Montvale's Alecko Eskandarian, the 2002 National College Player of the Year during his junior season at Virginia, has signed a five-year contract with Major League Soccer, and the forward is crossing his fingers that he is drafted by the MetroStars http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?level_3_id=137&page=6004698
I wonder if that pick could come into play with the big trade the two teams have been rumored to be working?
Any relation to the former N.Y. Cosmo of Iranian descent? I remember the older Eskandarian needed a police escort out of a Striker game at Lockhart Stadium in 1980, smack dab in the middle of the Iranian hostage crisis...ah, memories.
yeah, today every athlete needs a police escort... back then it was a special case that would need it
Eskandarian is Armenian not Iranian. His dad just played in IRAN. Armenia is the only Christen country that borders three Islamic countries and it 's the oldest christen country in the world today. The church just had it’s 1700-year anniversary last year.
To clarify, Andrnik "Eski" Eskandarian was born and raised in Iran. He is ethnically Arminian (his parents were from Arminia. I remember a joke in a movie with Al Pacino. "How do you know when a guy is Arminian? When his name rhymes with the word 'Arminian.') He played for Iran in World Cup 1978 (scoring an own goal against Soctland, in a game Iran would draw). He got out of Iran just before it hit the fan, in '78.
I attended the US v Iran game at the Rose Bowl in 2000 and learned from chatting with folks there that Iran has a large Armenian community. One of the Shahs invaded Armenia in the 1600's and brought about 300,000 Armenians back with him. Amazing the things you can learn at a soccer game. That game was also part of a double-header featuring the US U-23s and the Armenian nats.