It’s almost time for the greatest tournament on Earth, and we all know by now that Eric Wynalda can’t bear to let it proceed without him receiving some of the spotlight himself. So let’s look back at some of his WC attention-grabbing antics over the years: 2010: Revealed that John Harkes was kicked off of the 1998 team for having an affair with his wife. 2014: Claimed to have insider info that Julian Green had been guaranteed a spot on the USA's World Cup roster. 2022: Dropped the bombshell story about the rift between Berhalter and the Reynas. So, any guesses what 2026 has in store for us? What will Waldo pull out of his... umm... hat this time around?
I mean the 2010 one had been public knowledge for years and the other 2 turned out to be true, is he supposed to just not report on them?
Evidence the Green claim was true? I wouldn't be surprised if it was, but I don't recall any confirmation of that.
He was on the team, which was announced 9 days after that post. I guess technically it's possible Wynalda was pulling something out of his ass and then Jurgen by coincidence decided a few days later to bring Green anyway, but I think he gets the benefit of the doubt on that.
It definitely seems like he had inside knowledge that Green would be selected for the roster. (Coincidentally, I'd note that one of his former longtime USMNT teammates was on Klinsmann's coaching staff at the time.) But the part about Green being guaranteed a spot seems like the sort of leap Wynalda might make from much more limited information.
There was an interview at the time with Green, or maybe his mom, where the “guarantee” question was asked. IIRC the reply was very, very coy. Dude made a smart run, mishit the ball but got it on frame and scored a goal. You can’t criticize that.
I mean it didn't even have to be an explicit guarantee, it could've been as simple as asking Green ahead of time if he'd accept a WC call up knowing it would cap tie him which is essentially the same thing. And of course the story at the time was that Green was brought over Donovan but that isn't necessarily a 1=1...there were other guys we could've dropped to bring both of them (Davis, Diskerud, Wondo) and if Jurgen didn't want to bring Landon for locker room reasons there were other players whose form and bodies of work at the time were more deserving of a spot than Green (EJ, Joe Corona).
Wynalda. I think he’s been the most insufferable of the 90/94 crew. But I’d love if he drops something interesting
I think, in many ways, what made him so good as a striker also has a role in him coming off as a (fill in the blank). I really liked Wynalda when he played for us.
Funny backstory to that........... 50 days to the World Cup: A case of hives couldn't stop Eric Wynalda's free-kick goal against Switzerland - Yahoo Sports When we make a list of "best" free kick goals for the USMNT (in terms of quality and importance), that one has to be way up near the top of the list.