At one point in his career Alexi Lalas considered giving up soccer. He had been unable to earn a position on a professional team in Europe and did not know what he was going to do with the rest of his life. Just when things seemed their worst, Lalas got an invitation to try out for the U.S. national team. The invitation cut short a possible career as a rock guitarist, but Lalas was back where he wanted to be--on the soccer field. During the 1994 World Cup tournament, held in the United States for the first time, Lalas became a star. One of the early stars of Major League Soccer (MLS), he became the grizzled veteran on the 1998 American team that qualified for the World Cup in France.

Growing up

Kicking around in Greece

Panayotis Alexander Lalas was born June 1, 1970, in Royal Oak, Michigan, a suburb of...