Tab Ramos

Tab Ramos

File:Tab Ramos.jpg Tab Ramos
Personal information
Full name	Tabare Ramos
Height	5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Retired
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 7 december 2006

Tabare (Tab) Ramos (born September 21, 1966 in Montevideo, Uruguay) is a retired U.S. soccer midfielder, considered one of the most skillful players to ever wear the US jersey. Ramos was the first player to sign with Major League Soccer, where he played seven years with the MetroStars.

Early Life

Born in Uruguay, Ramos emigrated to the United States with his family when he was 11. His father played professional soccer in Uruguay and instilled a love for the game into Tab from an early age. While living in Uruguay, he played for the Union Vecinal youth club. When his family arrived in the U.S., they settled in New Jersey where Ramos attended Saint Benedict's Preparatory School, the same high school attended by Claudio Reyna a few years later. He also played for local youth club Thistle FC. In 1982, he became U.S. citizen. He was a two-time high school All-America and the 1983 Parade Magazine National High School Player of the Year. That year, he led St. Benedict's to the New Jersey State Championship. Ramos holds the New Jersey boy's soccer record of 161 goals, 57 of which he scored his senior year. Apart from playing soccer, Ramos also ran indoor track at St. Benedict's.

In 1984, the New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League drafted Ramos, but he chose to go to college when the NASL folded.

College

Ramos attended college at NC State where he played NCAA soccer for four years. He was All ACC his four years and a three time All American. In 1988, he left school briefly to play for the U.S. team at the 1988 Summer Olympics. However, he returned in 1989 to leave again when he signed with the United States men's national soccer team. He finally graduated in 2001 with a Bachelor of Arts in Foreign Language (Spanish) and Literature after taking years of correspondance courses.

Turning Pro

Ramos played with the New Jersey Eagles of the American Professional Soccer League in 1988. He then moved to the Miami Sharks for the 1989 season. He was selected as a league All Star that year.

In 1990, Ramos signed with a Spanish team Second Division club Figueres. In his first season with the team, he played 38 games, scoring 5 goals. His excellent play continued during his second year with the team, bringing considerable attention from several first division clubs. However, Ramos sabatoged this interest when he was ejected from a Nov 24, 1991 game with Rayo Vallecano for cursing at the referee. He was suspended for five games and interest in him dried up. On July 31, 1992, Figueres sold Ramos to fellow Second Division club Real Betis for $400,000.

In the 1993-1994 season, Real Betis won the Spanish Second and earned promotion to the First Division.

In 1994, Ramos was chosen as the CONCACAF Player of the Year.

Major League Soccer

On January 3, 1995 Ramos became the first player signed with Major League Soccer (MLS) which allocated to the future New York/New Jersey franchise, eventually known as the MetroStars. The league had intended to begin play in the fall of 1995, but difficulties forced it to delay its start for a year. Rather than letting players such as Ramos sit idle, the league loaned him and several others to foreign teams.

For Ramos, MLS sent him to Mexican First Division club Tigres for the 1996 season. He became the first American player to appear for the side and was a key part of its run to the 1996 Mexico Cup champsionship, one of two Mexico Cups won by Tigres.

Ramos returned to the United States for the inaugural MLS season in 1997 and would play seven season for the MetroStars, before retiring in 2002. He was the last original member of the team. Unfortunately, his flashes of brilliance were interrupted by long injury spells, as he never lived up to his potential in a Metro jersey. Tab totaled just eight goals and 36 assists in MLS play (ten goals and 39 assists in all competitions).

He was a league All Star in 1996, 1998 and 1999.

National Team

Ramos began his national team career playing at the U-20 level in 1982, just after gaining his U.S. citizenship. Ramos was 15 when he scored two goals in regional qualifying for the 1983 FIFA U-20 World Cup. However, the U.S. went 0-2-1 and failed to advance out of group play in the champsionship tournament.

In 1984, he was the last player cut from the U.S. 1984 Summer Olympics soccer team. He had just left high school, but was already known as an up and coming player. However, the International Olympic Committee had opened the Olympic soccer tournament to professionals for the 1984 games. The U.S., as the host nation,did not need to qualify, but had assembled a team of amateurs, mostly college players. When the IOC announced their decision, USSF dumped most of the team, except for Paul Caligiuri for professionals.

Ramos had further disappointment a year later when the U.S. failed to qualify for the 1985 FIFA U-20 World Cup, despite a 3-2-2 record in the qualifying tournament.

It would be another year before Ramos earned his first cap for the senior U.S. team. It came on January 10, 1988 against Guatemala. He soon became an integral part of national team in addition to playing on the U.S. team which went 1-1-1 at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul.

After playing for the US in the 1990 FIFA World Cup, he was named U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year in 1990.

Early in his national team career, the coaches had difficulty finding a role for Ramos. At the time Hugo Perez was the creative force on the team and for some reason he and Ramos never gelled as midfielders. It seemed that Ramos would disappear during games when Perez was also playing. It wasn't until Perez faded from the national team scene that Ramos became more of a force and his attacking creativity came to the forefront.

Among his career highlights were his two assists in the June 9, 1983 2-0 World Series of Soccer victory over England. Later that year, he also a member of the U.S. team which went 1-1-1 at the Copa America

In 1994, Tab once again played in the World Cup, but his tournament was ended prematurely after suffering a skull fracture caused by a vicious elbow to the head by Brazilian midfielder Leonardo. He went on to spend 3 and half months in hospital before finally returning to training, late in 1994.

Ramos saw more success in 1995 as a member of the U.S. team when it placed fourth at the Copa America.

On September 7, 1997, Ramos scored one of the most important goals in US history, against Costa Rica in a 1-0 World Cup qualifier win. In 1998, he played in his third World Cup. With coach Bruce Arena looking for veteran leadership for a must-win qualifier against Barbados, Ramos made his last appearance in a 4-0 US win on November 15, 2000. He would end up with 81 caps and eight goals in his career.

Ramos also played 8 games, scoring 3 goals, for the U.S. Futsal team which finished 3rd at the 1989 FIFA Futsal World Championship.

Ramos was elected to the National Soccer Hall of Fame on the first ballot, in 2005.

Personal

Tab is a life long supporter of Uruguayan-South American historical giants Club Nacional de Futbol He was offered to play there in the mid 90s but due to contractual problems he the pass was eventually dropped.