Janusz Michallik (born April 22, 1966, in

Chorzów Chorzów ( ; ; ) is a city in the Silesia region of southern Poland, near Katowice. Chorzów is one of the central cities of the Metropolis GZM – a metropolis with a population of 2 million. It is located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Rawa ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

) is a former professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player, coach, and current television sports commentator. Born in Poland, he represented the

United States national team The United States national team or Team USA may refer to any of a number of sports team representing the United States in international competitions. Olympic teams Additionally, these teams may compete in other international competitions such as ...

Youth

Michallik moved to the United States with his father Krystian, a former Poland national team player, at the age of 16. His father had previously spent time in the U.S. in 1976 when he played for the

Hartford Bicentennials The Connecticut Bicentennials were an American soccer team that competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1975 to 1977. Originally founded as the Hartford Bicentennials, the team relocated to New Haven, Connecticut after the 1 ...

of the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League (NASL) was the top-level major professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984. It is considered the first soccer league to be successful on a national scale in the ...

. While Michallik played in the Poland national youth team, he never played for the senior team, making him eligible for the U.S. team once he gained his citizenship.

Professional

In 1983, Michallik began his professional career with Gwardia Warszawa. He played 10 games before his family moved to the U.S. In 1984, he signed with the Cleveland Force of the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) and played a single season with the team. He continued to play indoor soccer with his next two teams, the

Louisville Thunder Louisville Thunder was an indoor soccer club based in Louisville, Kentucky. The team played in the American Indoor Soccer Association History Stadium From the club's inaugural season in 1984 to 1987, home games were played in Broadbent Arena. ...

and Canton Invaders of the

American Indoor Soccer Association American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

(AISA), winning championships with them both despite only playing one season with each team. In 1988, he tried out with the Dallas Sidekicks of MISL, but while he played in the pre-season he was not offered a contract by the team. In 1990, Michallik moved to outdoor soccer with the Boston Bolts of the newly established

American Professional Soccer League The American Professional Soccer League (APSL) was a professional men's soccer league with teams from the United States and later Canada. It was formed in 1990 by the merger of the third American Soccer League with the Western Soccer League. ...

(APSL). In the fall of 1990, he signed with the Atlanta Attack of the AISA. In 1992, he played for the amateur Gremio Lusitano. In 1995, he signed with the Connecticut Wolves of

USISL The United States Interregional Soccer League (USISL) was a semi-professional men's outdoor soccer league that played six seasons from 1989 to 1994. It was the first outdoor league to be operated by the organization known today as the United ...

. He played several early season games with the Wolves, then went on loan to the New York Centaurs of the

A-League A-League Men, also known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional soccer league in Australia and New Zealand and the highest level of the Australian soccer league system. Established in 2004 as the A-League by the ...

. In 1996, the

Columbus Crew The Columbus Crew are an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The team began play in 1996 as one of the 10 cha ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

drafted Michallik in the 7th Round (61st overall) of the Inaugural MLS draft. He played two seasons with the Crew before signing with the

New England Revolution The New England Revolution are an American professional association football, soccer club based in the Greater Boston area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. It is on ...

on January 16, 1998, for whom he played one season before being released on October 31, 1998.

National team

Michallik became a U.S. citizen on March 8, 1991. U.S. coach

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quickly called him into the national team. That year, he was part of the team which won the 1991

CONCACAF The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football, abbreviated as CONCACAF ( ; typeset for branding purposes since 2018 as Concacaf), is one of FIFA's six continental governing bodies for association football. Its 4 ...

championship. In August 1991, he signed a contract to play exclusively for the national team. In 1992, he tasted victory again when the U.S. team won that year's U.S. Cup. He went on to earn 44

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and score a single goal as a tough defender. He was key to the U.S. preparation for the

1994 World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States w ...

, playing in 12 pre-tournament games and starting in seven. As hosts of the 1994 World Cup, the United States qualified automatically, thus not having to qualify through the CONCACAF region's qualification tournament, and he was frequently summoned for friendlies, which he scored his first and only international goal for the United States in a 2–0 away triumph over

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

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. However, he was left off the roster for the tournament itself and retired from the national team later that year. ;International goals

Futsal

In 1995, Michallik earned five caps and scored 1 goal with the U.S.

futsal Futsal is a variant of association football played between two teams of five players each on a court smaller than a football pitch. Its rules are based on the Laws of the Game (association football), Laws of the Game of association football, and i ...

team.

Life after retirement

He currently lives in

Glastonbury, Connecticut Glastonbury ( ) is a town in the Capitol Planning Region, Connecticut, Capitol Planning Region, Connecticut, United States, formally founded in 1693 and first settled in 1636. It was named after Glastonbury in Somerset, England. Glastonbury is ...

, with his wife, Marzena and son, Daniel, who played collegiate soccer for the

DePaul Blue Demons The DePaul Blue Demons are the athletic teams that represent DePaul University, located in Chicago, Illinois. The Blue Demons participate in NCAA Division I and are a member of the Big East Conference. DePaul's Athletic Director is DeWayne Pe ...

. He is a soccer commentator, currently working for

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

and

SiriusXM Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting corporation headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. The company was formed by the 2008 merge ...

. He is also an expert for the Polish Television, TVP Sport. He also is a frequent guest on Polish

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

channel Kanał Sportowy.

Honors

*In 2002, he was inducted into the Connecticut Soccer Hall of Fame *In 2009, he was inducted into the New England Soccer Hall of Fame

References

External links

U.S.SoccerPlayers.com bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Michallik, Janusz 1966 births Living people American Professional Soccer League players American men's soccer players American men's futsal players American soccer coaches American sports announcers Atlanta Attack players Boston Bolts (1988–1990) players Canton Invaders players Cleveland Force (original MISL) players Columbus Crew players Connecticut Wolves players Gremio Lusitano players Gwardia Warsaw players Association football commentators Men's association football defenders Louisville Thunder players Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players Major League Soccer players National Professional Soccer League (1984–2001) players New York Centaurs players New England Revolution players Polish men's footballers Poland men's youth international footballers Footballers from Chorzów Polish emigrants to the United States USL Second Division players United States men's international soccer players 1991 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 1992 King Fahd Cup players CONCACAF Gold Cup–winning players 20th-century American sportsmen 20th-century Polish sportsmen