Eric Wynalda showed early and often what it means to be a goal scorer. A forward who held the record for most goals scored for the US, Eric Wynalda was a mainstay at the international level during the 1990s, earning the Honda Player of the Decade Award.

With an accurate shot and a good knowledge of the game, Wynalda was the first American-born player to play with a Bundesliga club, and he has the international experience and skill to find and exploit opposing teams’ weaknesses during the run of play, something he has displayed several times since joining Major League Soccer in 1996.  His game is as much about intelligence as power or skill, and very few American players are better at picking apart a defense or finding the net at crucial moments.

Wynalda moved into bradcasting after his playing career ended, spending several MLS seasons as a color commentator for ESPN and Fox Soccer Channel. He also served as the coach and technical director of the NASL’s Atlanta Silverbacks. Wynalda spent several seasons working for Fox as a commentator. He was the coach of the Las Vegas Lights from 2018 until June, 2020.

“I have always tried to be honest about everything. I hated when a new player came on the team and somebody would ask me about him and my only answer was he was a great guy – which means  ‘he’s not that good and I don’t want to say anything bad about my teammate.’ TV is different and you have to be honest or it doesn’t work. One of my friends once asked me what he had to do to get me to stop saying bad things about him on the broadcasts. I replied: ‘stop playing bad.'” from 10 Questions With Eric Wynalda