Alecko Eskandarian
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Alecko Eskandarian | ||
Date of birth | July 9, 1982 | ||
Place of birth | Montvale, New Jersey, U.S. | ||
Height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | ||
Position(s) | Forward | ||
College career | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2000–2002 | Virginia Cavaliers | 60 | (50) |
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2003–2006 | D.C. United | 81 | (20) |
2007 | Toronto FC | 6 | (1) |
2007 | Real Salt Lake | 17 | (1) |
2008–2009 |
Chivas USA | 18 | (6) |
2009–2010 |
Los Angeles Galaxy | 3 | (2) |
Total | 125 | (30) | |
International career | |||
1999 | United States U17 | ||
2000–2001 | United States U20 | ||
2002–2003 | United States U23 | ||
2003 | United States | 1 | (0) |
Managerial career | |||
2012 | Philadelphia Union (assistant) | ||
2013 | New York Cosmos (assistant) | ||
2015–2016 | New York Cosmos B | ||
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
Alecko Eskandarian (born July 9, 1982) is a retired Armenian American
Career
High School and College
While at Bergen Catholic High School, Eskandarian won the 1999-00 Gatorade National High School Athlete of the Year Award. He was also named a NSCAA/Adidas All-American and New Jersey State Player of the Year after leading the state of New Jersey in scoring with 66 goals and 15 assists through 25 games during his senior year. He finished his high school career with 154 career goals, the most in Bergen County history and the third most in New Jersey high school history.[1]
Prior to playing as a professional, he played three years of soccer for the University of Virginia where he was named the best player in college soccer and awarded the Hermann Trophy in 2002 after scoring 25 goals (a school record) and 4 assists for the Cavaliers. He played three standout seasons at the University of Virginia and established himself as one of the all-time greats at the school. He finished his Cavaliers career with 50 goals (including 15 game winners), 113 points, and 13 assists in 60 games, before foregoing his senior year to go pro. During his 3 seasons at UVA, Eskandarian was a 3-time All-American, 1st Team All-ACC, ACC Rookie of the Year in 2000, and was also named ACC Player of the Year and Soccer America's College Player of the Year in 2002. Eskandarian returned to the university during the 2010 season to finish his degree and take an assistant coaching job with the team.
Professional
Eskandarian played his first four MLS seasons for
On November 14, 2004, Eskandarian played in his first
On December 22, 2006, Eskandarian was traded from D.C. United to Toronto FC for a partial allocation. On May 22, 2007, Eskandarian was traded from Toronto FC to Real Salt Lake in exchange for forward Jeff Cunningham.[2] Between Real Salt Lake and Toronto, Eskandarian played 23 games (starting all 23), scoring 2 goals and adding 3 assists, logging 1,913 minutes.
Chivas USA acquired Eskandarian from Real Salt Lake in exchange for salary cap allocation money. This move was announced on January 18, 2008, at the 2008 MLS SuperDraft. In 2008, after missing much of the first half of the season due to surgery on a torn adductor, Eskandarian came on strong late in the year and finished the season tied for first on the team with five goals and two assists in just 8 starts. In a span between Aug 30 and Oct 4, he scored a goal against each of his three previous teams (RSL, Toronto, and DC).
Eskandarian was traded to city rivals
Due to injury, Alecko was not medically cleared and has been sidelined indefinitely since March 2010.[4] He was the assistant coach for the Virginia Cavaliers soccer club. On June 15, 2011, it was announced that Eskandarian had joined Philadelphia Union's technical staff as their youth technical director under the direction of the program's coach John Hackworth.[5]
International
Eskandarian has played one game for the United States national team, against Wales on May 26, 2003.[6] He has also represented the United States at the U-17, U-20, and U-23 national teams. Eskandarian was leading scorer of the Olympic Qualifying tournament in Mexico in 2004 (4 goals), although the US team failed to qualify for the 2004 Olympics in Athens.
Coaching
On February 1, 2013, Eskandarian signed with the New York Cosmos as an assistant coach,
Eskandarian was part of head coach Giovanni Savarese's coaching staff during the team's historic 2013 relaunch season. During the 2013 season, Eskandarian helped lead the Cosmos to an undefeated record at home (W-D-L: 5–2–0) and the 2013 North American Soccer League Fall Season title with an overall record of 31 points from 14 games (W-D-L: 9–4–1). The Cosmos would cap the season with the NASL Soccer Bowl, where they defeated the Atlanta Silverbacks 1–0 to capture the club's sixth title of all time.
Eskandarian led the Cosmos B squad to the National Premier Soccer League title on August 8, 2015, defeating Chattanooga FC, 3–2, in overtime. The game was played in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in front of a crowd of 18,227, the largest crowd ever in the United States to see an amateur soccer match.[8] Eskandarian finished his 1st season as a head coach with an undefeated record, as Cosmos B posted a 15–0–1 record in the 2015 NPSL season.
Post-coaching
After his five-year-long coaching career, Eskandarian began transitioning to front office work at Major League Soccer headquarters in New York City.[9]
Personal life
Alecko is of
Eskandarian also appeared on an episode of
Honors
Player
- Major League Soccer MLS Cup Champion (1) 2004
- Major League Soccer MLS Cup MVP (1) 2004
- Major League Soccer MLS All Star (2) 2004, 2006
- Major League Soccer Supporter's Shield (1) 2006
Head coach
- National Premier Soccer League Champion (1) 2015
Assistant coach
- North American Soccer League Soccer Bowl Champion (3) 2013, 2015, 2016
References
- The Record (Bergen County), March 18, 2010. Accessed February 16, 2011. "'I'm a soccer player through and through. If I could play, I would. Being an athlete my whole life, shutting it down is the worst type of torture,' said Eskandarian, who graduated from Bergen Catholic in 2000 as the Bergen County's all-time leader with 154 goals. 'At the same time, this is my brain. It's not a hamstring or an ankle.'"
- ^ Polishuk, Mark (May 22, 2007). "TFC get their man in Cunningham". MLSnet.com. Archived from the original on March 27, 2008. Retrieved May 23, 2007.
- ^ Bell, Jack (July 7, 2009). "Week's Notables". The New York Times. Retrieved February 18, 2018.
- ^ "Eskandarian sidelined indefinitely". The Washington Post.
- ^ "Eskandarian joins Union as youth technical director". June 15, 2011. Archived from the original on April 5, 2012. Retrieved June 16, 2011.
- ^ "Alecko Eskandarian – USMNT".
- ^ "Former MLS Cup MVP Eskandarian joins staff of NASL's New York Cosmos | MLSsoccer.com". Archived from the original on September 23, 2014. Retrieved September 23, 2014.
- ^ "Wiedmer: Even in defeat, CFC won". Archived from the original on November 8, 2017. Retrieved August 9, 2015.
- ^ "Throwback Thursday: Checking in with Alecko Eskandarian". April 9, 2020.
- ^ "Once You Go Black, You DO Go Back! Kimmy Cakes Says She Wants A 'Normal Armenian Boy'". August 31, 2010.