Yesterday, the National Soccer Hall of Fame announced its induction classfor 2011. Cobi Jones, Eddie Pope, and Earnie Stewart have all been electedinto the Hall, in many ways putting the final touch on three excellentcareers. The National Soccer Hall of Fame is a place for the greatestplayers in American Soccer. In theory, the Hall should be a combination ofsignificant U.S. National Team Players and players who made significantcontributions to the development of club soccer in the UnitedStates. However, in this second area - club soccer in America - the Hall ofFame is very deficient.
Marco Etcheverry is arguably the greatest player in the history of MajorLeague Soccer, and yet somehow was once again not elected to the NationalSoccer Hall of Fame. Etcheverry was one of a handful of big-timeinternational stars to arrive in MLS at the start of the League, and eventhough he was not the biggest name at the time of Jorge Campos and CarlosValderrama, he quickly surpassed his famous counterparts through his successon the field with D.C. United. He was not only a pioneer of the League; hewas the iconic figure to establish the standard of excellence in AmericanSoccer. Clearly, by Etcheverry's exclusion, the voters do not see any placein the Hall of Fame for legendary contributors to MLS. If Etcheverry cannotenter the Hall of Fame based on his contribution to American professionalsoccer, then no one can.
If Major League Soccer is truly going to have a presence in the Americansports scene, individuals who promote and understand the game need toactually do their part to establish relevance for the League. The Hall ofFame is a major institution, and if significant players from MLS continue tobe ignored by the Hall, then the value of the League will continue to bebrought into question, which would be an absolute travesty for AmericanSoccer.
I am a part of the group of voters who selects the members of the Hall ofFame. I am shocked at how little value my colleagues place on Major LeagueSoccer. The U.S. National Team has made incredible strides in the past 15years, and Major League Soccer is a key reason, if not THE key reason forthe improvement. This point seems fairly obvious to many of those whoclosely study soccer in America, but somehow the majority of voters fail torealize it. Eddie Pope was a very good college defender in the NCAA, butthere is no way he could have developed in to the greatest defender in thehistory of the country without being a part of MLS. American Soccer owes ahuge debt of gratitude to the founding fathers of MLS, and those significantindividuals belong in the Hall of Fame – no one more so than MarcoEtcheverry.
RELATED:Former D.C. United stars Eddie Pope and Earnie Stewart named to U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame
