Tabaré "Tab" Ramos Ricciardi (born September 21, 1966) is an American former soccer player and current head coach of

Hartford Athletic Hartford Athletic is an American professional soccer team based in Hartford, Connecticut. The club was founded in 2018 and started play in the USL Championship in 2019. It is the only pro soccer team in Connecticut. History On June 8, 2021, Ha ...

in the

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, p ...

. Over his thirteen-year professional career, Ramos played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

in Spain, Mexico, and the United States. The first player to sign with Major League Soccer, he spent the last seven years of his career with the MetroStars. He featured in three World Cups and was elected to the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2005.

Early career

Youth and school

Born in Uruguay, Ramos immigrated to the United States with his family when he was 11. His father played professional soccer in Uruguay with

CA River Plate CA or ca may refer to: Businesses and organizations Companies * Air China (IATA airline code CA) * CA Technologies, a U.S. software company * Cayman Airways, a Cayman Islands airline * Channel America, a defunct U.S. television network * Classic ...

and instilled a love for the game into Tab from an early age. While living in Uruguay, he played for the Union Vecinal Youth Soccer Club in Montevideo. When his family arrived in the U.S., they settled in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

where Ramos lived in

Harrison Harrison may refer to: People * Harrison (name) * Harrison family of Virginia, United States Places In Australia: * Harrison, Australian Capital Territory, suburb in the Canberra district of Gungahlin In Canada: * Inukjuak, Quebec, or " ...

and Kearny.Mifflin, Lawrie
"Doing a Star Turn for the Home Team, at Last"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', August 18, 1996. Accessed March 28, 2011. He attended Saint Benedict's Preparatory School, the same high school attended by Claudio Reyna a few years later. In 1982, he became U.S. citizen. He also played for local youth club Thistle FC where he played with future United States captain John Harkes. Ramos and Harkes played together from their youth through the U.S. National Team. They were both inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2005. Ramos was a two-time high school All-America and the 1983 Parade Magazine National High School Player of the Year. That year he led St. Benedict's to the New Jersey State Championship. Ramos still holds the New Jersey High School boys' soccer career scoring record of 161 goals, 57 of which he scored in his senior year. In 1999, he was named by ''

The Star-Ledger ''The Star-Ledger'' is the largest circulated newspaper in the U.S. state of New Jersey and is based in Newark. It is a sister paper to '' The Jersey Journal'' of Jersey City, ''The Times'' of Trenton and the '' Staten Island Advance'', all of ...

'' as one of the top ten New Jersey high school soccer players of the 1980s. Apart from playing soccer, Ramos also ran indoor track at St. Benedict's (60 yards and 4 × 100 m relay). In 1984 the

New York Cosmos New York Cosmos may refer to * New York Cosmos (1970–1985), a team in the North American Soccer League (then the top-tier soccer league in the United States and Canada) * New York Cosmos (2010), a team playing since 2020 in the National Independ ...

of the North American Soccer League drafted Ramos with the 10th pick of the first round but he chose to go to college instead. The NASL folded about six months later.

College

Ramos attended college at

NC State North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The university ...

where he played

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

soccer for four years. He was All ACC his four years and a three time

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n. He was tied with Bruce Murray for the Atlantic Coast Conference scoring title his senior year. In 1988, he left school briefly to play for the U.S. team at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

. However, he returned in 1989 to leave again when he signed with the

United States men's national soccer team The United States men's national soccer team (USMNT) represents the United States in men's international soccer competitions. The team is controlled by the United States Soccer Federation and is a member of FIFA and CONCACAF. The U.S. team h ...

. He finally graduated in 2001 with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

in Foreign Language (Spanish) and Literature after taking years of correspondence courses.

Professional career

American Soccer League / MISL

Ramos played with the New Jersey Eagles of the American Soccer League in 1988. That same year the Tacoma Stars of the MISL selected him with the #1 pick in the draft. He didn't play a game as he decided to only play the outdoor game. He then moved to the

Miami Sharks The Miami Sharks were an inaugural franchise of the third incarnation of the American Soccer League in 1988. The team was renamed the Miami Freedom and joined the American Professional Soccer League in 1990 when the ASL merged with the Western Soc ...

for the 1989 season. He was selected as a league All Star that year.

Spain

Ramos and several other national team players signed contracts with the

United States Soccer Federation The United States Soccer Federation (USSF), commonly referred to as U.S. Soccer, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and the official governing body of the sport of soccer in the United States. Headquartered in Chicago, the federation is ...

(USSF) to play exclusively for the national team as it prepared for the 1990 FIFA World Cup. Following the World Cup, USSF began seeking club opportunities for the national team players. On July 27, 1990, USSF agreed to loan Ramos to Spanish Second Division club

Figueres Figueres (, ; , es, Figueras, ) is the capital of the ''comarca'' of Alt Empordà, in the province of Girona, Catalonia, Spain. The town is the birthplace of artist Salvador Dalí, and houses the Teatre-Museu Gala Salvador Dalí, a large museu ...

for the 1990–1991 season."Ramos to Play in Spain"
''The New York Times'', July 27, 1990. Accessed July 5, 2012. He played with

Tito Vilanova Francesc "Tito" Vilanova Bayó (17 September 1968 – 25 April 2014) was a Spanish professional football central midfielder and manager. After a career which consisted of a total of 26 La Liga matches in three seasons, all with Celta, he went o ...

who would later become

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Found ...

's manager. In his first season with the team he played 38 games, scoring 5 goals. On June 23, 1991, Figueres purchased Ramos' contract from USSF for $250,000. His excellent play continued during his second year with the Figueres, bringing considerable attention from several Primera División clubs. However, Ramos sabotaged this interest when he was ejected from a Nov 24, 1991 game with

Rayo Vallecano Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D. (), often abbreviated to Rayo (Spanish for "thunderbolt"), is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid, in the neighbourhood of Vallecas. Rayo was founded on 29 May 1924, and currently compete in La Li ...

. He was suspended for three games and interest in him dried up until the end of the season. On July 31, 1992, Figueres sold Ramos to fellow Second Division club

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () or just Betis, is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1907, it plays in La Liga. It holds home games at the Estadio Benito Vill ...

for $400,000. In the 1993–1994 season Real Betis won Segunda División and earned promotion to

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...

. While Ramos remained with Betis for the 1994–1995 season, he never played a game in La Liga as he was recovering from a skull fracture suffered during the 1994 FIFA World Cup game with Brazil (see Senior national team section). In 1994, Ramos was chosen as the

CONCACAF The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football,, ; french: Confédération de football d'Amérique du Nord, d'Amérique centrale et des Caraïbes, . Dutch language, Dutch uses the English name. abbreviated as CON ...

Player of the Year.

Mexico

On January 3, 1995, Ramos became the first player to sign with Major League Soccer (MLS). The league had intended to begin play in the fall of 1995 but difficulties forced it to delay its start for a year. Rather than letting players such as Ramos sit idle, the league loaned him and several others to foreign teams. MLS sent Ramos to the Liga MX side México Primera División Tigres for the second half of the 1994–1995 season. Ramos became the first American player to appear for the side, seeing time in twelve games. He remained on loan with Tigres for the 1995-96 season, playing twenty-three games and scoring two goals as the team ran to the 1996 Mexico Cup championship, one of two Mexico Cups won by Tigres and its first title in 20 years.

MetroStars

While Ramos was in Mexico, MLS allocated him to the future New York/New Jersey franchise, eventually known as the MetroStars. Following the end of the Mexican season in April 1996, Ramos returned to the United States for the inaugural MLS season in 1996. He would play seven seasons for the MetroStars, earning All Star recognition in 1996, 1998 and 1999. On May 14, 2002, he announced his intentions of retiring at the end of the 2002 season. When he retired, he was the last original member of the team. Unfortunately, his flashes of brilliance were interrupted by long injury spells, as he never lived up to his potential in a MetroStars jersey. Ramos totaled just eight goals and 36 assists in MLS play (ten goals and 39 assists in all competitions).

