Alexander Skotarek (born April 2, 1949) is a retired German American soccer defender. He played in both Europe and the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...

during the 1970s and early 1980s. He also earned ten

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

with the U.S. national team in 1975 and 1976.

Player

College

Skotarek attended Michigan State University where he played on the men's soccer team. He is tied for seventh on Michigan State's season assists list with nine in 1968. That season, Michigan State and Maryland were declared co-champions in the NCAA Men's Soccer Championship after the game remained tied at 2-2 after two overtimes.

Club career

Following college, Skotarek pursued a professional career in Europe. He spent at least the 1971 and 1972 seasons with Dutch First Division club

MVV Maastricht Maatschappelijke Voetbal Vereniging Maastricht (), commonly known as MVV Maastricht (, ) or simply as MVV, is a Dutch professional football club from the city of Maastricht. Founded on 2 April 1902, MVV Maastricht currently compete in the Eerst ...

. Prior to the 1973 season, he was transferred from MVV to a Belgian club from

Diepenbeek Diepenbeek (; li, Diepenbik) is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg near Hasselt. On January 1, 2012, Diepenbeek had a total population of 18,337. Its total area is 41.19 km² (15.9 sq mi) which gives a population dens ...

. In 1975, he returned to the U.S. and signed with the

Chicago Sting The Chicago Sting (1974–1988) was an American professional soccer team representing Chicago. The Sting played in the North American Soccer League from 1975 to 1984 and in the Major Indoor Soccer League in the 1982–83 season and again from ...

of the

(NASL). He spent three seasons in Chicago before being traded to the Tulsa Roughnecks. He then played with the Roughnecks from 1978 through 1981. However, in 1981, he saw time in only one game and retired from playing professional soccer.

National team

Skotarek played ten times for the U.S. national team in 1975 and 1976. Skotarek's first game with the national team came on August 19, 1975, in a 3-1 loss to

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. He played one more game that year, another loss to Mexico six days later. His next eight games all came in 1976, five of them were first-round qualification games for the 1978 FIFA World Cup. However, the U.S. was eliminated after losing 3-0 to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

in a tiebreaker game played in Haiti. Skotarek was also on the Team America roster for the USA Bicentennial Cup which pitted a mixture of U.S. national team players and NASL stars against the national teams of England, Brazil and Italy.

Coach and general manager

In 1978, Skotarek was the interim head coach of the Tulsa Roughnecks during part of its inaugural season. In July 1982, he became the team's

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

References

External links

Hall of Fame eligibility profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Skotarek, Alex 1949 births Living people American soccer coaches American soccer players Chicago Sting (NASL) players German emigrants to the United States Michigan State Spartans men's soccer players MVV Maastricht players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) coaches North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) executives Tulsa Roughnecks (1978–1984) players United States men's international soccer players Association football defenders