Kyle Martino

Kyle Martino (born February 19, 1981 in Atlanta, Georgia) is a retired American soccer player and currently a TV soccer color analyst.

Career

High School

Martino attended Staples High School in Westport, CT. In 1998 Martino was named Gatorade National Player of the year after his senior season at Staples.

College

Martino played college soccer at the University of Virginia from 1999 to 2001, registering 17 goals and 21 assists in his three years. In his junior season, Martino was named ACC Player of the Year; in both his sophomore and junior seasons, he was one of 15 finalists for the Hermann Trophy.

Professional

Kyle left UVA after his junior season, signing a Project-40 contract with MLS and entering the 2002 MLS Superdraft, where the Columbus Crew selected him eighth overall. Martino tallied 2 goals and 5 assists in 22 appearances and won the MLS Rookie of the Year Award, while running the Crew offense for much of the season. His following season was something of a disappointment, as Martino failed to develop into the dominant offensive force that many had expected, although he maintained a spot in the Crew's starting lineup. His third season began like the second with Martino failing to stimulate the offense, but a move up to withdrawn forward saw a resurgence of his offensive abilities, and through the 2004 season Kyle led the Crew to the longest unbeaten streaks in MLS history. Martino had a down year in 2005, not scoring a goal. In early 2006, Martino was dealt to the LA Galaxy in a four-player deal. He and John Wolyniec were traded for Joseph Ngwenya and Ned Grabavoy. Ironically, during the first 2006 match between the Crew and the Galaxy, before the trade, it was Martino who in the last few seconds scored the game's only goal, delivering a crushing defeat to his soon-to-be teammates.

In November 2006 Martino had a trial at Dutch Eredivisie side NEC Nijmegen, but apparently did not earn a contract, despite initial indications that he would be signed in January 2007. Martino also had a trial at Leeds United.[1]

Martino retired from professional soccer on February 19, 2008 due to injury. Martino was advised by doctors that injuries he sustained throughout his career were severe enough that it would be in his best interest to hang up the cleats.

On Monday, March 3, 2008 Los Angeles waived Martino to meet MLS roster and salary budget rules.

International

Martino played for the United States at the 2001 World Youth Championship in Argentina. He saw little playing time for the senior national team, getting his first cap on November 17, 2002 against El Salvador. He scored his only international goal against Panama on October 12, 2005 in a 2-0 World Cup qualifier USA victory.

Post-Soccer Career

Martino currently resides in Manhattan where he works full time at the wealth advisory firm Lenox Advisors. He also serves as lead color commentator for Fox Soccer's broadcast of Major League Soccer and US national soccer team matches. Martino previously served as a color commentator for MLS on the ESPN family of networks in addition to providing commentary for Philadelphia Union matches during their inaugural 2010 season. He married Eva Amurri on October 29th, 2011^[1].

Career statistics

^[2]

Honors

Individual

• MLS Rookie of the Year: 2002

References

- dead links

v d e United States squad – 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup 1 Cannon 2 Hejduk 3 Berhalter 4 Mastroeni 5 Vanney 6 Cherundolo 7 Lewis 8 Stewart 9 Kirovski 10 Donovan 11 Mathis 12 Bocanegra 13 Martino 14 Armas 15 Convey 16 Califf 17 Beasley 18 Howard 19 Hahnemann 20 Twellman 21 Cunningham 22 Klein 23 Gibbs Coach: Arena