Hugo was 26, thats not old at all. They did have older players, so it was something different than his age why he was left out, perhaps, a Capello-Beckam case where the coach didnt want big egos on the field?
Hugo broke his leg 3 months before the World Cup. He argued that he was healed and fit to play. Gansler (the U.S. coach) didn't agree. Just read through this thread. It's all explained.
He's an inspiration and it's just a shame that he wasn't able to play in the 1990 World Cup or sign with Ajax. He's kind of like an American Magico Gonzalez to me; a legendary player that could've been even better but unfortunately had some setbacks thy prevented them from doing so. That's not to trivialise Perez and Magico whatsoever! Hopefully his 16 year old nephew Joshua Perez, who's currently at Fiorentina, will be an even better player and achieve everything that Hugo didn't get a chance to achieve; he's lucky to have an uncle like Hugo to guide him. Godspeed, Joshua!
Repped belatedly. I think Gansler didn't want anyone who would question him on anything. Wonder what Bora would've done if he hadn't been coaching the Ticos. The others were just a little bit better.
"But the USSF also ignored a lot of skilled and accomplished players like Ricky Davis (31 in June of 1990), Margetic (30), Bruce Savage (29), Kevin Crow (28), Brent Goulet (26) and Perez (26)." What were these guys like?
From what I recall, Ricky Davis was injured. Mostly though , Gansler wanted his own group of players and no indoor MISL or old NASL players. The 1990 World Cup roster resembled an NCAA college all star team of the late 1980's.
He later got rid of Preki at KC but he also took him back two years later when he turned 39 yeas of age.
Some coaches hate skilled players because they have big egos and they don't do "what they are told" I'm interested to know if there are any tapes of Hugo playing those friendlies with Ajax... Also, why would Parma want to sign him if Cruyff in fact never coached Parma...
My cousin played for Hugo with the USA U-15's I believe it was. Hugo liked him but he was a more technical Euro type of player and not really all that tall. Like Perez, he was standing only 5 ft 8 or 5 ft 7 in. That was good for college but not so much when it came time to trying to latch on to an MLS club. Maybe another thing MLS coaches lack in their decision making when looking to sign players. Aside from the more expensive DP's, looking at the regular run of the mill players as Alessandro Nesta once said, "its a big, fast and physical league but tactics and techniques are more in need". It would be nice for the league to go down that path but the culture of American coaches is a tough thing to break and I don't think that philosophy will change in MLS at least for another 10-15 years.
Rick Davis and Hugo Perez were injured and so did not play the 1990 World Cup, very unlucky. Bruce Savage, Kevin Crow and Brent Goulet are good players. Another snobby player was Thomas Dooley. But it is unfair to criticize Bob Gansler, he was a good coach and chose good players to play 1990 World Cup.
From 1985-1990, the only D1 league was the MISL and Gansler didn't really have much of a choice but to use a college all star team. He had to go with players who were playing outdoors and couldn't concentrate on anyone playing indoor soccer and risk qualifying for the WC. He did the best he could without a league. Bora actually had it easier as he didn't have to qualify and he had already had experienced players. Many of whom were playing in Europe. Off the top of my head, Dooley, Harkes, Ramos, Stewart , Klopas , Caligiuri and Wegerle. Bringing it back to the thread, he also brought back Perez in 1994.
Lawd, I'm so tired of hearing this tired song-and-dance. There are plenty of great players in MLS that are 5'8'' or smaller. Mike Magee, at a towering 5'7'' was an MLS MVP. Joao Plata seems to do alright at measly 5'2''. Maybe your cousin just wasn't that good of a footballer, don't blame every coach in MLS.
Maybe there are some exceptions but looking at the league, they are very few and far between. There were none on the Earthquakes where my cousin tried out. GM John Doyle and/or coach Frank Yallop simply didn't consider signing many players that height or size. That was virtually their excuse for not signing him. Dom Kinnear refused to sign another player in Houston for that very reason.
We have bunch of 6 footers that can't even tackle properly, is more of a wrestling match than a soccer game in some cases. MLS and epl used to be worse, a few more talented players are coming into these leagues now.
You said Hugo! Bigger doesn't always mean better. John Doyle in San Jose also got rid of 5ft 8 inch Rafa Baca I believe because he thought he wasn't that big and wasn't cutting it. He seems to be doing well in Liga MX for Cruz Azul though as he is used primarily as a central mid...