Sports / Press & broadcasting
Alexi Lalas
born 1970 · soccer player and executive, broadcaster
Metro Detroit-born soccer star of the 1994 World Cup and MLS era, raised in Birmingham and schooled at Cranbrook, now a leading American soccer broadcaster.
- Born
Birmingham, Michigan
age 56- Birth name
- Panayotis Alexander Lalas
- Detroit years
- 1970–1990ish
- Field
- Sports, Press & broadcasting
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Lalas was born in the Detroit suburb of Birmingham and grew up there, attending Cranbrook Kingswood School in Bloomfield Hills, where he did not start playing soccer until age eleven but developed quickly enough to be named Michigan's high school player of the year as a senior. After returning home to Detroit to weigh his next move, he was invited to a U.S. national team tryout that launched his career. His distinctive long hair, beard and physical defending made him one of the recognizable faces of the 1994 World Cup, the first tournament hosted on U.S. soil, and he later became the first American to play in Italy's Serie A. He won an MLS Cup with the Los Angeles Galaxy before moving into front-office roles and broadcasting, and was elected to the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2006. Off the field, he has also worked as a musician and MLS general manager.
Highlights
- Born in Birmingham, Michigan, a Detroit suburb
- Named Michigan High School Player of the Year, 1987
- Regular for the U.S. national team at the 1994 FIFA World Cup
- First American to play in Italy's Serie A
- Elected to the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2006
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Studied here · 1980s
Cranbrook Kingswood School
The private school where he first learned soccer and was later named Michigan's top high school player.