Voters Do The Right Thing: Elect Claudio Reyna & Tony Meola To U.S. Soccer Hall Of Fame

This afternoon, former U.S. men's national team captain Claudio Reyna and three-time World Cup goalkeeper Tony Meola were elected to the National Hall of Fame class of 2012 via the player ballot.

In addition, former men's player Desmond Armstrong (veteran's ballot) and legendary former women's national team head coach Tony DiCicco (builder ballot) were also part of the Class of 2012.

The ceremony will take place at a time and location to be announced this summer. Before or at halftime of the U.S. men vs. Scotland friendly in May in Landover, MD makes sense but stay tuned for those details.

From ussoccer.com
Reyna, who currently serves as U.S. Soccer’s Youth Technical Director, played for the U.S. National Team for 13 straight years from 1994-2006 and was a member of four FIFA World Cup teams. He earned 112 caps while scoring eight goals and recording 19 career assists. Reyna also had a 13-year career in Europe, playing for Premier League sides Manchester City and Sunderland and the Scottish Premier League’s Glasgow Rangers.

“It’s an incredible honor to be inducted into the Hall of Fame,” said Reyna. “Soccer has been my life from the moment I could walk. You don’t think or play for these type of recognitions but it is a tremendous honor and I want to thank my former teammates, former coaches and everybody else close to me, especially my family, who supported me – from those who drove me all over as a youth player to my wife and children who have been here my whole career. From a player’s standpoint, it kind of caps things off for me, so it’s definitely an honor and something that I’m proud of.”

Meola was a member of three U.S. World Cup squads, serving as the team’s No. 1 goalkeeper for the 1990 and 1994 FIFA World Cups and then as a reserve in 2002. In 12 years, between 1988 and 2006, Meola earned 100 caps and 32 shutouts (second all-time behind Kasey Keller), while recording 37 victories. Meola was one of the top goalkeepers in Major League Soccer, highlighted by his 2000 campaign with the Kansas City Wizards that included an MLS Cup, MLS MVP, MLS Goalkeeper of the Year and MLS Cup MVP accolades.

“It’s certainly the greatest honor you can have in your chosen profession, to be mentioned in the same breath as the great people that were before you and one day the great ones that will come after you,” Meola said. “I’m certainly humbled and I’m honored, and I’m thrilled to think that somebody actually thought I was worthy of it.”

Armstrong garnered 81 caps in 73 starts in his eight years with the National Team from 1987-1994. His 2,128 minutes in 1993 rank second all-time for one year behind only fellow 1993 defender Mike Lapper (2,205). He played in all three matches during the USA’s trip to the 1990 FIFA World Cup.

DiCicco set an unprecedented standard, posting a Women’s National Team-record 103 victories in 119 matches during his head coaching tenure from 1994-1999. DiCicco memorably led his squad to the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup championship against China on July 10 in front of a sellout crowd of 90,185 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif.

I won't complain since they still got an overwhelming majority of the vote but I have no clue how Reyna (96.08%) and Meola (90.20%) didn't get 100%. I realize that's impossible with human beings but nobody had more influence on U.S. men's soccer in the 1990s than these two and they deserved that further honor. Oh well.

2012 Player Ballot Results
Claudio Reyna 96.08 %
Tony Meola 90.20
Marco Etcheverry 58.82
Joe-Max Moore 57.84
Shannon MacMillan 49.02
Carlos Valderrama 43.14
Cindy Parlow 36.27
Peter Vermes 35.29
Chris Armas 34.31
Jason Kreis 30.39
* Only includes top 10 in votes received

2012 Veteran Ballot Results
Desmond Armstrong 53.66 %
Teofilo Cubillas 51.22
John Doyle 51.22
Glenn Myernick 48.78
Linda Hamilton 43.90
Shep Messing 39.02
Mike Sorber 39.02
George Best 31.71
Brian Quinn 26.83
Bill McPherson 14.63
Steve Trittschuh 14.63

2012 Builder Ballot Results
Tony DiCicco 61.22 %
Francisco Marcos 48.98
Chuck Blazer 44.90
Bob Bradley 40.82
Don Garber 40.82
Sigi Schmid 38.78
Fritz Marth 20.41
Dr. Robert Contiguglia 16.33

Congratulations to the Class of 2012!

Tweet


Follow @RichSlate

Claudio Reyna & Tony Meola Likely Headed To The Pretend U.S. Soccer Hall Of Fame

Take heart Claudio Reyna and Tony Meola, you are two of the 12 first-time eligible players for the U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame.

Sure, the facility in Oneonta, NY (truly a wondrous location) closed two years ago but what does that matter?

For real though, it's nice to see one of the greatest midfielders in U.S. men's history-Reyna-and the goalkeeper that was on the 1994 World Cup team get some much deserved praise. Reyna was the first American to really do anything in Europe for a club team while Meola helped some overachieving squads reach heights that they could have never imagined a few years earlier.

The U.S. Soccer Federation said Tuesday other newly eligible players are: Jose Burciaga Jr., Ronald Cerritos, Lorrie Fair, Jen Lalor-Nielsen, Ronnie O'Brien, Ante Razov, David Regis, Thori Staples Bryan, Greg Vanney and Kerry Zavagnin.

Holdovers on the 31-player ballot include Mike Burns, Peter Nowak, Carlos Valderrama and Peter Vermes, all in their final year of regular eligibility.

Players must appear on at least two-third of the regular ballots to gain election. Voters include Hall of Famers, administrators and media.

The veterans ballot includes George Best, Teofilo Cubillas, Shep Messing and Glenn Myernick. The top player on the veterans ballot needs 50 percent for election.

Don't feel bad, if you don't recognize most of those names because for the life of me, I don't know many of them either. Luckily, there's no information when this fake ceremony for the fake Hall of Fame is anyway so I guess we can all just guess when it is on our own and celebrate accordingly.

Tweet


Follow @RichSlate