Kyle Martino

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

Career

High School

Martino attended Staples High School in Westport, Connecticut, where he played soccer and, in 1998, was named Gatorade National Player of the Year after his senior season.

College

Martino attended the University of Virginia from 1999 to 2001. He played college soccer and scored 17 goals and 21 assists. 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

Martino left UVA after his junior season, signing a Project-40 contract with Major League Soccer (MLS) and entering the 2002 MLS Superdraft, where the Columbus Crew selected him eighth overall. He 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 His third season began like the second with Martino failing to stimulate the offense, but a move up to withdrawn forward saw a resurgence of his offensive abilities, and through the 2004 season Kyle led the Crew to the longest unbeaten streak in MLS history.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 defeat to his soon-to-be teammates.

In November 2006, Martino had a trial at Dutch Eredivisie side NEC Nijmegen, but did not earn a contract. 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 boots.^[2]

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 is a studio analyst and color commentator for NBC Sports coverage of the Barclays Premier League. Martino previously served as a color commentator for MLS on the ESPN family of networks. In addition to his Sports Commentating Martino is also a TV Host featured on Travel Channels 36 Hours and NBC's Spartan Race.

Martino married actress Eva Amurri on October 29, 2011.^[3] They have two children.^[4][5]

Career statistics

^[6]

Honors

Columbus Crew

• Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup: 2002
• MLS Supporters' Shield: 2004

Individual

• MLS Rookie of the Year: 2002

References

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