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National Soccer Hall of Fame announces 24 finalists on 2010 Ballot

Earnie Stewart (ISIphotos.com) 

……………………..Photo by ISIphotos.com

The National Soccer Hall of Fame released its final ballot for the Class of 2010 and the 24 former soccer players chosen represent a vast array of teams and eras.

Former U.S. national team standouts Earnie Stewart, Peter Vermes and Thomas Dooley, Women's national team stars Cindy Parlow and Shannon McMillan, as well as foreign-born MLS pioneers Marco Etcheverry, Peter Nowak and Carlos Valderrama are just some of the candidates on the ballot. And yes, SBI Mafia favorite John O'Brien is also on the ballot.

Voters will be able to select up to 10 candidates for entry, with all candidates that appear on 66.7 percent of ballots being inducted.

Here is the full list of candidates:

Mike Burns, Mauricio Cienfuegos, Raul Diaz Arce, Thomas Dooley, John Doyle, Marco Etcheverry, Robin Fraser, Chris Henderson, Eduardo Hurtado, Dominic Kinnear, Roy Lassiter, Shannon MacMillan, Joe-Max Moore, Victor Nogueira, Peter Nowak, John O’Brien, Cindy Parlow, Preki Radosavljevic, Mike Sorber, Earnie Stewart, Steve Trittschuh,Carlos Valderrama, Tisha Venturini-Hoch, Peter Vermes.

I will put up a post with a poll for SBI readers to vote on who they think should make the 2010 Hall of Fame class, but for now, what do you think of this group? Who would make your ballot? If you could only select one person for your ballot, who would get your vote?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. I am a HUGE Milwaukee Wave fan as well as a Chicago Fire fan. I would agree with Peter Nowak he was a great assets to the Fire. That is why Peter Nowak was inducted into the “Ring of Fire” aka the retired jerseys.

    Victor Nogueria was a legend in indoor soccer he was especially great in the 80’s with the San Diego Shockers and especially with the Milwaukee Wave in the 80’s and 90’s. he was the backbone of the team that led them to 4 championships in 1998, 2000, 2001 and 2005.

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  2. Peter Nowak – The greatest player in MLS history.

    Victor Nogueira – One of the best and longest player keepers in American soccer.

    Preki – Another great warhorse.

    It would be a travesty if they are not elected.

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  3. for the Men I’d say:

    1. Marco Etcheverry – DC’s my team in MLS

    2. Ernie Stewart – Wonderful contributor in 3 WCs

    3. Joe Max Moore – Great for Club & Country

    4. Preki – Grittiness and MLS play

    5. Thomas Dooley – Started the changeover of the USNT

    for the Women:

    1. MacMillan

    2) Parlow

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  4. man – hard to believe no one’s voting for Roy Lassiter. He didn’t rewrite the scoring records in MLS, b/c they didn’t exist when he was doing the writing, but he’s got several of the most impressive goal-scoring strike rates in MLS history.

    In ’96, Lassiter scored 27 goals. We talk about Cunningham’s torrid rate this year, but only had 17 goals.

    Despite only parts of 6 years in MLS, he still managed 88 goals – the record until Jason Kries topped it a few years ago.

    He also played in Italy and Costa Rica. Just because he wasn’t a huge performer for the USMNT (4 goals, about 30 games) doesn’t mean he’s not worthy of HoF consideration. He might not make it, but he deserves to be in the conversation.

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  5. Roy “the Rocket” Lassiter and John “the Juggler” Harkes. What were all of the other stupid made-up nicknames from that first tv campaign?

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  6. Thomas Dooley – he captained our US Team and had a great club career in Germany.
    Ernie Stewart – was one of the US best players every time he put the shirt on, plied his trade abroad and was a big gamer.
    Dominic Kinnear – as a player he has won it all. He’s a great person, not some cocky guy that won’t sit and have beer with you. He won the US Open Cup with the Greek Americans went everyone was allowed to participate in the Cup. Was the first American to win a Mexican National Championship with Nexaca. Has coached the Dynamos to the championship. And seriously if Bradley wasn’t the coach, he would be next in line for the job. I know I’ve said a lot about Dominic but so many don’t know the accomplishments he’s had.
    Marco Etcheverry – The King of DC United should I say more, he put MLS on the map.
    Peter Vermes – Americas 1st Captain, he was the first US guy we all wanted to follow.

    For the women, Shannon Macmillan.

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  7. Never realized how much Diaz Arce bounced around MLS. But his strike rate is pretty impressive. Yeah, OK, include Preki.

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  8. Yeah, OK. Forget John Doyle. I guess Moore gets a nod. When you look at teh stats, you’re right. I watched him for years and just never thought of him as HOF worthy.

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  9. Its been forgotten how good Preki was when he was on the NT because his career was so short. He scored some memorable goals too.

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  10. I would absolutely pick Thomas Dooley. In my opinion the level of play for our national team improved dramatcially when he started playing for us. i loved watching him play

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  11. If O’Brien gets in, Ives should be there for the ceremony. SBI has done more to keep the O’Brien legend alive than any other web-site.

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  12. I’m glad a few here are standing up for Joe-Max. The guy played with heart that we don’t see many current guys playing with. He ran until he dropped. He was versatile. And the stats mentioned show he was also a skilled player.

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  13. I would like to cast my vote to the entire community of ex-Tampa Bay Mutiny players in there..Lassiter, Trittschuch, Valderamma, Diaz Arce, and Dominic Kinnear!

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