Thomas Dooley and Preki Radosavljevic Elected into National Soccer Hall of Fame

Thomas Dooley’s leadership during a crucial growth period for the US can never be overstated

Last week, two of my all-time favorite US National Team players, Thomas Dooley and Preki Radosavljevic, were elected into the Nation Soccer Hall of Fame for the class of 2010. I often look at these two players, especially Dooley, as players who helped the US transition into the modern day model of international success for the US.

Thomas Dooley

Neither player was born in the US but instead came from Europe. They each had differing stories but both brought their European soccer experience to a US National Team that needed the stability of the weathered European player.

In the early 90′s the US National Team was just starting to have success on the international stage. The US had qualified for the World Cup in 1990 which was the first time in 40 years. While losing all three games they did manage to score 2 goals in the tournament. The team was still obscure but it was collecting a core of players that would eventually become the base of the 1994 US World Cup team. Tony Meola, John Harkes, Paul Galigiuri, Tab Ramos, Eric Wynalda, Marcelo Balboa, Brian Bliss and Peter Vermes were all players who would help see the US to a greater success and participate in the two more World Cups.

In preparation for hosting World Cup 94, a lot more publicity surrounded the US team. Some US Soccer games were finally being televised and the popularity of the team was slowly growing but would soon gain greater momentum. But the bulk of those US players were still lacking, not only in international seasoning, but simply a 1st division league in the US to play in.

Thomas Dooley was a veteran of the Bundesliga where he started his career with FC Homburg in 1984. Dooley’s father was from the US and his mother was from Germany, giving him dual citizenship. He joined the US National Team in 1992 but remained in the Bundesliga with FC Kaiserslautern where his team won the Bundesliga in 91 and the German Cup in 90.

While 1996 finally brought a pro league to the US in the form of Major League Soccer, Thomas Dooley was able to help the US National Team players the moment he stepped on the field in 92. The winning pedigree certainly helped Dooley to bring a new and different mentality to the young inexperienced US players. His impact on the National Team was felt immediately as he started his first game for the US, a 3-1 win against Ireland in Washington, D.C. on May 30, 1992.

Dooley won the U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year in 1993 for his 17 starts for the USMNT, scoring four goals with two assists. He scored three goals in the 1993 U.S. Cup, including a goal in the famous 2-0 win against England in Foxborough. He played 8 years for the US and was a key player in both the 94 and 98 World Cups, the latter in which he captained the team.

The midfielder/defender ended his career with 81 caps and seven goals. The importance of his leadership during a crucial growth period for the US can never be overstated. Dooley now lives in California where he has started several soccer programs and is still very involved with youth development of the game.

Major League Soccer talk recently interviewed Dooley. You can listen to that here.