Sports

New Jersey’s Reyna & Meola headline Hall of Fame class 

Former U.S. National Team captain Claudio Reyna and three-time World Cup keeper Tony Meola _ both New Jersey natives and ex-MetroStars/Red Bulls _ have been elected to the National Soccer Hall of Fame Class of 2012 in their first year of eligibility.

“It’s an incredible honor to be inducted into the Hall of Fame,’’ said Reyna, who had 112 caps in a 13-year national team career and is now U.S. Soccer’s Youth Technical Director. “Soccer has been my life from the moment I could walk. You don’t think or play for these types of recognitions, but it is a tremendous honor.

“I want to thank my former teammates, former coaches and everybody else close to me, especially my family, who supported me – from those who drove me all over as a youth player to my wife and children who have been here my whole career. From a player’s standpoint, it kind of caps things off for me, so it’s definitely an honor and something that I’m proud of.”

Reyna and Meola both went in on the Player ballot, with Desmond Armstrong going in on the Veteran ballot and Tony DiCicco on the Builder ballot. Reyna was named on 96 percent of the ballots, Meola 90 percent. The former retired with the Red Bulls in 2008 after making his name in the Bundesliga, Premier League and Scottish Premier League; Meola was an original MetroStar in 1996 before making a return in 2005.

“It’s certainly the greatest honor you can have in your chosen profession, to be mentioned in the same breath as the great people that were before you and one day the great ones that will come after you,” said Meola, an original MetroStar. “I’m certainly humbled and I’m honored, and I’m thrilled to think that somebody actually thought I was worthy of it.”

Meola was a member of three U.S. World Cup squads, starting in 1990 and 1994. He had 100 caps and 32 clean-sheets _ still No. 2 all-time _ in a dozen-year span from 1988 and 2006.

“I was fortunate to have played 100 games with the National Team. I could write a book just on my experiences there,’’ said Meola. “I didn’t realize until later on in my career what those early days meant for the sport of soccer, how important they were in our development, how important they were in generating interest in the U.S. National Team and in soccer, and in general in this country.

“But when you’re playing, that’s not something you’re thinking about. You don’t think about being in this position 20 years down the road. You’re just thinking about playing and being the best you could be and helping your team, and that’s the way I looked at it. This is a reward, I suppose, for doing that in a way people thought was the way it should be done.”