Wynalda tried to save Harkes from 1998 World Cup cut — despite affair with his wife

The former USMNT striker even said he blamed himself for his wife’s infidelity

Before the Reyna-Berhalter affair last year, there was an even bigger scandal that rocked the U.S. men’s national team to its core.

Two months before the 1998 World Cup. USMNT coach Steve Sampson shockingly cut midfielder and team captain John Harkes from the squad. It took 12 years for the true reason for the decision to be revealed: Harkes was having an affair with his teammate Eric Wynalda’s wife, Amy.

Harkes has never publicly spoken about the issue, while Wynalda has occasionally mentioned the affair. But the ex-USMNT striker went into much more detail than he has previously in an appearance on the CBS Sports show “Kickin’ It” this week.

Among several details, Wynalda revealed that he blamed himself for the affair, and even went as far as lobbying Sampson to not cut Harkes from the team.

“We would go on trips with the national team and our wives would be there,” Wynalda said. “And if I’m truly being honest, and why did this all happen, is I got injured, my focus was getting healthy. I did not have time for my wife, this was too important. And that’s kind of where it happened. I wasn’t there, I wasn’t present.

“So I look at it from a different perspective, and a lot of people think I’m crazy. But John and I were such close friends, and then a lot of people said, ‘That must make it so much worse, so much more painful,’ and I think there’s a part of me that’s just more forgiving then most.

“I went to the coach and said, ‘I know what happened. He needs to be on the team.'”

Asked if he believed the affair had happened when he first learned about it, Wynalda replied: “I did believe it, and it made sense. John [and I], we went on vacations together with family. We were as tight as you can get.”

Wynalda and his wife Amy divorced in 2003, while Harkes stayed together with his wife despite the affair.

Wynalda said that he was glad his former teammate managed to keep his family together, while insisting that the entire scandal wasn’t as bad as it was portrayed.

“It wasn’t as painful as people make it out to be,” the 55-year-old said.

Watch Wynalda discuss Harkes affair

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