Soccer Hall of Famer visits Ramstein

***image1***Renowned National Soccer Hall of Fame Member Marcelo Balboa will visit Ramstein Saturday as part of his tour of U.S. Air Forces in Europe bases to promote the Extreme Summer ‘06 program.

Balboa, the Extreme Summer role model, will meet fans at 11 a.m. at Gear Up sports store. At 3 p.m. he’ll offer a mini-youth camp in upper Donnelly Park, open to all children. At 4:30 p.m. Balboa will be at the new Southside Fitness Center.

Balboa was the most consistent defender for the U.S. Men’s National Team throughout the 1990’s earning 128 caps and scored an astonishing 13 goals. Nicknamed the “Iron Man”, he won the U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year award twice during his 13-year national team career (1992, 1994).

He is one of the first three players in the history of the U.S. Men’s National Team to play in three consecutive World Cups (1990, 1994 and 1998). Balboa is a Major League Soccer founding player for the Colorado Rapids in 1996. He played six seasons with the Rapids and earned five consecutive all-star appearances between 1997 and 2001.

He became the first defender in the history of the MLS to score 20 goals and register 20 assists in a career. In 2000, he scored the MLS Goal of the Year, which was noted as Soccer America’s “Best Goal” in the first 10 years of the MLS. In 2002, he was traded to the MetroStars where he played five minutes before suffering a career-ending knee injury.

Balboa played six years in the American Professional Soccer League (APSL) with the San Francisco Blackhawks, San Diego Nomads and the Colorado Foxes. Balboa was also commentator for ESPN in this year’s World Cup.
(Courtesy of 435th Services)