Eric Wynalda

Eric Boswell Wynalda (born June 9, 1969) is an American soccer coach, television commentator, and retired player.

He was formerly an analyst and color commentator for soccer coverage on Fox Sports 1 and ESPN.

Previously, he served as head coach and technical director of Las Vegas Lights FC in the USL Championship and he was previously the host of WTF: Wynalda Talks Football on SiriusXM FC.

Wynalda 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 the NCAA Men's Soccer Championship game where it lost to the Bruce Murray-led Clemson Tigers.

While at SDSU, he also played two seasons with the local semi-pro San Diego Nomads of the Western Soccer Alliance.

In 1988, he played a single game and in 1989, he played five games with the Nomads.

Leading up to the 1990 FIFA World Cup, Wynalda signed a contract with the U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF).

After the World Cup, Wynalda signed as an on loan player from USSF with the San Francisco Bay Blackhawks of the American 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.

In August 1992, USSF loaned Wynalda to Bundesliga club 1. FC Saarbrücken for $45,000.

When he arrived at Saarbrücken, he became the first American-born player to play for a top level German club.

He had an immediate impact, scoring eight goals in the first half of the season where he played all 17 matches.

This led Saarbrücken to purchase Wynalda's contract from USSF for $405,000.

In the second half of the season he added one more goal in 15 matches to that tally.

By the end of the season Saarbrücken was last in the league and became relegated.

Wynalda scored 14 goals and had 25 assists in the 1993–94 season of the 2. Bundesliga.

After the end of the season he was transferred for $850,000 to second division winners VfL Bochum which as such were promoted to the Bundesliga.

There Wynalda remained without goal in his 22 matches of the 1994–95 season and Bochum was relegated.

A hernia operation on August 30 limited his tally in the ensuing 2.

Bundesliga season to seven matches mid-season – none of those for the full 90 minutes – where he scored two goals.

Bochum, after finishing the league first, was promoted again.

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 United States national team allocation from the 1994 World Cup era).

The league allocated Wynalda to the San Jose Clash.

Wynalda was one of the first Americans to play professionally in Europe before returning to his home country in 1996 to play in Major League Soccer and scoring the first goal in the league's history.

Wynalda returned to the States in 1996, signing with Major League Soccer (MLS).

On April 6, 1996, Wynalda scored the first goal in league history in its inaugural game as the Clash beat D.C. United 1–0.

He was named U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year.

Wynalda was loaned out to Club León in Mexico in 1999.

He tore both the ACL and medial meniscus on his left knee while with Leon, which put him out of action for several months.

After missing the first eleven games of the 1999 season, the Clash traded Wynalda to the Miami Fusion.

On July 8, 2000, the Fusion turned around and traded Wynalda to the New England Revolution for Ivan McKinley.

Wynalda scored two goals for the club, including the club's first ever playoff goal in a 2–1 victory over the Chicago Fire.

He was elected to the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2004.

Wynalda, of Dutch ancestry, grew up in Westlake Village, California.

As a child his team the Westlake Wolves, with Eric's father Dave as the head coach, won the state championship in AYSO soccer.

That year Wynalda scored more goals than the entire division his team played in combined (58 goals in 16 games).

His skills continued to improve year after year and he attended Westlake High School and was a three time All State selection with the school's boys soccer team and a youth club teammate of fellow national team player Cobi Jones.

Until 2008, he was the all-time leading goal scorer for the United States national team.

Wynalda was described as a "shifty, dynamic player off the dribble with a heavy shot."