Watching the United States national team play in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, it is easy to see the influence that the american college game has had on the US team.
Former collegiate standouts in the US team include Oguchi Onyewu (Clemson University), Steve Cherundolo (Portland University), Carlos Bocanegra (UCLA), Maurice Edu (University of Maryland) and Clint Dempsey and Ricardo Clark (Furman University).
A number of past winners of the Hermann trophy - college soccer's honor to the nation's top player - have represented the United States at the senior level, and now Kansas City Wizards' striker Teal Bunbury joins that list. The former Akron University standout and 2009 Hermann trophy winner has been called in to represent the US in their upcoming friendly in South Africa.
US Soccer Players writer Jason Davis looks at the impact of Hermann Trophy winners as members of the US National Team.
If Kansas City Wizards forward, University of Akron product, and 2009 Hermann Trophy winner Teal Bunbury plays in South Africa this week, he will become the latest in a long line of Hermann Trophy winners to represent the United States National Team. Since the creation of the award, annually given to the county’s best collegiate player, Hermann Trophy winners from five different decades have gone on to represent the United States as senior internationals. The pace has slowed in recent years, with Bunbury poised to end a six year drought in Cape Town.
The trophy’s history began in 1967, when National Professional Soccer League president Robert Hermann inaugurated the award to recognize the best college player in the country. The trophy’s second winner, 1968 recipient Manual Hernandez, went on to represent the United States twice, beginning a trend of winners appearing for the US National Team. 1969 and ‘70 winner Al Trost, a midfielder from St. Louis University and one of only three men to win the trophy in consecutive years, captained the United States throughout the 70’s. Dan Counce (1973), Steve Ralbovsky (1975), Glenn Myernick (1976) and Angelo DiBernardo (1978) all appeared for the United States.
Every Hermann Trophy winner from 1983 to 1994, starting with Duke defender Mike Jeffries through to Indiana University midfielder Brian Maisonneuve, became an US international at some point in their careers. Some winners, like Amr Aly (1984), Tom Kain (1985), and Ken Snow (1988, 1990) made a handful of appearances. Others became regular parts of the team during a period in which the US pushed to establish a regional and worldwide profile.
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