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Alexi Lalas
was an icon of American soccer in the 1990s, a central defender who drew
more publicity to soccer than any other American player of his era. He
played 96 full internationals for the United States, was a regular in the
United States team at the 1994 World Cup, played two seasons in the Italian
first division and finished his playing career with seven seasons in Major
League Soccer.
Lalas' stock-in-trade was
his appearance, 6-foot-3 topped by red hair down to his shoulders and a red
goatee. The fact that he was also a part-time rock musician contributed to
his exotic image. For much of the 1990s, he was the face of American soccer
to the general public, the only soccer player whom millions of American fans
could identify. He also was among the most articulate of American soccer
players, and his sometimes controversial answers to interview questions made
him particularly well recognized.
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Personal Information |
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Class of 2006 |
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Born:
June 1, 1970 |
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Position:
Defender |
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Int'l
Caps: 96 |
Int'l
Goals: 9 |
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Lalas first started to
come into widespread public notice in 1991, whe he was one of the leaders of
the United States team in the first round of Olympic qualifying and also was
among the stars of that team as it won the United States' first Pan-American
Games title. In 1992, the three-time Rutgers University all-American was a
member of the U.S. team at the Olympics in Barcelona, but was limited to one
game by a broken foot.
By 1992, he had gained a
regular starting place in the full national team and scored perhaps his most
famous goal, a near-post header from a corner kick in the United States' 2-0
win over England in Foxboro, Mass. That sort of goal, on a header, became
Lalas' on-the-field trademark and he scored several more in the national
team. Perhaps forgotten is the fact that he put the ball into the net with
his foot against Colombia in the 1994 World Cup, although the goal was
nullified by a questionable offside call.
Lalas scored nine goals in
his national-team career, which included the 1993 and 1995 Copa America
tournaments, the 1993, 1996 and 1998 CONCACAF Gold Cups and the 1994 World
Cup. He played every minute of the United States' four games in that World
Cup, and then played in 12 World Cup qualifiers in 1996 and 1997. Among the
games in which he played for the United States were a number of famous
upsets, over England in 1993, Colombia in 1994, Argentina in 1995 and Brazil
in 1998. He represented the United States in a second Olympic Games in 1996.
After the 1994 World Cup,
Lalas signed with Padova of the Italian first division, for whom he played
two seasons, becoming the first American in Serie A since before World War
II. In 1996, he was one of the many American players who returned to the
United States from European clubs when Major League Soccer began operations.
In the first four MLS seasons, he played for the New England Revolution, the
MetroStars and the Kansas City Wizards. He unexpectedly retired after the
1999 season, but came back in 2001 and played three more MLS seasons, all
with the Los Angeles Galaxy, winning a U.S. Open Cup title in 2001 and the
MLS championship in 2002. Lalas also played a partial season on loan for
Emelec of the Ecuadoran first division in 1997.
Lalas won a number of
individual honors during his career. In 1991, he won both the Hermann and
Missouri Athletic Club awards as the nation's oustanding college player. In
1995, he won the Honda Award as the oustanding national-team player, the
USSF's male athlete of the year award and selection to the all-tournament
team at the Copa America in Uruguay. In 2002, he was named to MLS' Best XI.
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