw their transition to Red Bull New York, as AEG sold the club to Red Bull. In April 2006, he resigned from that position to take over the Galaxy, also owned by AEG.

Lalas is also reviled by some soccer fans, as he drew fire during the 2006 World Cup from "disrespectful" statements he made on American national television that Brazilian veteran Ronaldo was "fat and slow."^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Trivia

Lalas is an avid musician who has released three albums with his band "The Grypsies," with whom he plays guitar. He tried to parlay his soccer success into a music career, putting out CDs Woodland, Jet Lag, and Ginger.

Lalas speaks Spanish fluently.

Lalas was one of the "pros" in Spike TV's program "Pros vs. Joes"

Lalas made an appearance on "The Colbert Report" with Stephen Colbert during the 2006 World Cup to talk "trash" about the United State's upcoming opponents.

[edit] References and notes

1. ^ This essay on U.S. soccer history, however, indicates that other two American-born players, Alfonso Negro and Armando Frigo, appeared for Serie A teams in the late 1930s, making Lalas the third American in the Italian top league.

[edit] External links

• Profile on UsSoccerPlayers.com

Preceded by Marcelo Balboa

U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year 1995

Succeeded by Eric Wynalda

	United States squad - 1994 FIFA World Cup
1 Meola | 2 Lapper | 3 Burns | 4 Kooiman | 5 Dooley | 6 Harkes | 7 Perez | 8 Stewart | 9 Ramos | 10 Wegerle | 11 Wynalda | 12 Sommer | 13 Jones | 14 Klopas | 15 Moore | 16 Sorber | 17 Balboa | 18 Friedel | 19 Reyna | 20 Caligiuri | 21 Clavijo | 22 Lalas | Coach: Milutinović

	United States squad - 1998 FIFA World Cup
1 Friedel | 2 Hejduk | 3 Pope | 4 Burns | 5 Dooley | 6 Regis | 7 Wegerle | 8 Stewart | 9 Moore | 10 Ramos | 11 Wynalda | 12 Agoos | 13 Jones | 14 Preki | 15 Deering | 16 Sommer | 17 Balboa | 18 Keller | 19 Maisonneuve | 20 McBride | 21 Reyna | 22 Lalas | Coach: Sampson

Persondata
NAME	Lalas, Alexi
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Professional soccer player and executive
DATE OF BIRTH	June 1, 1970
PLACE OF BIRTH	Birmingham, Michigan
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH