Tab Ramos facts for kids
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Ramos in 2015
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| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Tabaré Ramos Ricciardi | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | September 21, 1966 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Montevideo, Uruguay | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| College career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1984–1987 | NC State Wolfpack | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1988 | New Jersey Eagles | 8 | (2) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1989 | Miami Sharks | 3 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1990–1991 | → Figueres (loan) | 38 | (5) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1991–1992 | Figueres | 34 | (4) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1992–1995 | Real Betis | 32 | (1) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1995–2002 | MetroStars | 121 | (8) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1995–1996 | → Tigres UANL (loan) | 35 | (2) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | 271 | (22) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1988–2000 | United States | 81 | (8) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Managerial career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2009–2011 | United States U20 (assistant) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2011–2019 | United States U20 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2014–2016 | United States (assistant) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2019–2021 | Houston Dynamo | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2022–2023 | Hartford Athletic | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2023 | New England Revolution (assistant) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tabaré "Tab" Ramos Ricciardi (born September 21, 1966) is a famous American former soccer player and coach.
He played as a midfielder for 13 years. He played in Spain, Mexico, and the United States. Tab Ramos was the first player to sign with Major League Soccer (MLS). He spent the last seven years of his playing career with the MetroStars. He also played in three World Cups for the United States. In 2005, he was chosen for the National Soccer Hall of Fame.
Contents
Tab Ramos's Early Life and Soccer Journey
Growing Up and School Soccer
Tab Ramos was born in Uruguay. When he was 11, his family moved to the United States. His father played professional soccer in Uruguay. He taught Tab to love the game from a young age. In Uruguay, Tab played for a youth soccer club in Montevideo.
When his family came to the U.S., they settled in New Jersey. Tab lived in Harrison and Kearny. He went to Saint Benedict's Preparatory School. Another famous player, Claudio Reyna, went to the same high school later. In 1982, Tab became a U.S. citizen. He also played for a local youth club called Thistle FC. There, he played with John Harkes, who would later become a U.S. National Team captain. Ramos and Harkes played together from their youth days all the way to the U.S. National Team. Both of them were inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2005.
Ramos was named a high school All-America twice. In 1983, he was the Parade Magazine National High School Player of the Year. That year, he helped St. Benedict's win the New Jersey State Championship. Ramos still holds the New Jersey High School boys' soccer record for career goals, with 161 goals. He scored 57 of those goals in his senior year alone.
College Soccer Career
In 1984, the New York Cosmos soccer team wanted to draft Ramos. But he chose to go to college instead. He attended NC State and played NCAA soccer for four years. He was named All-ACC for all four years. He was also an All-American three times. In 1988, he left school for a short time to play for the U.S. team in the 1988 Summer Olympics. He returned to college in 1989. He finally graduated in 2001 with a degree in Spanish and Literature.
Tab Ramos's Professional Playing Career
Playing in American Leagues
In 1988, Ramos played for the New Jersey Eagles in the American Soccer League. He then moved to the Miami Sharks for the 1989 season. He was chosen as a league All-Star that year.
Playing in Spain
After the 1990 FIFA World Cup, the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) helped U.S. players find clubs. In 1990, Ramos was loaned to a Spanish team called Figueres. He played 38 games and scored 5 goals in his first season. In 1991, Figueres bought his contract. His great play continued, and other top Spanish clubs became interested in him.
In 1992, Figueres sold Ramos to another Spanish team, Real Betis. In the 1993–1994 season, Real Betis won their league and moved up to La Liga, Spain's top division. Ramos stayed with Betis for the 1994–1995 season. However, he did not play any games in La Liga because he was recovering from an injury he got during the 1994 FIFA World Cup.
In 1994, Ramos was named the best player in the CONCACAF region.
Playing in Mexico
On January 3, 1995, Tab Ramos became the first player to sign with Major League Soccer (MLS). The league was supposed to start in late 1995, but it was delayed. So, MLS loaned Ramos and other players to teams in other countries. Ramos was sent to the Mexican team Tigres for part of the 1994–1995 season. He was the first American player to play for Tigres. He played 12 games for them. He stayed on loan with Tigres for the 1995–96 season. He played 23 games and scored two goals. Tigres won the 1996 Mexico Cup championship that year.
Playing for the MetroStars
While Ramos was in Mexico, MLS assigned him to the new New York/New Jersey team, which became known as the MetroStars.
After the Mexican season ended in April 1996, Ramos returned to the U.S. for the first MLS season. He played seven seasons for the MetroStars. He was chosen as an All-Star in 1996, 1998, and 1999. On May 14, 2002, he announced he would retire at the end of the 2002 season. When he retired, he was the last original member of the team.
Tab Ramos and the U.S. National Teams
Playing for the U.S. Under-20 Team
Ramos started his national team career playing for the U.S. Under-20 team in 1982. He was only 15 when he scored two goals in the qualifying games for the 1983 FIFA U-20 World Cup. However, the U.S. team did not advance past the group stage in the main tournament.
He also played for the U.S. team in the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea.
Playing for the Senior National Team
Ramos played his first game for the senior U.S. team on January 10, 1988, against Guatemala. He quickly became a very important player for the national team.
After playing for the United States in the 1990 FIFA World Cup, he was named U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year in 1990.
In 1994, Ramos played in the 1994 FIFA World Cup again. He started every game for the U.S. National Team. In a game against Brazil, Ramos got a serious head injury. The U.S. team was eliminated from the tournament.
Ramos had more success in 1995. He was part of the U.S. team that finished fourth at the 1995 Copa América.
On September 7, 1997, Ramos scored a goal against Costa Rica in a World Cup qualifying game. In 1998, he played in his third World Cup. Ramos played his last national team game on November 15, 2000. It was a 4-0 U.S. win against Barbados. Two days later, he announced he was retiring from the national team. He played 81 games for the national team and scored eight goals.
Ramos also played 8 games and scored 3 goals for the U.S. Futsal team. They finished 3rd at the 1989 FIFA Futsal World Championship.
International Goals for the U.S.
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | April 30, 1989 | St. Louis, Missouri |  Costa Rica |
1–0 | 1-0 | 1990 FIFA World Cup Qualifying |
| 2 | June 4, 1989 | East Rutherford, New Jersey |  Peru |
2–0 | 3-0 | Friendly |
| 3 | May 30, 1992 | Washington, D.C. |  Republic of Ireland |
1–1 | 3–1 | Friendly |
| 4 | Oct. 8, 1995 | Washington, D.C. |  Saudi Arabia |
3–3 | 4-3 | Friendly |
| 5 | June 9, 1996 | Foxborough, Massachusetts | Republic of Ireland |
1–1 | 2-1 | Friendly |
| 6 | Sept. 7, 1997 | Portland, Oregon | Costa Rica |
1–0 | 1-0 | 1998 FIFA World Cup Qualifying |
| 7 | May 24, 1998 | Portland, Oregon |  Kuwait |
2–0 | 2-0 | Friendly |
| 8 | Aug. 16, 2000 | Foxborough, Massachusetts |  Barbados |
6–0 | 7-0 | 2002 FIFA World Cup Qualifying |
Tab Ramos's Coaching Career
Coaching Youth Soccer
In 2004, Tab Ramos helped start a soccer club in New Jersey called NJSA 04. This club later became Cedar Stars Monmouth. It is now one of the top youth clubs in New Jersey.
Coaching the U.S. Under-20 National Team
Ramos is one of the most successful coaches in U.S. Soccer history. He led the U.S. Under-20 team to the final of the 2013 CONCACAF U-20 Championship. They lost to Mexico in that final. The team then qualified for the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup. However, they did not make it out of the group stage.
In November 2013, he signed a contract to continue coaching the team. He won the 2017 CONCACAF U-20 Championship with the United States team. In 2019, Ramos led the team to the FIFA U-20 World Cup quarterfinals for the third time in a row.
Coaching the U.S. Men's National Team
On March 31, 2014, Ramos was named an assistant coach for the United States men's national soccer team. He worked under head coach Jürgen Klinsmann. This was just before the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
Coaching Professional Clubs
On October 25, 2019, Ramos became the head coach of the Major League Soccer club Houston Dynamo.
Later, Ramos was named head coach of the USL Championship club Hartford Athletic on August 22, 2022. In 2023, he also served as an assistant coach for the New England Revolution.
Tab Ramos's Personal Life
Tab Ramos lives in Colts Neck, New Jersey. He lives with his girlfriend Tracey and his three children, Alex, Kristen, and Sarah.
Honors and Awards
Individual Awards
- U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year: 1990
- MLS All-Star: 1996, 1998
- CONCACAF Team of the Century: 1998
See also
In Spanish: Tab Ramos para niños
