{{Short description|American soccer player}} {{Use mdy dates|date=August 2021}} {{Use American English|date=December 2022}} {{Infobox football biography | name = Eric Eichmann | fullname = | image = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1965|5|7}} | birth_place = [[Margate, Florida]], United States | height = {{height|ft=5|in=10}} | position = [[Striker (association football)|Forward]] | youthyears1 = 1983–1987 | youthclubs1 = [[Clemson Tigers men's soccer|Clemson]] | years1 = 1986 | clubs1 = [[Atlanta Datagraphic]] | caps1 = | goals1 = | years2 = 1987–1988 | clubs2 = [[SV Werder Bremen|Werder Bremen II]] | caps2 = | goals2 = | years3 = 1988–1992 | clubs3 = [[Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1988–94)|Fort Lauderdale Strikers]] | caps3 = | goals3 = | years4 = 1992 | clubs4 = [[Wichita Wings]] ''(indoor)'' | caps4 = 23 | goals4 = 27 | years5 = 1994 | clubs5 = [[Washington Warthogs]] ''(indoor)'' | caps5 = 27 | goals5 = 19 | years6 = 1994–1995 | clubs6 = [[St. Louis Ambush (NPSL)|St. Louis Ambush]] ''(indoor)'' | caps6 = 19 | goals6 = 12 | years7 = 1996 | clubs7 = [[Kansas City Wizards]] | caps7 = 15 | goals7 = 0 | nationalyears1 = 1986–1993 | nationalteam1 = [[United States men's national soccer team|United States]] | nationalcaps1 = 29 | nationalgoals1 = 4 | manageryears1 = 2000–2002 | managerclubs1 = [[Miami Fusion]] ''(assistant)'' | medaltemplates = {{Medal|Country|{{USA}}}} {{Medal|RU|[[CONCACAF Championship]]|[[1989 CONCACAF Championship|1989]]}} {{MedalSport|Men's [[Association football|Soccer]]}} }}
'''Eric Eichmann''' (born May 7, 1965) is an American former [[Association football|soccer]] player. He played professionally in Germany and the United States and later served as an assistant coach with the [[Miami Fusion]] of [[Major League Soccer]]. He also earned 29 [[cap (football)|caps]] and scored four goals, for the [[United States men's national soccer team|United States national soccer team]].
==College== Born in [[Margate, Florida]], Eichmann grew up in Florida where [[St. Thomas Aquinas High School (Fort Lauderdale, Florida)|St. Thomas Aquinas High School]] and played for the Key Biscayne Gunners youth club.<ref>"ST. THOMAS MAKES IT THREE IN A ROW" ''Miami Herald'' Tuesday, June 7, 1983</ref> Eichmann played [[College soccer in the United States|college soccer]] [[Clemson University]] of the [[Atlantic Coast Conference]] (ACC). His freshman year, he earned All-ACC honors. In 1984, the team won the [[NCAA Division I men's soccer tournament|NCAA national championship]]. His most successful individual year came as a junior when he set a school record of nineteen assists while helping his team to the ACC championship. As a senior, Eichmann earned [[Division I First-Team All-American (soccer)|First-Team All-American]] honors. In 1986, he also played for [[Atlanta Datagraphic]], a top level amateur club.<ref>"Datagraphic still the big name in amateur soccer" ''The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution'' Thursday, June 26, 1986</ref>
==Professional career== After graduation, Eichmann played a single season with German [[Oberliga (football)|Third Division]] team [[SV Werder Bremen II|Werder Bremen II]]. The next year he returned to the United States where he played with the [[Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1988–94)|Fort Lauderdale Strikers]] of the [[A-League (American)|ASL/APSL]] from 1988 to 1993. His time with the team saw them win the 1989 APSL Championship.<ref>[https://a-leaguearchive.tripod.com/1989/statsasl89.htm#Ft.L 1989 APSL Stats]</ref><ref>[http://a-leaguearchive.tripod.com/1993/stats93.htm#Ft.L 1991 APSL Stats]</ref><ref>[https://a-leaguearchive.tripod.com/1992/stats92.htm#Ft.L 1992 APSL Stats]</ref> In 1992, he began a career as an itinerant [[indoor soccer]] player. He began with the [[Wichita Wings]] of the [[National Professional Soccer League II|National Professional Soccer League]] (NPSL) for one season, before moving on to the [[Washington Warthogs]] of the [[Continental Indoor Soccer League]] (CISL) in 1993–1994 and finally the [[St. Louis Ambush (NPSL)|St. Louis Ambush]] of the NPSL from 1994 to 1996. In 1995, the Ambush won the league championship. In 1996, the [[Kansas City Wiz]] of the [[Major League Soccer]] (MLS) took Eichmann as the thirty-sixth pick (fourth round) of the league's [[1996 MLS Inaugural Player Draft|inaugural draft]]. He would play one season and retire as a full-time soccer player.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://kc.wizards.mlsnet.com/history/register.jsp?content=players_e&club=t105 |title=MLS stats |access-date=April 8, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070504215610/http://kc.wizards.mlsnet.com/history/register.jsp?content=players_e&club=t105 |archive-date=May 4, 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
==International career==
===World Cup and Olympics=== Eichmann earned his first cap on February 5, 1986, against [[Canada men's national soccer team|Canada]]. He went on to play a total of 28 games with the senior team, scoring four goals. He was a member of the [[United States at the 1988 Summer Olympics|U.S. Olympic soccer team]] at the [[1988 Summer Olympics]] as well as the U.S. team at the [[1990 FIFA World Cup]]. His last game with the national team came against [[Honduras national football team|Honduras]] on March 25, 1993.
