MLS commissioner Don Garber and current New England Revolution head coach Brad Friedel will be inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame as part of the class of 2018.
Garber and Friedel are joined by Tiffeny Milbrett, Cindy Parlow-Cone, and Dr. Bob Contiguglia in the group of five honorees.
Garber has been commissioner of MLS since 1999, and he’s overseen the growth of the league to 26 teams, a number that grew on Tuesday with the addition of FC Cincinnati for the 2019 season.
Friedel made 82 appearances in goal for the U.S. Men’s National Team and spent most of his club career in England with Liverpool, Blackburn Rovers, Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur.
Milbrett featured in 206 international contests for the U.S. Women’s National Team from 1991 to 2006. The Portland native scored 100 goals for the USWNT and won the Olympic gold medal in 1996 as well as the 1999 Women’s World Cup on home soil.
Parlow-Cone was also a member of the USWNT’s 1999 Women’s World Cup squad, and she made a total of 158 appearances, scoring 75 goals in her international career.
Contiguglia was president of U.S. Soccer from 1998 to 2006. During his time as president, the USMNT qualified for three World Cups, while the USWNT won the 1999 Women’s World Cup at home.
Garber before Dolo? unreal.
friedel: this corrects the GLARING OMISSION of not having inducted him into the hall of fame earlier.
garber: uh i thought he was a little insensitive to the players when they asked for livable wages and free agency and stuff. (i realize he works for the owners not the players but come on. is his heart made of stone?) and this columbus thing is not being handled well either. but nobody’s perfect. and he’s been an awesome commissioner other than that for what two decades?
mls rose like a phoenix from the ashes of the old nasl under the leadership of his steady hand at the wheel. Okay, i agree. let’s put garber in the hall of fame. he certainly deserves it.
Let Garber retire before we put him in the Hall of Fame. Recognize what he did for the MLS then.
I think there is a quote from the Wolf (played by Harvey Keitel) to Travolta and Samuel Jackson in the movie Pulp Fiction that applies here.