Alyson Kay Wagner (born August 10, 1980) is an American sports broadcaster and retired soccer

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

who last played for

Los Angeles Sol The Los Angeles Sol was an American professional soccer club that was based in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson, California that participated in Women's Professional Soccer. The team was co-owned and operated by Blue Star, LLC and AEG, a subsidia ...

Women's Professional Soccer Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) was the top-level professional women's soccer league in the United States. It began play on March 29, 2009. The league was composed of seven teams for its first two seasons and fielded six teams for the 2011 sea ...

and the

United States women's national soccer team The United States women's national soccer team (USWNT) represents the United States in international women's soccer. The team is the most successful in international women's soccer, winning four Women's World Cup titles ( 1991, 1999, 2015, an ...

. She is a two-time Olympic gold medalist and two-time FIFA Women's World Cup bronze medalist. She has worked for

Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The ''Fox Sports'' name has since been used for other sports media assets. These assets are held mainly by the F ...

CBS Sports CBS Sports is the sports division of the American television network CBS. Its headquarters are in the CBS Building on W 52nd Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, with programs produced out of Studio 43 at the CBS Broadcast Center on W ...

and

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...

as a soccer analyst. She is the first woman to call a FIFA Men's World Cup game on U.S television, serving as the analyst alongside

Derek Rae Derek Rae (born 1967) is a Scottish association football commentator and presenter who currently works for ESPN and ABC in the United States for the English-language coverages of Bundesliga, DFB Pokal, and La Liga and Deutsche Fußball Liga for ...

for

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

's 1–0 win against

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...

on June 15, 2018. She is also an owner of

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, p ...

club

Queensboro FC Queensboro FC is an upcoming American professional Association football, soccer team based in the borough of Queens in New York City. It was funded and founded on November of 2019. Queensboro FC will make its debut as an expansion team in the USL ...

Early life

Born and raised in San Jose,

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, Wagner attended Hillbrook School, and later,

Presentation High School Presentation High School is a private, Catholic, college preparatory school for girls established in 1962. It is owned and run by the Sisters of the Presentation, and operates within the Diocese of San Jose in California. The school is located i ...

and was a four-year varsity starter on the soccer team. She helped the Panthers win the Central Coast Championship as a sophomore and senior. She was named CCS Player of the Year as a junior and senior and was selected as League MVP during her freshman, sophomore and junior years. As a senior, she was named NSCAA All-American, Parade All-American, Parade Magazine High School Player of the Year, and the Gatorade National High School Player of the Year. She was also named as the Northern California Student-Athlete of the Year and Presentation Scholar Athlete of the Year the same year.

Santa Clara Broncos, 1998–2002

Wagner began playing with the

in 1998, while still a freshman at Santa Clara University. She played in 23 games for the Broncos, starting 21, and scored 10 goals with 12 assists. She was named Second-Team NSCAA All-American, First-Team All-WCC and the WCC Freshman of the Year. In 2001, she led Santa Clara to the NCAA Women's Soccer Championship, scoring the only goal in Santa Clara's 1–0 victory over perennial powerhouse

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

. Wagner was awarded the 2002 Hermann Trophy as the top collegiate soccer player in the country and the

Today's Top VIII Award The Today's Top 10 Award is given each year by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to honor ten former outstanding senior student-athletes. The award was previously known by three different names, each reflecting the number of rec ...

as a member of the Class of 2002. She also won the Honda Sports Award as the nation's top soccer player.

Playing career

Club

Wagner was the number one pick at the

2003 WUSA Draft The 2003 WUSA College Draft took place on February 2, 2003. It was the third and final college draft held by Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA) to assign the rights of college players to the WUSA teams. Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 ...

by the San Diego Spirit. The team finished in third place during the 2003 WUSA season with a record. She played in all 20 matches during the season, scored two goals and recorded four assists. After advancing to the playoffs, the Spirit was defeated by the Atlanta Beat 2–1 in the semifinals with Wagner scoring the Spirit's lone goal. Wagner was named to the All-WUSA Second Team following the season. At the conclusion of the 2003 season, Wagner was traded to the

Boston Breakers The Boston Breakers were an American professional soccer club based in the Boston neighborhood of Allston. The team competed in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). They replaced the original Breakers, who competed in the defunct Women's ...

, shortly before the WUSA suspended operations. She made her debut for the Breakers in a June 19, 2004 exhibition match against the

Washington Freedom Washington Freedom was an American professional soccer club based in the Washington, D.C., suburb of Germantown, Maryland, that participated in Women's Professional Soccer. The Freedom was founded in 2001 as a member of the defunct Women's Uni ...

Blaine, Minnesota Blaine is a suburban city in Anoka and Ramsey counties in the State of Minnesota, United States. Once a rural town, Blaine's population has increased significantly in the last 60 years. For several years, Blaine led the Twin Cities metro region ...

. In 2005, Wagner scored twice in three games for Olympique Lyonnais in the French First Division. In 2009, Wagner began playing midfielder for the

(WPS). On January 14, 2010, Wagner announced her retirement from professional soccer due to injuries.

International

Wagner competed for the

from 1999 to 2008. She made appearances in 131 international matches, scored 21 goals and made 42 assists. At the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup in the United States, Wagner made four appearances including three group-stage matches and the semi-final match. In 2004, she was selected for the Athens Olympics. She played in four matches including three group-stage matches and the semi-final match, helping the U.S. win gold. On July 30, 2006, she became the 18th U.S. women's national team player to reach 100

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 ...

during a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

against

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 2007, Wagner was selected by head coach

Greg Ryan Mark Gregory Ryan (born January 21, 1957) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a defender in the North American Soccer League and Major Indoor Soccer League. He was the head coach of the United States women's national s ...

for the

2007 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup, the fifth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, was an international association football competition for women held in China from 10 to 30 September 2007. Originally, China was to host the 2003 edition, but th ...

in China and competed in the third-place play-off match against

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

. Despite undergoing a double hernia operation in early 2008, Wagner was selected to play at the 2008 Summer Olympics and made one appearance as a substitute in a group-stage match against New Zealand.

International goals

Assists made in international matches

Wagner is among the top ten players of the

in providing assists. Wagner provided more assists than goals which is not unusual for a

; however, a ratio of 42 assists to 21 goals is unmatched by any other player in the top ten assist providers of the United States women's national soccer team.

Personal life

In December 2006, Wagner married Adam Eyre, a former soccer player at Santa Clara University who played briefly for the

New England Revolution The New England Revolution is an American professional soccer club based in the Greater Boston area that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), in the Eastern Conference of the league. It is one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, having compe ...

of Major League Soccer. Wagner gave birth to triplet boys in August 2013 and a daughter in December 2015.

References

* * * * *

Match reports

External links

* * * *
Aly Wagner at NBC Olympics website

Fox Sports analyst profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wagner, Aly 1980 births Living people American people of German descent Women's Olympic soccer players of the United States Olympic gold medalists for the United States in soccer Footballers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 2008 Summer Olympics United States women's international soccer players 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup players 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup players Women's United Soccer Association players San Diego Spirit players Santa Clara Broncos women's soccer players Los Angeles Sol players Olympique Lyonnais Féminin players Expatriate women's footballers in France American expatriate sportspeople in France FIFA Century Club Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Parade High School All-Americans (girls' soccer) Soccer players from San Jose, California Women's association football midfielders American chief operating officers American women business executives American business executives American women's soccer players Women association football commentators Division 1 Féminine players Hermann Trophy women's winners National Women's Soccer League commentators Women's Professional Soccer players