Manny Lagos

Early career

Born in St. Paul, Minnesota Lagos played college soccer for the NCAA Division-I Milwaukee Panthers from 1990 to 1992, and was named an NSCAA First-Team All-American in 1991. During and after college, from 1990 to 1996, Manny played for his father with the Minnesota Thunder, first as an amateur and a founding member of the club, and later as a professional. Amidst his Thunder days, he also had short stints with Clermont Foot in the French Third Division, and in Spain's lower divisions with Lleida. In 1994, the Thunder's last year as an all-amateur side, Lagos led the team through a near-perfect season and was awarded the USL MVP award, having scored 18 goals and 9 assists. Upon leaving the club for MLS in 1996, he was inducted into the Thunder Hall of Fame with career totals of 29 goals and 12 assists; his brother and teammate, Gerard Lagos (who played for the team from 1990 through 2001) is also an inductee. In 2006, Manny was elected to the USL Hall of Fame.

MLS

In 1996, midway through the inaugural MLS season, Lagos was signed by the MetroStars. He impressed right away, but his season was cut short after he tore his left-knee's ACL, MCL, and LCL in a single horrific injury just six games in. Lagos made a comeback in the next season, playing in 15 league matches, but still impaired and less effective than before. Frustrated with his injuries, the Metros exposed Manny in the 1997 MLS Expansion Draft, where he was taken by the Chicago Fire.…

Lagos began his international career in the 1992 Summer Olympics, when he scored the second goal in a 3–1 win over Kuwait, the team's only victory. His first full cap for the senior national team did not come until over nine years later, on December 9, 2001, against South Korea. He earned three caps for the US from 2001 to 2003, scoring no goals.

In January 2006, Lagos was named the Director of Soccer Operations for the Minnesota Thunder. In this role, he has placed particular emphasis on youth development, community relations, and the team's stadium search. Manny has also done some sporadic work in broadcasting, serving as a color commentator for XM Radio during the 2006 World Cup. On February 10, 2010, Lagos was appointed as the head coach of newly expansion NSC Minnesota Stars following the implosion of the Thunder. Lagos led the Stars to victory in the 2011 NASL Soccer Bowl, and to a runner up finish in the 2012 Soccer Bowl. After a disappointing 2013 season at the helm of the rebranded Minnesota United FC, Lagos led the Loons to the spring and regular season titles in 2014. He was named the NASL Coach of the Year in 2011 and in 2014, the only coach to have won the award twice. At the conclusion of the 2014 season and the firing of Tampa Bay Rowdies coach Ricky Hill, Lagos became the longest tenured coach in the NASL. In five seasons with Minnesota, Lagos has a coaching record of 54-47-38 (W-L-D). Upon the move of Minnesota United FC to MLS, he transitioned to a role as Sporting Director of the club.

He is the son of Buzz Lagos, an American soccer coach at both the college and professional levels, and the youngest of eight children.