Steve Zungul is the greatest indoor soccer player of all time.
Steve Zungul is not in the US National Soccer Hall of Fame.
How is this possible?
The US Hall recognizes the achievements of non-American players who had great careers that made an impact on US Soccer. Unfortunately for Zungul, and other outstanding indoor players like Tatu, they committed the sin of playing a version of the game that is not viewed as "correct" (they are the soccer equivalent to the Designated Hitters like Edgar Martinez) and they had the audacity to play in and thrive during the Indoor Soccer Era.
The Indoor Soccer Era is the US Soccer era functionally between the NASL and MLS eras and overlaps with the Return to the World Cup Era of 89-94 ... the time when outdoor soccer was a business dead end and indoor soccer would cram thousands into the seats.
Indoor soccer was what financially allowed a generation of American players to continue to play. It is the Red Headed Stepchild of US Soccer. In an era where teams are building stadiums and soccer is everywhere on cable it is easy to forget that teams like the Tacoma Stars drew huge crowds to the Tacoma Dome. When Zungul arrived in Tacoma I made a point of getting a ticket to that first game.
Steve Zungul scored goals at an alarming clip in the MISL. Due to Cold War era politics he was not allowed to play outdoors until the final season of the NASL; a season in which he showed his indoor scoring prowess was no fluke. Eventually Tatu passed his indoor scoring record. Oddly enough I was in attendance in Dallas the night Tatu broke that record at Reunion Arena in 1996.
Prior to coming to the MISL Zungul had a solid career at both the club and country level in Europe.
The indoor era is glossed over and dismissed today. Yes, the indoor game is different. Even FIFA eventually went with the Futsal variation for international play. But, where would American Soccer be without it? How would those players have stayed in the game? There needs to be a re-evaluation of the HOF process to bring in a few more of those players; players whose careers shined indoors. When indoor was really all we had, soccer fans went to the games.
Zungul, Tatu, and others deserve to be in the US National Soccer Hall of Fame. Their omissions clearly are prejudice against the indoor game and era.
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