Christopher Sullivan (born April 18, 1965, in

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popul ...

) is a retired U.S. soccer midfielder/forward and current soccer trainer and sports broadcaster.

Youth and college

Sullivan began playing soccer at a young age. When he was four he began playing with West Valley S.C. He attended and played soccer at

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

Division II powerhouse

University of Tampa The University of Tampa (UT) is a private university in Tampa, Florida. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. UT offers more than 200 programs of study, including 22 master's degrees and a broad variety of majors, ...

. He was inducted into the University of Tampa Athletic Hall of Fame in October 2010. While playing for the University of Tampa, he earned a second-team Division II All American in 1986 and a first-team All American in 1987.

Professional career

His professional career spanned two continents and seven countries. He began his career in France with lower division clubs US Joué-lès-Tours and

Le Touquet Le Touquet-Paris-Plage (; pcd, Ech Toutchet-Paris-Plache; vls, 't Oekske, older nl, Het Hoekske), commonly referred to as Le Touquet (), is a commune near Étaples, in the Pas-de-Calais department, northern France. It has a population of 4, ...

. In 1989, he was back in the U.S. with the

Orlando Lions The Orlando Lions were an American soccer team from Orlando, Florida which existed from 1985 to 1996. Over the years, the Lions competed at both the amateur and professional levels including some seasons as an independent team. The Lions is a ni ...

of the American Soccer League. He then returned to Europe, signing with Hungary club Raba ETO before moving to Swedish club

Landskrona BoIS Landskrona Boll och Idrottsällskap ( en, Landskrona Ball and Sports Society, locally referred to as BoIS) is a Sweden, Swedish professional Football club (association football), football club located in Landskrona, Scania, which currently pla ...

, Danish club

Brøndby IF Brøndbyernes Idrætsforening (, usually abbreviated to Brøndby IF (), is a professional association football club based in Brøndbyvester, Capital Region of Denmark. The club was founded in 1964 as a merger between two local clubs and was p ...

and German club

Hertha BSC Hertha, Berliner Sport-Club e. V., commonly known as Hertha BSC (), and sometimes referred to as Hertha Berlin, Hertha BSC Berlin, or simply Hertha, is a German professional football club based in the locality of Westend of the borough of Charl ...

. He also spent time with the Mexican lower division club Yucatan. In 1995, he played for the

San Francisco Bay Diablos San Francisco Bay Diablos were an American soccer team that played in San Francisco, California as a member of the USISL from 1993 to 1995. History Owner Mario Chavez coached the team during its inaugural season in 1993. In 1994, he brought in fo ...

in the

USISL United Soccer League (USL), formerly known as United Soccer Leagues, is a soccer league in the United States and Canada. It organizes several men's and women's leagues, both professional and amateur. Men's leagues currently organized are the ...

. During this time, he twice left active playing for family reasons. On February 1, 1997,

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

allocated Sullivan to the San Jose Clash. He played the 1997 season with The Clash. On November 6, 1997, MLS held an

Expansion Draft An expansion draft, in professional sports, occurs when a sports league decides to create one or more new expansion teams or franchises. This occurs mainly in North American sports. One of the ways of stocking the new team or teams is an expansion ...

. The Clash did not protect Sullivan, but neither Chicago nor Miami selected him. Despite this, the Clash traded Sullivan to the

Miami Fusion The Miami Fusion was a professional soccer team based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. They played in Major League Soccer (MLS) for four seasons, from 1998 to 2001. Announced in 1997 as one of the league's first two expansion teams, their best seas ...

for the third-round draft pick in two weeks later. He elected to retire rather than join the Fusion. However, he continued to play in the San Francisco Soccer Football League, including club

El Farolito El Farolito is an amateur soccer club based out of San Francisco, California. It currently plays in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL), generally considered the fourth tier of U.S. Soccer, within the Golden Gate Conference. The team is b ...

in 2003.

National team

He made his US Men's National Team debut while still in college. In 1987, he came on for

Brian Bliss Brian Boyer Bliss (born September 28, 1965) is a retired American soccer defender and front office executive. He also serves as an assistant coach for the United States U-20 national team. Bliss played professionally in Europe and the United S ...

in a Presidents Cup game against Egypt in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

. He was a member of the

1990 FIFA World Cup The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second time (the first being Me ...

U.S. team. In 1992, he played his last game for the U.S. national team in a 1–0 loss to Brazil.

Post-playing career

Since retiring from playing, Sullivan is now a soccer trainer but is probably more recognized for his soccer analyst work on television. He started as a sideline reporter for Fox Sports Bay Area covering the San Jose Earthquakes. He gained national exposure as a soccer analyst on Fox Soccer Channel's now defunct MLS Wrap. Sullivan's technical and tactical insight into the game, his encyclopedia-like recall of soccer history and his passionate delivery soon earned him a more permanent and prominent spot in the Fox Soccer Channel lineup. He has served as the color commentator or analyst on countless Major League Soccer games as well as on the pre and post game shows for Fox Soccer Channel's Soccer Night in America featuring the Major League Soccer game of the week. Sullivan has worked virtually every level of game broadcast on Fox Soccer Channel in recent history including the FIFA Club World Cup, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Super Cup, CONCACAF Champions League, United States Men's National Team games as well as Fox Soccer Channel's 2006 and 2010 FIFA World Cup previews. Sullivan has been an analyst for the last four World Cups. In 2014 Sullivan was the lead analyst for Yahoo Sports in Brazil and appeared on beIN Sports nightly shows from Rio de Janeiro. He covered the 2015 Copa America Chile and the 2016 Copa America Centenario in the U.S. for beIN Sports and worked as an in studio analyst for beIN Sports for both the 2017 Confederations Cup and 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia. This year Sullivan will be covering his 5th World Cup in November 2022 in Doha, Qatar for beIN Sports.

References

External links

* * Sullivan interviewed on the Fighting Talker podcast

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sullivan, Christopher 1965 births Living people American expatriate soccer players American expatriate soccer players in Germany United States men's international soccer players 1990 FIFA World Cup players American Soccer League (1988–89) players People from Redwood City, California Soccer players from California Orlando Lions players Brøndby IF players Hertha BSC players San Francisco Bay Diablos players San Jose Earthquakes players Tampa Spartans men's soccer players USISL players Major League Soccer players San Francisco Soccer Football League players Association football forwards Association football midfielders American soccer players US Joué-lès-Tours players El Farolito Soccer Club players Expatriate footballers in Germany