Shep Norman Messing (born October 9, 1949) is a retired 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 ...

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting ...

and current broadcaster who works as the lead analyst for

New York Red Bulls The New York Red Bulls are an American professional soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The club was established in October 1994 and be ...

matches on the

MSG Network The MSG Network (MSG) is an American regional cable and satellite television network, and radio service owned by MSG Entertainment, Inc.—a spin-off of the main Madison Square Garden Company operation (itself a spin-off of local cable prov ...

. In 2021 he took the position of chairman of the Major Arena Soccer League. He played seven seasons in 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 ba ...

and six in the Major Indoor Soccer League. He was also a member of the United States national team at the 1971 Pan American Games and

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 19 ...

Early life

Messing was born in The

Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, grew up in Roslyn, New York, and is

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

. His mother, the daughter of a Russian furniture maker and his Latvian wife, taught physical education at

Nassau Community College Nassau Community College (NCC) is a public community college in Uniondale, New York, using the Garden City, New York ZIP Code. It was founded in 1959 and is part of the State University of New York. History Nassau Community College was crea ...

, his father was a lawyer who worked in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, and his paternal grandfather was from Riga, Latvia. Messing, along with his brother Roy, attended high school at The Wheatley School in

Old Westbury, New York Old Westbury is a village in the Towns of North Hempstead and Oyster Bay in Nassau County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 4,671 at the 2010 census. The Incorporated Village of Old Westbury ...

Playing career

High school and college

Messing attended Wheatley High School, where he started playing soccer. He graduated from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

in 1972 after playing on the school's men's soccer team. He was a two-time second team All-American.

National and Olympic teams

He joined the U.S. national team that played in the 1971 Pan American Games in Cali, Colombia. He went on to play with the U.S. team at

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and ...

. The U.S. went 0-2-1 in group play and failed to qualify for the second round. Messing manned the net in the U.S.'s third game of the games, a 7-0 loss to West Germany. The

Munich Massacre The Munich massacre was a terrorist attack carried out during the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany, by eight members of the Palestinian militant organization Black September, who infiltrated the Olympic Village, killed two members ...

took place 30 yards from his room. Messing was protected along with 12 other Jewish members of the US Olympic delegation. He said: "It really forged a greater Jewish identity for myself at that moment than I ever had before... That was a turning point in my life as an athlete – and as a Jew. Words really can't describe it.... two German soldiers there with machine guys, saying come with them.... We have to get the athletes to safety. Then I realized that they were rounding up the Jewish athletes." After the Olympics, Messing received offers from teams in Mexico and Germany, but was invited to play for the

New York Cosmos New York Cosmos may refer to * New York Cosmos (1970–1985), a team in the North American Soccer League (then the top-tier soccer league in the United States and Canada) * New York Cosmos (2010), a team playing since 2020 in the National Independ ...

of the

(NASL), where his teammates would eventually include Pelé, Franz Beckenbauer and

Giorgio Chinaglia Giorgio Chinaglia (; 24 January 1947 – 1 April 2012) was an Italian footballer who played as a striker. He grew up and played his early football in Cardiff, Wales, and began his career with Swansea Town in 1964. He later returned to Italy to ...

NASL

He made his debut with the Cosmos in a May 20, 1974 exhibition game with Irish club

Finn Harps Finn Harps Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Chláirsigh na Finne) are an Irish football club that play in the First Division of the League of Ireland, as of 2023. The club was founded in 1954 and elected to the league in 1969. However, it was te ...

. Messing attracted attention by posing in the nude for a photo spread in the December 1974 issue of ''Viva'' magazine, for which he was paid $5,000 ($ in current dollar terms). He joked that these photos gave the New York Cosmos more "exposure" than they'd ever received from the media up to that time. The Cosmos management was not pleased, and cut Messing from the team on the grounds that he had violated a morals clause in his contract. He moved to the

Boston Minutemen The Boston Minutemen were an American professional soccer team based out of Boston that played in the North American Soccer League (NASL). They played from 1974 to 1976. Their home fields included Alumni Stadium in Chestnut Hill, Schaefer Stadium ...

for a season and a half and led the league in goalkeeping with a 1.24 GAA. Halfway through the 1976 season, Boston owner John Sterge began selling his players when he began to fear he would go bankrupt. The Minutemen sold Messing to the Cosmos who needed him after starter

Bob Rigby Bob Rigby (born July 3, 1951, in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania) is a retired U.S. soccer goalkeeper. Rigby played twelve seasons in the North American Soccer League, three in the Major Indoor Soccer League, one in the Western Soccer Alliance and ear ...

was injured. Messing then played the 1977 season with the Cosmos before moving to the

Oakland Stompers The Oakland Stompers were a soccer team based out of Oakland, California that played the 1978 season in the North American Soccer League (NASL). The Stompers played in the Western Division of the American Conference and finished the year with ...

