Alexi Lalas

Panayotis Alexander ("Alexi") Lalas (born June 1, 1970) is a retired American soccer player who played mostly as a defender for the United States national team in the 1994 FIFA World Cup. He became the first modern-era American soccer player to play in the Italian Serie A. Following his playing career, Lalas served as President and 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 with ESPN and ABC Sports. Lalas was born in Birmingham, Michigan, United States, to a Greek father and an American mother. His father was a professor who later became the director of Greece's national observatory, while his mother is a writer and poet. His brother, Greg Lalas, played in MLS with the Tampa Bay Mutiny and is currently the editor-in-chief of MLSsoccer.com. Lalas is fluent in Spanish.