Aztec Legends Net Yahoo! World Cup Gig

Fans ready to leap and scream in crazed delight Friday for the Americans' second match of the 2010 FIFA World Cup can count an unlikely diehard among them—U.S. Soccer Hall of Famer and Aztec legend Eric Wynalda.

After playing on three World Cup teams for the United States and announcing games for TV in subsequent years, 2010 offers Wynalda, 41, the best chance since his childhood to experience the tournament like a regular fan.

He watched last Saturday’s opening match for the United States against England with a beer in his hand and his heart in his throat.

“When the U.S. scored, I jumped off the couch and hit my leg on the table,” said Wynalda, who enjoyed the game at his Los Angeles home with family and nearly 50 friends.  “Everybody in the room was screaming, too, and I had to play it off like it didn’t hurt.”

Yahoo! Aztecs

Once again, he couldn’t entirely escape working the World Cup.  Yahoo! Sports hired David Beckham, Marcelo Balboa and Wynalda to provide expert analysis throughout the tournament. 

Beckham is Yahoo!’s global soccer ambassador and is providing exclusive written and video content during and after the World Cup.

Balboa is also in South Africa for Yahoo!, acting as on-the-ground analyst.

Thanks to Skype, Wynalda offers his insights about each game of group play from the comforts of his home. He will be in studio to analyze each game in the knock-out rounds.

“I’m watching a ton of games and then I just go to my office and do my thing,” he said, adding that he frequently talks to the coaches and texts Balboa for a better feel of what’s happening on site.  “It’s so much better than watching in a television studio or travelling around the world to cover games.”

Beckham is the unquestionable headliner, but Wynalda and Balboa generate the biggest buzz for Aztec fans.

The pair starred at San Diego State and helped lead the Aztecs to the 1987 NCAA championship game against Clemson.  They became the first Americans to play in three World Cups and both were elected into the National Soccer Hall of Fame.

Eric Winter, another SDSU alumnus, negotiated the high-profile deal tying the soccer stars with Yahoo!, which developed a dynamic World Cup website to leverage its 600 million users worldwide.

Winter, who started his sports career covering men’s soccer for the Daily Aztec, knew SDSU had a strong soccer tradition at the national level and aggressively pursued Wynalda and Balboa for the Yahoo! team.

"So when our programming team sat down to discuss which expert analysts we wanted to represent Yahoo!, I knew exactly who I was going to secure," said Winter, head of content acquisition and business development for Yahoo! Sports. "And it helps that Yahoo! Sports' managing editor is a soccer fan, and knows of Balboa and Wynalda's time on the pitch.

"So two phone calls later, and a little negotiating back-and-forth with their agents, and we had two separate World Cup analyst deals in place. And now SDSU is well-represented on the number one sports site worldwide."

Dedicated Aztec

Wynalda said he keeps in touch with his Aztecs teammates, many of whom have succeeded as players, coaches and broadcasters.

“That was the best team I have ever been on,” he said.  “I spent my entire career trying to be on a team that was that tight.”

He follows the SDSU soccer program closely and regularly talks with coach Lev Kirshner.

Wynalda is planning on returning to campus, Sept. 4, for the alumni game.

“I’m circling it on my calendar.  I can’t wait to get back.”