This page uses content from the Shep Messing biography page on the English version of Wikipedia and is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. This list of authors can be seen in the page history. Rotten Tomatoes disclaims any and all warranties as to the accuracy or reliability of the content.

Shep Messing (born October 9, 1949 in Bronx, New York) is a former American soccer star and current broadcaster. Messing attended Wheatley High School in Old Westbury, New York. He graduated from Harvard University where he was the goalkeeper for four years and a two-time All-American. He joined the U.S. national team that played in the 1971 Pan American Games and 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. After the Olympics, Messing received offers from teams in Mexico and Germany, but was invited to play goalkeeper for the New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League (NASL), alongside prominent teammates Pelé, Franz Beckenbauer and Giorgio Chinaglia. He also played for the NASL's Rochester Lancers and the New York Arrows of the Major Indoor Soccer League for several seasons.

He achieved a measure of notoriety by posing in the nude for a photospread in the December 1974 issue of Viva Magazine. For this he was paid $5000. He joked that these photos gave the New York Cosmos more "exposure" than they'd ever received from the media up to that time.

Messing has been a soccer broadcaster for sixteen years. He began as an analyst for the Major Indoor Soccer League games on ESPN. He broadcast the 1986 FIFA World Cup from Mexico, the 2002 FIFA World Cup from Japan/South Korea, and the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany for ESPN. He has also been the lead analyst for the MetroStars and the re-branded New York Red Bulls for several years. He can be easily recognised while calling games by his trademark "......wow" following a dramatic incident, as well as his thick Bronx accent. He is a member of the New York Sports Hall of Fame and the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, and the author of a book on soccer, while appearing in several films on the sport.

External links

• Jewish Sports Hall of Fame listing

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