Earnest Lee Stewart Jr. (born March 28, 1969) is a former American soccer player who played as a striker or a midfielder. His career spanned 17 years from 1988 until his retirement in 2005, with the majority of them spent in the Netherlands, the country of his birth. He was also a United States international, and is currently the sporting director of the United States Soccer Federation.
Personal information | |||||||||||||
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Full name | Earnest Lee Stewart Jr.[1][2] | ||||||||||||
Date of birth | (1969-03-28) March 28, 1969 (age 53) | ||||||||||||
Place of birth | Veghel, Netherlands | ||||||||||||
Height | 5 ft 9 in (175 cm) | ||||||||||||
Position(s) | Striker, midfielder | ||||||||||||
Club information | |||||||||||||
Current team | United States (sporting director) | ||||||||||||
Youth career | |||||||||||||
UDI'19 | |||||||||||||
Senior career* | |||||||||||||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||
1988–1990 | VVV-Venlo | 62 | (15) | ||||||||||
1990–1996 | Willem II | 170 | (49) | ||||||||||
1996–2003 | NAC Breda | 189 | (50) | ||||||||||
2003–2004 | D.C. United | 47 | (4) | ||||||||||
2004–2005 | VVV-Venlo | 6 | (1) | ||||||||||
Total | 474 | (119) | |||||||||||
National team | |||||||||||||
1990–2004 | United States | 101 | (17) | ||||||||||
Honours
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*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
The son of African American U.S. Air Force airman Earnie Stewart Sr. and his wife Annemien, Stewart grew up in Veghel, the Netherlands.
Stewart began his professional career in the Netherlands in 1988 with VVV-Venlo. He spent two years in 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 became 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 the group stage, 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 there. NAC 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 American men to play at 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 American 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.
Stewart was named technical director of NAC Breda of the Dutch Eredivisie on May 14, 2006.
He was appointed as AZ Alkmaar's Director of Football Affairs in June 2010. The 41-year-old succeeded Marcel Brands, who left AZ for PSV. Stewart left his post as Technical Director at NAC Breda by mutual consent.[3] 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."[4]
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.[5]
On June 6, 2018, Stewart was named general manager of the United States men's national team.[6]
On August 12, 2019, Stewart was named the first sporting director of the United States Soccer Federation.[7]
Club | Season | League | National Cup | League Cup | Continental | Total | ||||||
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Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
VVV-Venlo | 1988–89 | Eredivisie | 27 | 3 | ||||||||
1989–90 | Eerste Divisie | 35 | 12 | |||||||||
Total | 62 | 15 | ||||||||||
Willem II | 1990–91 | Eredivisie | 33 | 17 | ||||||||
1991–92 | 33 | 8 | ||||||||||
1992–93 | 22 | 4 | ||||||||||
1993–94 | 32 | 7 | ||||||||||
1994–95 | 32 | 10 | ||||||||||
1995–96 | 18 | 3 | ||||||||||
Total | 170 | 49 | ||||||||||
NAC Breda | 1996–97 | Eredivisie | 28 | 9 | ||||||||
1997–98 | 30 | 6 | ||||||||||
1998–99 | 28 | 7 | ||||||||||
1999–2000 | Eerste Divisie | 29 | 8 | |||||||||
2000–01 | Eredivisie | 28 | 8 | |||||||||
2001–02 | 31 | 10 | ||||||||||
2002–03 | 15 | 2 | ||||||||||
Total | 189 | 50 | ||||||||||
D.C. United | 2003 | Major League Soccer | 21 | 1 | ||||||||
2004 | 26 | 3 | ||||||||||
Total | 47 | 4 | ||||||||||
VVV-Venlo | 2004–05 | Eerste Divisie | 6 | 1 | ||||||||
Career total | 474 | 119 |
National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
---|---|---|---|
United States | 1990 | 1 | 0 |
1991 | 0 | 0 | |
1992 | 7 | 0 | |
1993 | 6 | 2 | |
1994 | 7 | 1 | |
1995 | 9 | 1 | |
1996 | 5 | 0 | |
1997 | 7 | 1 | |
1998 | 9 | 1 | |
1999 | 5 | 0 | |
2000 | 8 | 4 | |
2001 | 10 | 5 | |
2002 | 10 | 0 | |
2003 | 13 | 2 | |
2004 | 4 | 0 | |
Total | 101 | 17 |
No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
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1 | June 13, 1993 | Chicago, Illinois, United States | ![]() | 3–4 | Friendly | |
2 | August 31, 1993 | Reykjavik, Iceland | ![]() | 1–0 | Friendly | |
3 | June 22, 1994 | Pasadena, California, United States | ![]() | 2–1 | 1994 FIFA World Cup | |
4 | March 25, 1995 | Dallas, Texas, United States | ![]() | 2–2 | Friendly | |
5 | March 16, 1997 | Palo Alto, California, United States | ![]() | 3–0 | 1998 FIFA World Cup Qualifying | |
6 | May 24, 1998 | Portland, Oregon, United States | ![]() | 2–0 | Friendly | |
7 | June 3, 2000 | Washington, D.C., United States | ![]() | 4–0 | Friendly | |
8 | July 23, 2000 | San José, Costa Rica | ![]() | 1–2 | 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification | |
9 | August 16, 2000 | Foxborough, Massachusetts, United States | ![]() | 7–0 | 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification | |
10 | November 15, 2000 | Waterford, Barbados | ![]() | 4–0 | 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification | |
11 | February 28, 2001 | Columbus, Ohio, United States | ![]() | 2–0 | 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification | |
12 | March 28, 2001 | San Pedro Sula, Honduras | ![]() | 2–1 | 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification | |
13 | June 20, 2001 | Foxborough, Massachusetts, United States | ![]() | 2–0 | 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification | |
14 | September 1, 2001 | Washington, D.C., United States | ![]() | 2–3 | 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification | |
15 | ||||||
16 | July 6, 2003 | Columbus, Ohio, United States | ![]() | 2–0 | Friendly | |
17 | July 26, 2003 | Miami, Florida, United States | ![]() | 3–2 | 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup | |
Awards | |||||||||||
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United States Squads | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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