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National Soccer Hall of Fame reveals 2013 candidate class

Photo by ISIphotos.com

By FRANCO PANIZO

Taylor Twellman, Jason Kreis, Ben Olsen, and Chris Armas are among the 22 candidates for the 2013 National Soccer Hall of Fame.

U.S. Soccer released the 2013 player ballot on Friday afternoon for this year’s Hall of Fame class, and it also includes Robin Fraser, Tony Sanneh, John O’Brien and Joe-Max Moore. Voting has begun immediately and will run  through Feb. 22. The results are expected to be announced shortly after.

Some of the former players in their first year of eligibility include Olsen, Twellman and two-time MLS champion Wade Barrett. Mauricio Cienfuegos, Roy Lassiter and Tisha Venturini-Hoch, meanwhile, are in their last year of eligibility.

“We are excited to begin the process of selecting the National Soccer Hall of Fame Class of 2013 later this year,” Hank Steinbrecher, Chairman of the Hall of Fame’s Board of Directors, said in a statement released by U.S. Soccer. “The Hall of Fame is the most prestigious honor among the Player, Veteran and Builder candidates who dedicated themselves to the sport. As usual there is a great mix of returning candidates and new names who are worthy of this award.”

To be eligible for election as a player, an individual must be retired for at least three years but no more than 10. They must also have played in either 20 international games for the U.S., or in at least five seasons in an American first division league and named to a postseason All-League or All-Star squad at least once.

Here is the complete 2013 class of candidates for the National Soccer Hall of Fame:

2013 National Soccer Hall of Fame Player Ballot

Chris Armas

Wade Barrett*

Mauricio Cienfuegos^

Raul Diaz Arce

Marco Etcheverry

Lorrie Fair

Robin Fraser

Chris Henderson

Angela Hucles*

Jason Kreis

Roy Lassiter^

Shannon MacMillan

Joe-Max Moore

Victor Nogueira

John O’Brien

Ben Olsen*

Cindy Parlow

Ante Razov

Tiffany Roberts

Tony Sanneh*

Taylor Twellman*

Tisha Venturini-Hoch^

*First year of eligibility ^Final year of eligibility; moves to Veteran ballot in 2014

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What do you think of this class? Who do you think will be inducted? Who would you vote for?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Victor Nogiera was one of the great goalkeepers I had the pleasure of rooting for in his days as a member of the Chicago Sting in the NASL (winning keeper of the last NASL championship game), MISL (1989 keeper of the year) and indoor NASL. He started his career with Atlanta and also played for Montreal before playing in Chicago. I think he just retired a few years ago.Seriously.

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  2. Mauricio Cienfuegos was an absolute magician on the ball, and had a work rate nothing short of superhuman. Together with Cobi Jones, he was the heart and soul of the LA Galaxy.

    He was a huge draw and a source of enormous pride for thousand and thousands of Angelenos of Salvadoran descent, a large and important segment of the LA population. A founding member of MLS, he was instrumental in the success of the nascent league and franchise. Additionally, he has always been a phenomenal ambassador for MLS: soft-spoken, intelligent, humble, despite his star status.

    CIENFUEGOS INTO THE US SOCCER HALL OF FAME!!!!!!!!!

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  3. Nobody jumps out at me as a shoo-in. I feel bad about O’Brien’s career ending prematurely due to injury. If he hadn’t been injured he’d have been a lock. Etcheverry’s & Cien’s contributions to MLS were enormous, and I wonder if they’re enough to get them in. Lassiter had that one great season, and several other decent seasons, but his overall body of work is patchy, and he never did cut it internationally. Twellman had a consistently good body of work in MLS, but his failure to make it internationally detracts from his candidacy.

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  4. Twellman had a good MLS career but never cut it on the international level. That makes him less than first ballot hall of fame.

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  5. If anyone deserves to get in their first year of eligibility it is Twellman. I dont believe anyone who has been in MLS is close to him in terms of goal scoring rate

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  6. I am originally from Oneonta, have kind of lost track of the Soccer hall of fame since it shut it’s doors several years back – anyone know where it is now?

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    • Unfortunately, I think it’s packed away for now, waiting for the day when someone throws down enough money to have another one. I really feel this is a critical time for US soccer. All the classic early 1900s stuff is disappearing and without a body of people buying it up before it gets tossed in the trash, we could lose a big chunk of our history.

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  7. Agree re Cienfuegos. I’d add Armas, too. Extremely solid pro career and many Nats games. Missed two World Cups through knee injuries.

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  8. Cienfuegos HAS to be on there….and how tha hell did he get to his last year of eligibility and Etcheverry is not on his last year? I am sure Cienfuegos played until the HDC was opened in 03 and I think he played the year after in 04…

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    • I had the opposite feeling. Maybe I’m a stickler, but no one on this list really stands out to me for the Hall of Fame. I guess I come from the Hall of Fame should be a place for greats. Maybe Joe-Max Moore (was he ever truly great?), maybe Tony Sanneh (ditto), maybe Etcheverry (the best player on this list, but did he contribute enough in the US?), but most others really only stood out in MLS play and could never crack it with the national team or they got injured (O’Brien).

      Now if it were an MLS Hall of Fame, it might be a different story for Lassiter, Cienfuegos, Etch, Twellman, Kreis, but it isn’t.

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    • Joe-Max! Yes!

      Damn I go back. You know you’re an OG if you’ve seen Cienfuegos, Díaz Arce, Etcheverry, Lassiter, and Joe-Max play.

      …and if you know who Chris Henderson is.

      Crazy. I’m getting old.

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    • +1 and Joe Max Moore. a lot of good careers here but to be Hall of Fame worthy you got to be above and beyond the rest for your entire career or do something memorable like set MLS statistical records or USNT world cup achievements.

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    • +1 and Joe Max Moore. a lot of good careers here but to be Hall of Fame worthy you got to be above and beyond the rest for your entire career or do something memorable like set MLS statistical records or USNT world cup achievements.

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      • Also the Origional MLS mainstays from ’96 should be judged a little different from more contemporary players

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