Hall of Fame Class Is Led by Caligiuri
Calling it the “pinnacle” of his career, a beaming Paul Caligiuri was one of three players elected to the National Soccer Hall of Fame, it was announced on Wednesday at the Home Depot Center.
Eric Wynalda and Michelle Akers were the other players selected for induction, which will take place in October at Oneonta, N.Y.
“It’s a title I never expected,” said Caligiuri, a defender who starred in college at UCLA, for the U.S. national team and the Galaxy and is now coach for the men’s and women’s teams at Cal Poly Pomona.
“You don’t play for that as a kid. This is our dream and passion, just to play the sport ... but as a kid I had the dream to be ‘Pro-Paul,’ I never ran around saying I wanted to be ‘Hall-of-Fame-Paul.’ It’s just amazing to see how it’s come about.”
A new voting process for Hall of Fame inclusion was instituted this year, one in which the Hall selected media voters to receive ballots and included voting rights for first-division coaches with at least four years’ tenure, current and former U.S. national team coaches and national soccer executives.
With 38 players on the ballot, the two players with the most votes would be elected, so long as each received more than 50% of votes cast, and a third player could be elected so long as he received at least 80% of the votes (73 ballots were returned this year). Akers (70 votes, 95.9%), Wynalda (68, 93.2%) and Caligiuri (65, 89%) formed the Hall’s class of 2004, which will join the 109 players already enshrined.
“I want to thank the Hall of Fame for recognizing and keeping track of our history,” Akers, a forward who was named FIFA’s player of the century for women in 2000, said. “It’s really an honor for me to be included with some of those people. You play your whole career and ... my mind was always on getting better.”
Akers, who scored the first goal in U.S. women’s team history and played with chronic fatigue syndrome, will be the fourth female player to be inducted, joining April Heinrichs, Carin Jennings-Gabarra and Shannon Higgins-Cirovski.
Wynalda, meanwhile, joined Caligiuri as the first former Major League Soccer players to become Hall of Famers. The two also were roommates with the U.S. national team.
“It’s something as players, you kind of give everything you’ve got and you hope that it’s enough,” said Wynalda, a forward whose run with the U.S. national team ended in 1998 with him as its all-time leading scorer with 34 goals. “And when a day comes like this, when you’re elected to the Hall of Fame, it kind of verifies it, kind of validates it and makes it feel like you’ve represented your country
Wynalda also was the first American to play in the German Bundesliga.
“It is an incredible honor but it’s also a little bit bittersweet for me knowing that I am 34 years old and still can play this game but injuries prevented me from continuing,” he said. “That’s the sad part.”
Caligiuri, a Walnut High graduate, is best known for his “shot heard ‘round the world,” his dipping 35-yard volley that defeated host Trinidad and Tobago in 1989 and gave the U.S. its first World Cup appearance in 40 years.
“My commitment to the game is far from over, but in reflecting,” he said, “there are some special things I think about.”
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Quick Passes
AS Monaco came from two goals down to salvage a 2-2 draw with Chelsea on Wednesday and advance to the UEFA Champions League final against FC Porto in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. Hugo Ibarra’s stoppage-time goal broke Chelsea’s spirit and Fernando Morientes’ second-half score secured Monaco’s spot. Monaco won the series, 5-3, on aggregate.... Defender Franky Oviedo scored an own goal in the 83rd minute as Sao Caetano of Brazil came back to beat America of Mexico, 2-1, in the second round of the Copa Libertadores at Sao Paulo, Brazil. America took a 1-0 lead in the 22nd minute on a goal by Ariel Gonzalez. The teams play the second leg May 11.
