Carli Lloyd, Chris Armas, Nick Rimando and Mary Harvey were elected Tuesday to the U.S. National Soccer Hall of Fame along with former Major League Soccer executive Mark Abbott, and will be inducted on May 3.
Lloyd, who scored a hat trick that boosted the U.S. over Japan in the 2015 World Cup final, was on the ballot for the first time and received 47 of 48 votes for 97.9% from the player selection committee. The 42-year-old Lloyd scored 134 goals, third in U.S. women’s history behind Abby Wambach’s 184 and Mia Hamm’s 158, and made 316 appearances, second to Kristine Lilly’s 354. She won the World Cup in 2015 and 2019 and the Olympics in 2008 and 2012. Lloyd was voted best women’s player by FIFA in 2015 and 2016.
Rimando received 35 votes for 72.9% in his third appearance on the ballot, up from 47.9% last year and 60.3% two years ago. The 45-year-old made 22 international appearances, started at the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup and was a backup at the 2014 World Cup. He played 20 seasons in Major League Soccer with Miami, D.C. and Salt Lake, winning titles with D.C. in 2004 and Salt Lake in 2009, when he was selected MVP of the final.
Harvey got 23 of 24 votes for 95.8% from the veterans selection committee. The 59-year-old was a member of the first World Cup-winning U.S. team in 1991, won an Olympic gold medal in 1996 and made 27 international appearances.
Armas received 19 votes for 79.2%, even with Tony Sanneh and winning a tiebreaker based on preliminary ballot screening points. Last year, Armas tied Tisha Venturini-Hoch for the most votes and lost on a tiebreaker. The 52-year-old Armas was a defender who scored two goals in 66 international appearances. He missed the 2002 World Cup because he tore his right ACL in a pre-tournament friendly. Armas played for the LA Galaxy and Chicago from 1996-2007. He coached the New York Red Bulls and Toronto and currently coaches Colorado.
A person must appear on 50% or more of player ballots to be elected, and a third would have been voted in if receiving at least 75%.
Chris Wondolowski was third in the player vote (28, 58.3%) in his first ballot appearance, followed by Lori Chalupny and Amy Rodriguez (each 27, 56.3%), Cat Reddick Whitehill (26, 54.2%), Keith Johnson (23, 47.9%), Kyle Beckerman (22, 45.8%), Chris Ahrens (21, 43.8%), Dwayne DeRosario (19, 39.6%), Jermaine Jones (16, 33.3%), Oguchi Onyewu (14, 29.2%), Robbie Keane (13, 27.1%), Chad Marshall (8, 16.7%), Maurice Edu and Stephanie Lopez Cox (each 7, 14.6%), Carlos Ruiz and Shalrie Joseph (each 6, 12.5%) and Matt Besler and Yael Averbuch (each 3, 6.3%).
The person who leads the veterans ballot is elected if receiving at least 50% and a second would be elected if receiving 75%.
Tatu (15, 62.5%) was fourth in the veterans vote, followed by Clint Mathis (12, 50%), Kevin Crow (9, 37.5%), Aly Wagner (7, 29.2%), Francis Faberoff (4, 16.7%), Lorrie Fair (2, 8.3%) and Lori Henry (1, 4.2%). Armas won the tiebreaker with Sanneh by virtue of receiving more preliminary ballot screening points.
Abbott was hired as MLS’s first employee in 1993, became vice president for business affairs and was president and deputy commissioner from 2013-22. The 60-year-old received 19 of 24 votes on the builder ballot, which included coaches, referees and contributors for consideration. The top vote-getter is elected as long as picked on 50% of the ballots.
Clive Charles (16, 66.7%) was second, followed by Richard Groff (12, 50%), William Cox and Clark Hunt (each 10, 41.7%), Tim Leiweke (9, 37.5%), Kari Seitz (8, 33.3%), Lothar Osiander (7, 29.2%), Joe Cummings (6, 25%) and Burton Haimes (5, 20.8%).
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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