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Voice of knowledge blasts Lalas loud and clear
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 BY
FRANK GIASE
Star-Ledger Staff
There's no one more entertaining to listen to during a Major League
Soccer game on ESPN than Eric Wynalda. He is open and honest with
his remarks and he has become the rare breed of color commentator
who is not afraid to criticize friends and former teammates.And
Wynalda has the credentials to back it up ... three World Cups ...
106 caps ... 34 international goals ... a member of the United States
Soccer Hall of Fame.
So when Alexi Lalas, Wynalda's former U.S. national team roommate,
denied to everyone in the media he was leaving his job as Red Bulls
president and GM, then quit a couple of days later to take a similar
position with the Galaxy, Wynalda felt betrayed.
"I think (Lalas) has been a very candid and private person,
but in the last two years one of the things that I've always respected
him for is his honesty and being forthright about things,"
Wynalda said Friday after Red Bulls practice at Giants Stadium.
"(But) it's very difficult for us to believe anything that
comes out of his mouth anymore.
"When you deny the rumors and two days later you get the job,
I'm going to call you a liar."
Lalas seemed a bit bemused at Wynalda's comments.
"Eric is certainly entitled to his opinion, and I'm trying
to recall an instance over the past 10 months when he was involved
in the inner workings of the MetroStars or Red Bulls," Lalas
said via phone on Sunday. "If Eric was disappointed I didn't
call him and tell him about my plans, I apologize.
"It's easy to throw stones. I still consider Eric a friend
and look forward to spending as much or as little time as appropriate
to enlighten him on the realities of this position."
Wynalda also had a problem with Lalas saying he has put all the
bad blood between him and Galaxy coach Steve Sampson behind him.
Sampson was hired as U.S. national team coach by U.S. Soccer Federation
president Alan Rothenberg in 1995, but at the 1998 World Cup, Sampson
benched Lalas and a couple of other experienced players. As a result,
the team finished 0-3 and last in the 32-team field.
"To go in there and say, 'Everything is completely and entirely
behind me. We put this to bed a long time ago.' (Bull.) I don't
believe it and I don't think I'm the only person who doesn't believe
him," Wynalda said. "I was there. I lived it.
"I just find it impossible to believe they can put their private
and personal relationship completely aside and not ever deal with
it, and I think they should. Just go into a room and hash it out.
They have to work together. If there is one person on the planet,
outside of Alan Rothenberg, that Steve Sampson didn't want to have
that job, it's Alexi Lalas.
"Alexi Lalas has been lying about a lot of things. ... I just
don't believe him, I'm sorry, but it's only because he now has a
track record of lying. And maybe that's the corporate side of things.
It's one thing to have no comment on something, it's another thing
to blatantly lie, and that's something Alexi Lalas needs to learn.
Professionally, I'm sure he'll do the job, but all this other stuff,
his credibility is a little shot."
Lalas shrugged off Wynalda's comments, but was quick to defend
himself.
"People are going to say what they're going to say. I would
be doing a disservice to my company and team to dwell on the past,"
he said. "I'd be the first to admit I made mistakes on the
job, but I have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of for anything
the past three years or the past month.
"I love Eric. At best, he can be misguided. At worst, delusional.
I'm sure I'll see him down the road and we'll talk and open up that
little mind of his. Some of us have grown up and some of us haven't."
And as for Sampson and the 1998 embarrassment?
"We've sat down and discussed it," said Lalas, who was
one of the veterans to turn on Sampson during the tournament. "It
wasn't wonderful in 1998. There are certain things I would do differently.
But remember this: Steve Sampson and Alexi Lalas didn't play a minute
in 1998. Eric did."
ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST
Just because Red Bulls coach Mo Johnston got a stay of execution
last week doesn't mean the front-office purge was going to slow
down.
Assistant general manager Chris Canetti, who had been running the
show since Lalas' departure, resigned yesterday. He had been with
the club since 2000.
NO HARM, NO FOUL
Alecko Eskandarian wanted desperately to play for the MetroStars,
but D.C. United was not about to part with the No. 1 overall pick
in the 2003 SuperDraft.
Since then, the former Bergen Catholic High star has done nothing
but score goals against his favorite team growing up.
Eskandarian scored two goals in D.C. United's 4-1 victory over
the Red Bulls on Saturday at Giants Stadium after scoring once in
the season-opening 2-2 tie in Washington on April 2. Yesterday,
he was named MLS Player of the Week.
"To do it at home and score in front of my family and friends
was great," Eskandarian said. "It means a lot (to come
back and play in New Jersey). I grew up a MetroStars fan and we
had season tickets and I have nothing but respect for this organization.
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"They were the team I grew up watching and helped me to be
a fan and watch soccer every day, and that helped me as a player.
Obviously, with my dad playing here (for the Cosmos) and this being
our backyard, there's a lot of history that goes back with my family
at this stadium and it's always an honor to step on the field."
It just didn't work out in the draft.
"I was drafted No. 1 by D.C., so it's not like New York bypassed
me," Eskandarian said. "It would have been great to play
in front of my family where I grew up. I would have loved that."
Middlesbrough goalkeeper MARK SCHWARZER will miss the second leg
of the UEFA Cup semifinals against Steaua Bucharest on Thursday
after breaking his cheekbone in Sunday's FA Cup semifinal loss to
West Ham. He underwent surgery yesterday.Porto, on an ADRIANO LOUZADA
penalty kick three minutes into the second half, won its third Portuguese
league title in four years and 21st overall when it beat Penafiel,
1-0, on Sunday.The MLS All-Star Game will be played Aug. 5 in the
Chicago Fire's new stadium. The game pits the MLS all-stars against
Chelsea.STEVEN GERRARD was voted the English Premier League's Player
of the Year by his fellow pros while Manchester United forward WAYNE
ROONEY received the Young Player Award for the second year in a
row.United States national team defender JONATHAN SPECTOR dislocated
a shoulder last week playing for Charlton and that will probably
end any slim chance he had of making the World Cup roster. Spector
is playing for Charlton on a one-year loan from Manchester United.U.S.
national team midfielder DaMARCUS BEASLEY was convicted of drunken
driving on Friday and fined $1,800 by a Dutch court. Beasley, who
plays for PSV Eindhoven, also had his Dutch driving license suspended
for six months.Striker DAVID BELLION, on loan from Manchester United
to Nice, has agreed to a four-year contract with the French club.Manchester
United and Tampa Bay Buccaneers owner MALCOLM GLAZER was released
from a Tampa, Fla., hospital yesterday, eight days after suffering
a stroke. According to a family statement, Glazer, 77, has impaired
speech but has mobility in his right arm and leg.Midfielder ALESSIO
TACCHINARDI, who has helped Villarreal reach the Champions League
semifinals, will stay at the Spanish club for another season. He
had been playing on a one-year loan from Juventus. Tacchinardi,
however, will miss today's Champions League second leg against Arsenal
due to a suspension. Arsenal, which won the first leg, 1-0, has
not allowed a goal in nine straight Champions League games, tying
the record set by Ajax in 1996.
Brazilian defender CAFU extended his contract with AC Milan for
another season.Four-time Brazilian league champion Palmeiras fired
coach EMERSON LEAO yesterday, two days after a 6-1 loss to Figueirense.Red
Star, coached by former Italian national team goalkeeper and New
England Revolution coach WALTER ZENGA, won the Serbia-Montenegro's
Premiership title.ROMARIO, still waiting on a work visa, didn't
play for Miami FC in its United Soccer League opener on Sunday.TELE
SANTANA, who coached Brazil at the 1982 and 1986 World Cups, died
Friday at a Sao Paulo hospital of multiple organ failure. He was
74.Racing Santander coach MANUEL PRECIADO resigned on Sunday.Former
Colombia international MARTIN ZAPATA was shot four times and killed
following an argument in Cali early Saturday, police said.ARMIN
VEH, who replaced GIOVANNI TRAPATTONI as Stuttgart coach on Feb.
10 on an interim basis, will stay on through the 2006-07 season.Bochum,
demoted to the German second division last season, has earned promotion
back to the Bundesliga.Universidad de Chile forward MARCELO SALAS
injured a muscle in his right leg and will be out two weeks.Birmingham
defender MATTHEW UPSON will be out six months after rupturing his
Achilles' tendon.The German Cup between Bayern Munich and Eintracht
Frankfurt, and the French Cup between Paris Saint-Germain and Olympique
Marseille will be played Saturday.
TOP DOLLAR According to a report, the average English Premier League
player will earn $1.2 million this year, a 65 percent increase from
2000. Strikers, at an average of $1.4 million, top the list while
goalkeepers ($900,000) average the least.
NOT TO BE Nelly Viennot of France failed a sprint test on Friday,
ending her hopes of becoming the first female official in a men's
World Cup. Viennot, 44, has refereed games in the French first division
and Champions League since 2002. Salaries for World Cup referees
this year will be $40,000, double the amount from the 2002 tournament.
FLYING HIGH Emirates Airline will pay $195 million over eight years
to become FIFA's sixth and final major sponsor. Visa, Coca-Cola,
Adidas, Sony and Hyundai are the other major sponsors.
http://www.nj.com/columns/ledger/giase/index.ssf?/base/columns-0/1145944587313710.xml&coll=1
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