Earnie Stewart

Earnie Stewart

Personal information
Full name	Earnest Stewart
Date of birth	(1969-03-28) March 28, 1969 (age 52)
Place of birth	Veghel, Netherlands
Height	5 ft 9 in (175 cm)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Club information
Current team	United States (sporting director)
Youth career
	UDI'19
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1988–1990	VVV	62	(15)
1990–1996	Willem II	170	(49)
1996–2003	NAC	189	(50)
2003–2004	D.C. United	47	(4)
2004–2005	VVV	6	(1)
Total		474	(119)
National team
1990–2004	United States	101	(17)
Honours Representing  United States CONCACAF Gold Cup 2003 Men's Soccer
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Earnest "Earnie" Stewart (born March 28, 1969) is an American retired soccer player who was a midfielder for the United States national team from 1990s until his retirement in 2005. He is currently the sporting director of the United States Soccer Federation.

Early life and education[]

The son of African American U.S. Air Force airman Earnie Stewart and his wife Annemien, Stewart grew up in the Netherlands.

Playing career[]

Stewart began his professional career in that country in 1988 with VVV. He spent two years at the Dutch First Division (second-level) club before moving to Eredivisie side Willem II in 1990. By the end of 1990, he made his first appearance for the United States national team against Portugal.

In his first season at Willem II, he finished third on the goal-scoring list for the Dutch First Division, with 17. He went on to score 49 goals in six seasons there. In the meantime, he developed into a regular for the United States national team, starting all four games that the United States played in the 1994 FIFA World Cup. Most notably, he scored the goal that gave the United States its winning margin against Colombia in group play, the first World Cup game won by the United States since 1950.

By 1996, Stewart had moved to NAC Breda, eventually spending more than six seasons at NAC. The club was relegated in 1999, but Stewart helped the club win the First Division in 2000, thereby earning promotion back to the Eredivisie. During his years at NAC, he also played in all of the United States team's matches at the 1998 and 2002 FIFA World Cups, becoming one of only five United States men to play in three World Cups.

In January 2003, he left the Netherlands to play in Major League Soccer, and was allocated to D.C. United, where he won the MLS Cup in his second season. His scoring numbers did not equal his earlier high standards, as he tallied just four regular season goals and one playoff goal in MLS. He left D.C. after the 2004 season, coming back to the Netherlands and his original club, VVV-Venlo, where he became technical director following his retirement in 2005.

Stewart became the eighth United States man to make his 100th international appearance in a 2004 World Cup qualifier against Grenada. His 111 goals as a professional in the Netherlands makes him the highest-scoring American in international club play. He was named U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year in 2001.

Post-playing career[]

Stewart was named technical director of NAC Breda of the Dutch Eredivisie on May 14, 2006.

He was appointed as AZ's Director of Football Affairs in June 2010. The 41-year-old American succeeded Marcel Brands, who left AZ for PSV. Stewart left his post as Technical Director at NAC Breda by mutual consent.^[1] Stewart stated in the past that he had a long-term goal of returning to United States soccer in an executive role: "One ambition I do have is to go back to the United States and to be of importance to soccer."^[2]

Stewart accomplished just that when, on October 26, 2015, the Philadelphia Union officially announced that Stewart would take on the role of Sporting Director for the club.^[3]

On June 6, 2018, Stewart was named general manager of the men's United States national team.^[4]

On August 12, 2019, Stewart was named the first Sporting Director of U.S. Soccer.^[5]

Career statistics[]

Club[]

As of March 29, 2017^{[6][unreliable source?]}

International[]

As of March 29, 2017^[7]

As of August 18, 2004^[8]

Scores and results list the United States' goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Stewart goal.

List of international goals scored by Earnie Stewart

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	June 13, 1993	Chicago, Illinois, United States	Germany		3–4	Friendly
2	August 31, 1993	Reykjavik, Iceland	Iceland		1–0	Friendly
3	June 22, 1994	Pasadena, California, United States	Colombia		2–1	1994 FIFA World Cup
4	March 25, 1995	Dallas, Texas, United States	Uruguay		2–2	Friendly
5	March 16, 1997	Palo Alto, California, United States	Canada		3–0	1998 FIFA World Cup Qualifying
6	May 24, 1998	Portland, Oregon, United States	Kuwait		2–0	Friendly
7	June 3, 2000	Washington, D.C., United States	South Africa		4–0	Friendly
8	July 23, 2000	San José, Costa Rica	Costa Rica		1–2	2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
9	August 16, 2000	Foxborough, Massachusetts, United States	Barbados		7–0	2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
10	November 15, 2000		Barbados		4–0	2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
11	February 28, 2001	Columbus, Ohio, United States	Mexico		2–0	2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
12	March 28, 2001	San Pedro Sula, Honduras	Honduras		2–1	2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
13	June 20, 2001	Foxborough, Massachusetts, United States	Trinidad and Tobago		2–0	2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
14	September 1, 2001	Washington, D.C., United States	Honduras		2–3	2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
15
16	July 6, 2003	Columbus, Ohio, United States	Paraguay		2–0	Friendly
17	July 26, 2003	Miami, Florida, United States	Costa Rica		3–2	2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup

See also[]

• List of United States men's international soccer players born outside the USA
• List of men's footballers with 100 or more international caps

References[]

External links[]

• Stewart to Join NAC Breda
• Moneyball comes to AZ Alkmaar