ON THE BALLOT Ex-Galaxy stars, Preki among 24 eligible for Hall of Fame
ONEONTA, NY---Three former members of the Los Angeles Galaxy, Mauricio Cienfuegos, Robin Fraser and Eduardo Hurtado, along with Chivas USA head coach Preki Radosavljevic are among the 24 finalists for the National Soccer Hall of Fame on the ballot revealed Monday.
Cienfuegos, renowned for his playmaking skills, also was a star of the Salvadoran national team throughout the 1990s, and first came to the attention of American soccer officials through his play in World Cup qualifying games against the United States. He played for the Galaxy in the first eight seasons of MLS and won three major titles with them, the U.S. Open Cup in 2001, the CONCACAF Champions Cup in 2001 and the MLS championship in 2002. In addition, he played for Los Angeles in three other MLS finals, in 1996, 1999 and 2001, and scored one of the Galaxy's goals against D.C. United in the first MLS final.
Cienfuegos was chosen as an MLS all-star three times, in 1996, 1998 and 1999. He played in 206 MLS regular season games and 35 MLS playoff games.
Fraser played in MLS from 1996 to 2005, for Los Angeles, Colorado and Columbus, including Los Angeles’ MLS runnerup teams in 1996 and 1999. He was named to the MLS Best XI in 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2004 and was the MLS defender of the year twice, in 1999 and 2004. During his MLS career, he played 260 regular-season games and 30 playoff games.
Fraser played 26 full internationals for the United States, the first against Chile in June 1988 and the last against Ecuador in June 2001, including one World Cup qualifying game in 2000. He was a member of the U.S. team at the 1999 Confederations Cup. In addition to his MLS seasons, he also played five seasons in the American Professional Soccer League and A-League.
Hurtado played five seasons in MLS between 1996 and 2000 for Los Angeles, MetroStars and New England, and was chosen as an MLS all-star in 1996. He was a runnerup for the MLS title that year with Los Angeles, and scored the opening goal of the first MLS championship game.
After leaving MLS, he played in the first divisions in Scotland, Argentina, Chile and Ecuador before retiring, and briefly returned to the United States to play in the Major Indoor Soccer League in 2004. He played 108 MLS regular-season games and nine MLS playoff games.
Radosavljevic, whose real first name was Predrag, played 10 seasons in MLS, between 1996 and 2005, for Kansas City and Miami. He won an MLS championship with Kansas City in 2000 and was named an MLS all-star four times, in 1996, 1997, 2001 and 2003. He was the first player to win the MLS most valuable player award twice, in 1997 and 2003, seasons in which he also won the MLS scoring title.
Radosavljevic, who broke into the U.S. national team after becoming an American citizen in 1996, played 28 full internationals for the United States, the first against Guatemala in November 1996 and the last against Costa Rica in September 2001. Those included 10 World Cup qualifiers in 1996, 1997 and 2001, and two games at the 1998 World Cup. Radosavljevic, who was famed for his deadly left foot, used that foot to score one of the most famous goals in national team history, the only goal of a landmark win over Brazil in 1998.
In additional to his years in MLS, he played three seasons in English professional leagues, two in the Yugoslavian first division, one in the Portuguese first division, seven in the Major Indoor Soccer League and two in the Continental Indoor Soccer League. He won MVP awards in both indoor leagues, in the MISL in 1989 and the CISL in 1995. He played 242 MLS regular-season games and 26 MLS playoff games.
Appearing on the ballot for the first time are Chris Henderson, Eduardo Hurtado, and John O’Brien.
Those in the final year of eligibility on the player ballot are Thomas Dooley, John Doyle, Dominic Kinnear and Mike Sorber. If not elected, these players will be on the veteran player preliminary ballot in 2011.
Members of the media, Hall of Famers, past and present U.S. Men’s and Women’s National Team coaches, MLS and WPS coaches of four or more years tenure, and a select group of soccer administrators are eligible to vote. They have until Nov. 19 to cast their ballot. The results will be announced early next year.
In alphabetical order, the players on the ballot:
* 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