U.S. national teams

1983 FIFA U-20 World Cup

Ramos began his national team career playing at the U-20 level in 1982, just after gaining his U.S. citizenship. Ramos was 15 when he scored two goals in the regional qualifying for the 1983 FIFA U-20 World Cup. However, the U.S. went 0-2-1 and failed to advance out of group play in the championship tournament.

Cut from 1984 Olympic team

Ramos represented the U.S. at the

1983 Pan American Games The 1983 Pan American Games were held in Caracas, Venezuela from August 14 to August 29, 1983. The games were the first major international competition to include relatively accurate steroid testing.Taylor, William N., ''Anabolic Steroids and the ...

. In 1984, Ramos was the last player cut from the U.S.

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the sec ...

soccer team. At 17 years old, he had just left high school, but was already known as an up-and-coming player. However, the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

had opened the Olympic soccer tournament to professionals for the 1984 games. The U.S., as the host nation, did not need to qualify, but had assembled a team of amateurs, mostly college players. When the IOC announced their decision, USSF dumped most of the original team, except for

Paul Caligiuri Paul David Caligiuri (born March 9, 1964) is an American former soccer player who played as a defensive midfielder. Caligiuri's professional career spanned 16 years, during which he played for numerous teams in the United States and Germany, ...

, for professionals. Ramos had further disappointment a year later when the U.S. failed to qualify for the 1985 FIFA U-20 World Cup, despite a 3-2-2 record in the qualifying tournament. He went on, however, to play for the U.S. team which went 0-1-2 at the

in Seoul, South Korea.

Senior national team

It would be another year before Ramos earned his first

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

for the senior U.S. team, on January 10, 1988, against Guatemala. He soon became an integral part of 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 once again played in the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

, being a starting player for the U.S. National Team in all its matches. In the round of 16 Ramos suffered a

skull fracture A skull fracture is a break in one or more of the eight bones that form the cranial portion of the skull, usually occurring as a result of blunt force trauma. If the force of the impact is excessive, the bone may fracture at or near the site of t ...

, caused by an elbow to the head by Brazilian leftback Leonardo in the first half of the game, which resulted in a straight red for Leonardo. United States were eliminated as Bebeto scored Brazil's winning goal. Tab Ramos was in the hospital for a few weeks where he was visited by a crying and apologetic Leonardo. Ramos saw more success in 1995 as a member of the U.S. team when it placed fourth at the Copa América. On September 7, 1997, Ramos scored against Costa Rica in a 1-0 World Cup qualifier win. In 1998, he played in his third

. Ramos made his last national team appearance on November 15, 2000, in a 4-0 U.S. win against

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate) ...

. Two days later he announced his retirement from the national team. He finished his national team career with 81 caps and eight goals. Ramos also played 8 games, scoring 3 goals, for the U.S.

Futsal Futsal is a football-based game played on a hard court smaller than a football pitch, and mainly indoors. It has similarities to five-a-side football and indoor football. Futsal is played between two teams of five players each, one of whom is ...

team which finished 3rd at the

1989 FIFA Futsal World Championship The 1989 FIFA Futsal World Championship was the first ever FIFA Futsal World Championship, the quadrennial international futsal championship contested by the men's national teams of the member associations of FIFA. It was held between 5 and 15 Ja ...

International goals

Coaching career

NJSA 04

In 2004, with the help of partners, Ramos founded a soccer club based out of Aberdeen, New Jersey. NJSA 04 later morphed into Cedar Stars Monmouth and is currently one of three teams in New Jersey to participate in the United States Development Academy Soccer League.

