Despite the impressive growth of soccer in the U.S., Alexi Lalas — former player and now lead analyst at Fox Sports — sees himself as a booster of the "Beautiful Game," even as he provides trenchant analysis.
"Unlike most of the countries around the world, soccer in the U.S. isn't king," observes Lalas, who also hosts Alexi Lalas' State of the Union Podcast for soccer diehards. "So we're still spreading the gospel. I want to make sure that when we have these moments like the World Cup that we use them to full effect."
Lalas himself went full-bore as a player. A standout defender for the men's U.S. World Cup soccer team in 1994, the Michigan native was also a pioneering player with Major League Soccer. After hanging up his cleats with the Los Angeles Galaxy in 2004, Lalas served as an analyst at ESPN for six years, joining Fox Sports in 2015. He'll be in full voice this year with Fox's coverage of the current MLS season, followed by its presentation of the World Cup in Qatar this November and December.
As a player and analyst, Lalas has always viewed himself as an entertainer, and rock music is yet another way the chatty redhead engages the public. An '80s-influenced singer-guitarist, he'll release his eighth solo album this fall.
"Music has given me a wonderful outlet to express myself," Lalas says. "When I look at music I've written and produced over the years, I can see within the lines where I was at that time, what I was thinking. In a sense, my songs are a diary of my life."
Lalas did not grow up in a sports-minded family. His father, Demetrius Lalas, was a professor of mechanical engineering and meteorology as well as director of the National Observatory of Athens in Greece; he is now an environmental consultant. Lalas's mother is noted poet Anne Harding Woodworth.
Lalas's appreciation of academics is one reason he decided to complete his education at Rutgers University in 2014, twenty-six years after leaving college to pursue his soccer dreams. He earned a degree in English and a minor in music.
"It was unfinished business," he says. "I grew up in a household that was very focused on academics. But first and foremost, I wanted to do it for myself."
This article originally appeared in emmy magazine issue #7, 2022, under the title, "Pass It On."
