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Earnie Stewart (born March 28, 1969 in Veghel,
Netherlands) is an United States|American football
(soccer)|soccer player who was a regular
midfielder for the United States men's national
soccer team|U.S. national team from 1990s until
his retirement in 2005.

Stewart, the son of African American soldier
Earnie Stewart and his Dutch wife Annemien
Stewart, grew up in the Netherlands, and began his
professional career in that country in 1988 with
VVV Venlo|VVV. He spent two years at the Eerste
Divisie|Dutch First Division (second-level) club
before moving to fellow First Division side Willem
II Tilburg|Willem II in 1990. By the end of 1990,
he made his first appearance for the U.S. national
team against Portugal national football
team|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 U.S. national team,
starting all four games that the U.S. played in
the Wc|1994. Most notably, he scored the goal that
gave the U.S. its winning margin against Colombia
national football team|Colombia in group play, the
first World Cup game won by the U.S. since
Football World Cup 1950|1950. That game, sadly,
would be more remembered for the own goal scored
by Colombian defender (football)|defender Andrés
Escobar, which led to Escobar's murder shortly
after his return to Colombia.

By 1996, Stewart had moved to the Eredivisie (the
Dutch top flight) with NAC Breda, eventually
spending more than six seasons at NAC. The club
was relegation|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 U.S. team's matches at the Football World Cup
1998|1998 and Wc|2002s, becoming one of only five
U.S. men to play in three Football World Cup|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 have not been up to
his high standards, as he tallied just four
regular season and one playoff goal in MLS. He
left DC after the 2004 season, coming back to
Holland and his original club, VVV, where he
became technical director following his retirement
in 2005.

Stewart became the eighth U.S. man to make his
100th cap (football)|international appearance in a
2004 Football World Cup 2006 - North, Central
American and Caribbean Qualification Groups|World
Cup qualifier against Grenada national football
team|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.