Eric Timothy Lewis (born May 29, 1982 in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

) is an American

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

defender.

Career

Lewis played

college soccer College soccer is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. It is very prominent in United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and as well as in South Africa and the Philippines. The United Kingd ...

at Clemson University for three years from 2000 to 2002. A starter for all three years, Lewis finished his career at the school with ten goals and 12 assists in 61 games. After his junior season, Lewis signed a

Project-40 Generation Adidas is a joint venture between Major League Soccer and U.S. Soccer aimed at raising the level of young professional soccer talent in the United States. The program, sponsored by Adidas, offers professional-ready players in the U.S. ...

contract with MLS, and was selected 20th overall in the

2003 MLS SuperDraft The 2003 MLS Superdraft was held January 17, 2003 in Kansas City, Missouri. It was the fifth annual SuperDraft held by Major League Soccer. Player selection Any player whose name is marked with an * was contracted under the Project-40 program ...

by the Los Angeles Galaxy. As a rookie with the Galaxy, Lewis played in 13 games for the team, a starter in seven of those. In the 2004 season, he was traded mid-season to the Colorado Rapids in exchange for a late-round draft pick. Lewis started for Colorado in 16 games in 2005. He was waived at the end of 2005. After leaving Colorado, he was invited to train with Standard Liege in Belgium for two weeks in the fall of 2005. Lewis had five years of youth national team experience. He was the starting left back of the US Under-20 team which competed in the

2001 FIFA World Youth Championship The 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship took place in Argentina between 17 June and 8 July 2001. The 2001 championship was the 13th contested. The tournament took part in six cities, Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Mendoza, Rosario, Salta, and Mar de ...

. He was also a member of the US Under-23 team which competed for a berth in the 2004 Olympics. During the final qualifying tournament, he played in 6 games, starting in the final three.

Personal life

Lewis is married to Leslie Osborne, with whom he has three daughters.

References

1982 births Living people American soccer players Clemson Tigers men's soccer players LA Galaxy players Colorado Rapids players Rochester New York FC players Major League Soccer players United States men's under-20 international soccer players United States men's under-23 international soccer players USL First Division players LA Galaxy draft picks Association football defenders Soccer players from Texas {{US-footy-defender-stub