===Futsal=== Eichmann also earned seventeen caps with the [[United States national futsal team|U.S. futsal]] team between 1986 and 1992. During that period, he played on the U.S. team which took third at the 1989 [[FIFA Futsal World Championship]] and second at the 1992 championship. He ended his futsal career with seven goals.<ref>[http://www.ussoccer.com/common/stContent.jsp_88-TFAR.html USSF futsal stats] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927201506/http://www.ussoccer.com/common/stContent.jsp_88-TFAR.html |date=September 27, 2007 }}</ref>
==Coaching career== After retiring as a player, Eichmann served as an assistant coach of the [[Miami Fusion]] of the MLS from 2000 to 2002. He is the Director of Coaching and Player Development for the South Florida Football Academy (ex Boca United), a youth academy team in Florida part of MLS Next<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.gbysa.org/about_program_director.htm |title=Club bio |access-date=April 8, 2007 |archive-date=March 14, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070314230158/http://www.gbysa.org/about_program_director.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [http://clemsontigers.cstv.com/sports/m-soccer/mtt/eichmann_eric00.html Clemson Tigers bio] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070227040002/http://clemsontigers.cstv.com/sports/m-soccer/mtt/eichmann_eric00.html |date=February 27, 2007 }} * [http://ussoccerplayers.com/players/eric_eichmann/ USSoccerPlayers.com bio]{{Dead link|date=January 2026 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}
{{Navboxes |title= United States squads |bg= white |fg= #002868 |bordercolor= #BF0A30 |list1= {{United States squad 1988 Summer Olympics}} {{United States squad 1990 North American Nations Cup}} {{United States Squad 1990 World Cup}} }}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eichmann, Eric}} [[Category:1965 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:1990 FIFA World Cup players]] [[Category:All-American college men's soccer players]] [[Category:American expatriate men's soccer players]] [[Category:American expatriate sportspeople in Germany]] [[Category:Expatriate men's footballers in Germany]] [[Category:American men's futsal players]] [[Category:American Professional Soccer League players]] [[Category:American soccer coaches]] [[Category:American Soccer League (1988–89) players]] [[Category:American men's soccer players]] [[Category:Atlanta Datagraphic players]] [[Category:Clemson Tigers men's soccer players]] [[Category:Continental Indoor Soccer League players]] [[Category:Men's association football forwards]] [[Category:Footballers at the 1988 Summer Olympics]] [[Category:Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1988–1994) players]] [[Category:Sporting Kansas City players]] [[Category:Major League Soccer players]] [[Category:National Professional Soccer League (1984–2001) players]] [[Category:Olympic soccer players for the United States]] [[Category:People from Margate, Florida]] [[Category:Soccer players from Broward County, Florida]] [[Category:St. Louis Ambush (1992–2000) players]] [[Category:SV Werder Bremen II players]] [[Category:United States men's international soccer players]] [[Category:Washington Warthogs players]] [[Category:Wichita Wings (NPSL) players]] [[Category:St. Thomas Aquinas High School (Florida) alumni]] [[Category:20th-century American sportsmen]]