Alexi Lalas

Panayotis Alexander Lalas (Αλέξης Λάλας; born June 1, 1970) is an American retired soccer player who played mostly as a defender.

Even though he did not begin playing soccer until he was eleven, he had developed his skills enough to be named the 1987 Michigan High School Player of the Year by his senior year.

In addition to playing soccer, he was a member and captain of his high school hockey team, which won the state championship.

Lalas was rated for the Ontario Hockey League Midget draft in 1987, but was ultimately not selected.

Lalas attended Rutgers University, where after trying out and playing some spring matches and an indoor tournament in 1988, he played on the men's soccer team from 1988 to 1991.

During his four seasons at Rutgers with the Scarlet Knights he reached the NCAA Final Four in 1989 and the National Championship Game in 1990.

Lalas was named a third-team All-American in 1989 and 1990.

As he did in high school, Lalas also played hockey in college, leading the team in scoring in 1989.

In 1991, he gained first-team All-American recognition and was selected for both the Hermann Trophy and the Missouri Athletic Club Player of the Year award.

Lalas left Rutgers in 1991 to focus on the U.S. national team despite being interested in finishing his degree.

After college and the 1992 Summer Olympics, Lalas trained with former Arsenal player Bob McNab in California.

This led to a trial with Arsenal during the winter of 1992.

It was quickly determined that Lalas did not have the quality for a first-team spot.

As a result, Lalas only had a few training sessions with the Reserve team before being cut shortly after his arrival in North London.

Lalas then returned home to Detroit and spent a month reluctant about his future in soccer before coach Bora Milutinovic invited him for the United States tryouts in Mission Viejo, California.

Lalas is best known for his participation with the United States men's national soccer team in the 1994 FIFA World Cup, where his appearance made him a standout player on the team with his distinctive Long Beard and hair.

After the World Cup, Lalas went on to become the first American in Italy's Serie A as a member of Calcio Padova.

After the 1994 FIFA World Cup, Lalas signed with Italian Serie A club Padova.

While Lalas anchored the team's defense and scored three goals off set pieces (including against A.C. Milan and Internazionale), Padova finished the 1994–95 season 14th in the table.

Only after winning a relegation play-off on June 10, 1995, did the team ensure its survival in the top ranks for the next season.

On June 25, 1995, Major League Soccer (MLS) signed Lalas to play for one of the new league's teams.

While MLS had intended to begin playing in 1995, it had run into difficulties and so delayed the first season until 1996.

In order to allow Lalas to maintain his match fitness, MLS loaned him back to Padova for the 1995–96 season.

Lalas would later return to the United States in 1996 to take part in the newly formed Major League Soccer, as a member of New England Revolution.

Lalas last played for Padova in a home game against Lazio on February 25, 1996.

Before the inaugural Major League Soccer (MLS) draft in February 1996, the league allocated high-profile players throughout the league's ten teams (except for the Dallas Burn, which alone amongst all MLS sides never received a U.S. national team allocation from the 1994 World Cup era).

Lalas also played with Club Sport Emelec of Ecuador, and the MLS squads MetroStars and Kansas City Wizards, but his most successful period was with Los Angeles Galaxy, with whom he won the CONCACAF Champions' Cup, Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup and MLS Cup before retiring in 2002.

Lalas' playing style was characterized by physicality and endurance.

Following his playing career, Lalas served as general manager of the San Jose Earthquakes, New York Red Bulls, and Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer.

He was elected to the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2006.

He currently works as an analyst for Fox Sports.

He also was a reporter at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Lalas was born in Birmingham, Michigan, United States, to a Greek father, Demetrios Lalas and an American mother, Anne Harding Woodworth.

His father was a professor who later became the director of Greece's national observatory, while his mother is a widely published poet.

Lalas speaks Spanish and Italian in addition to his native English and Greek.

Lalas is married and has two children.

His younger brother, Greg Lalas, is a former professional soccer player and currently the Chief Marketing Officer at United Soccer League.

Lalas attended Cranbrook Kingswood School in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

He resumed his education in 2013, when Rutgers began offering enough online classes to fulfill what Lalas required to graduate.

Lalas took 12 classes and 36 credits over 10 months to finish what he jokingly called "a 26-year plan", earning a bachelor's degree in English with a minor in music in May 2014.