. When he signed with the Stompers for $100,000 ($ in current dollar terms) per year, he became the highest-paid American in the NASL. The Stompers lasted only a single season, following which Messing moved to the Rochester Lancers.

MISL

When the Major Indoor Soccer League began its first season in 1978-1979, the New York Arrows were essentially the Rochester Lancers in different uniforms. As such, Messing became the starting Arrows goalkeeper through the team's six years of existence. Messing became the league's dominant keeper, being named to the MISL All Star team in 1979, 1980 and 1981. He was the championship MVP in 1979. When the Arrows fired coach

Don Popovic Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places *County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON * Don (river), a river in European Russia * Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name * Don, Benin, a town in Benin * Don, Dang, a ...

in February 1983, the team named Messing, who was sidelined with an injury, as the interim coach. After his retirement, Messing was briefly part-owner of the ill-fated

New York Express The New York Express was a soccer team based out of Uniondale, New York that played in the Major Indoor Soccer League. They played only part of the 1986–87 MISL season before folding during the league's midseason All-Star Break. Their home are ...

, which played the first half of the 1986-1987 MISL season before folding.

Awards and honors

Club

;

* Soccer Bowl (1):

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrat ...

; New York Arrows * Major Indoor Soccer League Championship (4): 1978–79, 1979–80, 1980–81, 1981–82,

Individual

* Major Indoor Soccer League Championship MVP (1): 1978–79 * First Team All MISL (2): 1978–79, 1979–80 * New York Sports Hall of Fame *

National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame The National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and Museum, in Commack, New York, is dedicated to honoring American Jewish figures who have distinguished themselves in sports. Its objective is to foster Jewish identity through athletics, and to commemo ...

* Nassau County Sports Hall of Fame

Broadcaster

Messing has been a soccer broadcaster for sixteen years. He began as an analyst for the Major Indoor Soccer League games on

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 ...

. He broadcast the 1986 FIFA World Cup from Mexico, the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial football world championship for men's national teams organized by FIFA. It was held from 31 May to 30 June 2002 at sites in South Korea an ...

from South Korea/Japan and the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host th ...

in Germany for ESPN. He has also been the main analyst for the MetroStars and the re-branded

of Major League Soccer, working both on radio and television since 2001. He served as a color commentator for ESPN Radio covering the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Despite his role as a broadcaster/analyst for MLS and other soccer matches, he is the player agent for U.S. under-20 and former

D.C. United D.C. United is a professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. that competes in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer, the top tier of American soccer. Domestically, the club has won four MLS Cups (league championships), four Supp ...

midfielder Danny Szetela.
/sup> This has led to some, including

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large na ...

soccer reporter Steven Goff, to question his objectivity in his work as an analyst.
/sup> He is a member of the New York Sports Hall of Fame and the

, and the author of a book on soccer, while appearing in several films on the sport. In 2006, he was inducted into the Nassau County Sports Hall of Fame. Messing has been the color analyst for Madison Square Garden for twelve years broadcasting the New York Red Bulls games in Major League Soccer. He has also been the color analyst for the 2002, 2006 and 2010 FIFA World Cups for ESPN. Messing served as an analyst for NBC Sports coverage of

at the

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

and 2012 Summer Olympics. Currently, Messing is a color commentator for soccer on the MSG Network and ONE World Sports. Messing's famed lines are "That's a wonder goal" "Wonder Boy" and "Steve I am in a well help me out of a well". Messing found himself in a well on 10/27/2022.

Autobiography

Messing wrote an autobiography entitled ''The Education of an American Soccer Player'' which was published in hardcover in 1978 by Dodd, Mead and in paperback in 1979 by Bantam Books.

Other Media Appearances

Messing appeared as a centerfold in a 1974 issue of '' Viva'' magazine.
/sup>.

References

Color Commentary

External links

* Michael Lewis:
Shep Messing and the 1972 Olympic soccer adventure that turned into tragedy
', The Guardian, 6 October 2015. *Noah Davis
"Everyone Loves Shep Messing"
February 26, 2013, SB Nation
Jewish Sports Hall of Fame listing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Messing, Shep 1949 births Living people American people of Latvian-Jewish descent American soccer coaches American soccer players Association football commentators Boston Minutemen players Association football goalkeepers Footballers at the 1971 Pan American Games Footballers at the 1972 Summer Olympics Harvard Crimson men's soccer players NYU Violets men's soccer players Jewish American sportspeople Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) coaches Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players Nassau Community College alumni New York Arrows players New York Cosmos players New York Cosmos (MISL) players New York Express players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) coaches North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players Oakland Stompers players Olympic soccer players of the United States Sportspeople from the Bronx Pan American Games competitors for the United States Pittsburgh Spirit players Rochester Lancers (1967–1980) players Soccer players from New York (state) People from Old Westbury, New York People from Roslyn, New York Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) commentators The Wheatley School alumni 21st-century American Jews