Tab Ramos, one of the USA's greatest players, played in three World Cups in the 1990s and starred in Spain, the Mexican league and MLS. Now president and coach of youth club New Jersey SA 04 and a member of the U.S. Soccer Federation's Technical Committee, Ramos comments with Mike Woitalla of Soccer America on the 2010 World Cup, the U.S. national team coaching situation, MLS, and more.
SA: The Mexican league is becoming a popular destination for American players for the first time since you, Marcelo Balboa, Mike Sorber and Dominic Kinnear played there in the mid-1990s before MLS launched. U.S. left back Jonathan Bornstein is moving to your old team, Tigres, and several Mexican-Americans are already there. What do you think of this trend?
TB: I think it’s great. I think the Mexican league is great for the American player. It may not be the Spanish La Liga, English Premier League, the Italian Serie A, Germany or France, but it’s up there. The level is very good. Mexico requires a different set of skills because holding on to the ball becomes a lot more important, because of the weather and the different places you play. You go from playing in the mountains one weekend to playing in the heat the next weekend. That takes its toll, so the ball becomes very important. You don’t want to lose it. We’ve always known Mexico is a great league and it was good to see another American player go there.
SA: You played in MLS from its inaugural 1996 season until 2002 for the MetroStars, which have since become the Red Bulls. What’s your opinion on the progress of that team and the league in general?
TR: I’m excited about Red Bull, that in our hometown not only do we have a good team, but good facilities. A company like Red Bull coming in and putting money into a stadium shows the local fans that it’s in it for the long term in this market. I think the league has done a good job to improve and get new teams. The league is doing terrific. It’s great.
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