Shep Norman Messing (born October 9, 1949) is a retired American soccer goalkeeper and current broadcaster who works as a studio analyst for the MLS Season Pass team.

[1][2] His mother, the daughter of a Russian furniture maker and his Latvian wife, taught physical education at Nassau Community College, his father was a lawyer who worked in Manhattan, and his paternal grandfather was from Riga, Latvia.

"[2] After the Olympics, Messing received offers from teams in Mexico and Germany, but was invited to play for the New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League (NASL), where his teammates would eventually include Pelé, Franz Beckenbauer and Giorgio Chinaglia.

Messing attracted attention by posing in the nude for a photo spread in the December 1974 issue of Viva magazine, for which he was paid $5,000 ($31,000 in current dollar terms).

When the Major Indoor Soccer League began its first season in 1978–1979, the New York Arrows were essentially the Rochester Lancers in different uniforms.

[7] After his retirement, Messing was briefly part-owner of the ill-fated New York Express, which played the first half of the 1986-1987 MISL season before folding.

He has also been the main analyst for the MetroStars and the re-branded New York Red Bulls of Major League Soccer, working both on radio and television since 2001.

Despite his role as a broadcaster/analyst for MLS and other soccer matches, he was the player agent for U.S. under-20 and former D.C. United midfielder Danny Szetela through Global Sports Group.

Messing has been the color analyst for Madison Square Garden for twelve years broadcasting the New York Red Bulls games in Major League Soccer.

[11] Messing wrote an autobiography entitled The Education of an American Soccer Player[12] which was published in hardcover in 1978 by Dodd, Mead and in paperback in 1979 by Bantam Books.