Ex-USMNT player Eric Wynalda opens up on his wife's affair with teammate John Harkes - and why he demanded he be kept on the team

Eric Wynalda has lifted the lid on his ex-USA teammate John Harkes' affair with his then-wife, Amy, saying that it 'wasn't as painful' as people may have thought and even explaining how he lobbied for the midfielder to remain on the team.

Harkes, the former US men's national team captain, was left off the roster for the 1998 World Cup following the improper relationship, which was confirmed by the team's former coach, Steve Sampson, years later in 2010 (Harkes has denied the affair).

And speaking on CBS Sports' Kickin' It podcast, Wynalda opened up on the unfortunate situation - and why he believes it happened.

'We would go on trips with the national team and our wives would be there,' he told host Kate Abdo. '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,' he continued. '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.'

While Harkes was mysteriously left off the 1998 roster after participating in the 1990 and 1994 World Cups (Sampson did not publicly share the reasoning at the time), Wynalda incredibly lobbied for Harkes to remain on the team.

He recalled saying to the coach, 'I know what happened, he needs to be on the team,' he said on Kickin' It.

'It wasn't as painful as people... in the moment I was not willing to put my personal problem in front of the team,' he added at a different point.

Wynalda added that the improper relationship between Harkes and his wife happened 'a couple of times,' and that USA teammate Joe Max-Moore was the one to inform him on one occasion.

Asked whether he believed what he was told to be true, he said, '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.'

Harkes and Wynalda would play together just one more time following 1998 - in a 2000 friendly at Chile - with the former remaining with his wife to this day despite his alleged infidelity.

Wynalda and his now ex-wife, Amy, split in 2003, and he re-married with Amanda Fletcher 11 years later. 

In a 2010 interview with the AP,  Harkes said, 'I am not going to rehash the things that have happened in the past. 1998 was devastating to me and my family. It was hard enough not to play in the World Cup, but it was even difficult to go through that time period, the most difficult time period of my life.'

Of his former teammate, Wynalda told CBS Sports, 'He's no longer that person, which is actually good.'