Martin Vasquez

Vasquez was born in Mexico and moved to the US when he was 12. He played youth, HS and club and a couple of years of college (and maybe even minor league or indoor) ball in the US and then moved back to Mexico to play professionally.

When he went back to Mexico, he either had already become a US citizen or he maintained his permanent residency (Green Card) status and became a US citizen shortly after returning to play in MLS in 1997.

Anyway, while he was playing in Mexico in the late 80s, FIFA slapped El Tri with severe sanctions - including not being allowed to go to Italia 90, which allowed the US to slip in. However, the Mexicans still played games as a national team, but they were all friendlies. It was during this time - the late 80s to early, pre-WC 94 qualifying 90's - that Vasquez played for Mexico's senior national team and since the sanctions kept them from playing in any "official FIFA games," Vasquez was never cap-tied to Mexico because of the games he played for them.

When MLS started, Vasquez was one of the best d-mids in the league, doing the grunt work behind Carlos Valderrama for a very good Tampa Bay team that finished in 96 with the best record in the league.

Those performances got Vasquez called up to the US team by Steve Sampson and he played in several games, including getting cap-tied in a few qualifiers for France 98. Vasquez' most-memorable game was coming on as a defensive sub to help a shorthanded team (Jeff Agoos got carded in the first half) earn a scoreless draw - and a vital qualifying point - IN MEXICO in 1997, a result that in my opinion is still the most impressive and under-appreciated result for the US team between 1950 and beating Portugal in 2002.

 

I liked him.He was not a great player but was a good one.

 

Sandon,

With all due respect, someone as knowledgable about the US soccer scene as you should know this is simply not true.

The '90 WCQ's had a preliminary home and home round prior to the hexagonal, similar to this round's home and home. Costa Rica and Mexico were paired in the preliminary playoffs. Mexico was banned after the draw but prior to this round, so Costa Rica went through to the Hex. It was either Mexico or Costa Rica in the hex, not both. The US did NOT slip in, Costa Rica did (well - they won the hex, but they wouldn't have been there if not for Mexico's screw up)

 

My bad. Thanks for the correction.

All these years I always thought they got to Italy because the big fish in the pond that is CONCACAF wasn't eligible.

That Mexico's status had nothing to do with them making it only underscores how signifigant an achievment it was for Gansler to get the boys successfully through the qualifiers way back when we were still in our embryonic stages as a soccer nation.

 

it was a freakin miracle, with a team of college boys.

 

You probably think that because it's an extremely common comment about the '90 team, particularly related to people arguing that the US never should have hosted WC '94 because "they barely qualified in '90," which when combined with the sanctioning of Mexico, gave rise to a lot of international conspiracy theories. Of course, in unprecedented fashion, the conspiracy theories were wrong.

 

Although Mexico's elimination didn't help us much, our qualifying run for WC90 benefited greatly from a couple of significant first-round upsets. The top two teams in qualifying for WC86 were Canada and Honduras, but they both crashed out on away goals.

Apart from Costa Rica, our final round opponents were El Salvador and Guatemala, both in the midst of civil wars, along with Trinidad & Tobago, which didn't get a professional league until 1999.

Nowadays, we face tougher competition just to reach the Hex.

 

I know Martin he 's a real Jerk I still respect him because he played for the nats but he's a jerk. I played against him last year When I was 17 besides being real tall he is real slow and I was Able to put the ball through his legs not once but twice,then on a corner kick he elbows me right in the eye
This all happened at West Covina High

 

That'll teach you not to nutmeg an old pro!!!

 

well, he must be like 45 now, so congratulations!! I think he was very well-liked in MLS, by both players and coaches.

 

Isn't he the assistant coach at L.A. now?

 

Actually, Sandon, Vasquez was one of the Mutiny's original allocated players for the 1996 season. But, as always, thanks for your info!

 

I still know Martin and hes a heel of a nice guy. I am guessing your ripe old age of 17 may have had something to do with it. No way I will ever believe he IS a jerk