The National Soccer Hall of Fame Class of 2023 welcomed its newest members during a ceremony held on May 6th and boy it was loaded with legends. It was a star-stacked class featuring some of the top and greatest United States Soccer names of all-time and was headlined by United States National Team legends Hope Solo, Landon Donovan, and Jill Ellis. It also included journalist Grant Wahl who was posthumously awarded the 2023 Colin Jose Media Award, and U.S. Soccer players Lauren Holiday and Damarcus Beasley.
Hope Solo is arguably the best goalkeeper in the history of United States Women’s Soccer and her induction into the National Soccer Hall of Fame is well deserved. Solo made her national team debut in 2000 and was a mainstay for the U.S. through 2016. During that time, she helped the U.S. claim Gold at the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics, win a World Cup title in 2015, and appeared in a record 202 games. Solo also holds records for most starts (190), wins (153), shutouts (102), consecutive minutes played (1,256), and an undefeated streak of 55 games. Ordinarily, this type of resume that will probably go unmatched for quite a while would make Solo’s hall of fame candidacy a slam dunk case, but a series of off-field controversies and unforced errors caused Hope Solo to miss out on the Hall of Fame in 2020, her first year of eligibility. She missed again in 2021 before finally getting elected to the hall in 2022. Solo asked for and was granted deference of induction until 2023 while she went through rehab for alcohol addiction. Hope Solo’s legacy will forever be complicated. Her on-field success will be celebrated forever, but it will be contrasted by some of the poor off-field decisions she has made throughout her career. However, I firmly believe that history will be much kinder to Solo than some of the modern day contemporaries and news pundits.
After David Beckham, the next most recognizable name in United States Men’s Soccer is Landon Donovan. He played for the United States Men’s Soccer team from 2000 to 2014. During that stretch, he played in 157 games and scored 57 goals for the national team. He also helped the United States win the CONCACAF Gold Cup in 2002, 2005, 2007, and 2013. Donovan won 6 MLS Cup titles in his career playing for both the San Jose Earthquakes and the LA Galaxy. Putting Donovan in the National Soccer Hall of Fame was a no-brainer.
Jill Ellis is the former head coach of the United States Women’s Soccer Team. She was hired in 2014 and was responsible for the reinventing of the U.S. Women’s Soccer Team. Under Ellis’ watch, the United States won the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup title. It was the first such title for the U.S. women’s squad since 1999 and the third overall title for U.S. Women’s soccer who had won the inaugural Women’s World Cup in 1991. The United States repeated as World Cup Champions in 2019. It was the country’s 4th World Cup title. It was only the second time in Women’s World Cup history that a country won back-to-back titles after Germany won the 2003 and 2007 titles. Ellis coached in 132 games and won 106 games. She retired in October 2019, just a few months after the United States’ World Cup triumph.
Other notable names from the National Soccer Hall of Fame Class of 2023 include:
- Lauren Holiday
- Holiday played for the U.S. Women’s Soccer Team from 2007 to 2015. She helped the U.S. win Gold at the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics. She was on the United States team that won the World Cup in 2015.
- Lauren Holiday is married to NBA player Jrue Holiday.
- Damarcus Beasley
- Beasley played for the U.S. Men’s Soccer Team from 2001 to 2017. He helped the U.S. win CONCACAF Gold Cup titles in 2002, 2005, 2007, 2013, and 2017.
- He played in 126 games and scored 17 goals during his time with the U.S. Men’s Soccer Team.
- Grant Wahl
- Grant Wahl was a longtime soccer journalist and analyst for various news publications and networks including Sports Illustrated and Fox. His last assignment was covering the 2022 FIFA Men’s World Cup in December.
- Wahl died from an aneurysm while covering the World Cup in Qatar. Though many fans and news pundits have claimed that foul play was involved as his death came shortly after he criticized the Qatari government for its human rights abuses against LGBT individuals and the poor treatment of migrant workers who helped build the infrastructure needed to make sure the country was able to host the event. both the Qatari government and the medical examiner onsite have rejected the theory of foul play.
- The National Soccer Hall of Fame posthumously honored Wahl by awarding him the Colin Jose Media Award.
jakethesportsguy 