United States U-20 national team

Ramos is one of the most accomplished figures in U.S. Soccer history qualifying for the fourth World Cup as U-20 MNT head coach in 2019. He led the under-20 age group team to the final of the

2013 CONCACAF U-20 Championship The 2013 CONCACAF Under-20 Championship was an association football tournament that took place between February 18 and March 3, 2013. The CONCACAF U-20 Championship determined the four CONCACAF teams that would participate at the 2013 FIFA U-20 Wo ...

where they lost to Mexico. The team qualified for the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup, however they failed to make it out of the group stage, finishing bottom with 1 point. In November 2013, he signed a contract to remain in the position. He won the

2017 CONCACAF U-20 Championship The 2017 CONCACAF Under-20 Championship was the 5th edition of the CONCACAF Under-20 Championship (26th edition if all eras included), the men's under-20 international football tournament organized by CONCACAF. It was hosted in Costa Rica between ...

with the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, with assistant coaches

Omid Namazi Omid Namazi ( fa, امید نمازی; born December 8, 1964) is an American retired soccer defender who is currently an assistant coach and the director of scouting for USL Championship club Hartford Athletic. Namazi played professionally in ...

and Brad Friedel. In 2019 Ramos qualified the team to the third straight FIFA U-20 World Cup quarterfinal. In 2015 after a scoreless draw through 120 minutes Serbia eliminated the team in quarterfinals on penalties. Ultimately Serbia won the championship beating Brazil 2–1 in the final of the FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Auckland

United States men's national soccer team

On March 31, 2014, Ramos was appointed to the assistant coach position of the

by head coach

Jürgen Klinsmann Jürgen Klinsmann (, born 30 July 1964) is a German professional football manager and former player. Klinsmann played for several prominent clubs in Europe including VfB Stuttgart, Inter Milan, Monaco, Tottenham Hotspur, and Bayern Munich. He ...

, less than three months before the

2014 World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting righ ...

, replacing

Martín Vásquez Martín Vásquez Gómez (born December 24, 1963) is an American former professional soccer player. The first of five players to have played for both the United States and Mexico, he has served as a coach since retiring. Playing career Youth a ...

Houston Dynamo

On October 25, 2019, Ramos was named head coach of Major League Soccer club Houston Dynamo.

Hartford Athletic

Ramos was named head coach of

club

on August 22, 2022.

Coaching statistics

Personal life

Ramos lives in Colts Neck,

, with his girlfriend Tracey and three children, Alex, Kristen, and Sarah.Tab Ramos full biography at USSoccer.com

References

External links

*
BETISWEB Player Profile & Stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramos, Tab American expatriate soccer players All-American men's college soccer players American men's futsal players American Soccer League (1988–89) players American soccer players American expatriate sportspeople in Spain American expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Association football midfielders Footballers at the 1988 Summer Olympics Houston Dynamo FC coaches La Liga players Liga MX players Major League Soccer coaches Major League Soccer players Major League Soccer All-Stars New York Red Bulls players New Jersey Eagles players Miami Freedom players National Soccer Hall of Fame members NC State Wolfpack men's soccer players Olympic soccer players of the United States Parade High School All-Americans (boys' soccer) People from Kearny, New Jersey People from Harrison, New Jersey Real Betis players St. Benedict's Preparatory School alumni Soccer players from New Jersey Tigres UANL footballers UE Figueres footballers United States men's international soccer players Uruguayan footballers Uruguayan emigrants to the United States 1990 FIFA World Cup players 1992 King Fahd Cup players 1993 Copa América players 1993 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 1994 FIFA World Cup players 1995 Copa América players 1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 1998 FIFA World Cup players 1966 births Living people United States men's under-20 international soccer players Pan American Games competitors for the United States Footballers at the 1983 Pan American Games Sportspeople from Hudson County, New Jersey Expatriate footballers in Spain Uruguayan expatriates in Spain Expatriate footballers in Mexico United States men's national under-20 soccer team managers American soccer coaches Hartford Athletic coaches USL Championship coaches