Tab Ramos
Tabare "Tab" Ramos (born September 21, 1966 in Montevideo, Uruguay) is an American soccer midfielder, considered one of the most skillful players to ever wear the US jersey. Ramos was the first player to sign with Major League Soccer, where he played seven years with the MetroStars.
Born in Uruguay, Ramos emigrated to the United States and New Jersey at the age of 11. He went to college at NC State and got his first cap for the US National Team in 1988, and also played in the 1988 Summer Olympics. After playing for the US in the 1990 World Cup, he was named US Soccer Athlete of the Year in 1990. That year, Ramos signed with a Spanish team Figueres, and moved to Real Betis in 1992. In 1994, Tab once again played in the World Cup, but his tournament was ended prematurely after a vicious elbow to the head by Brazilian midfielder Leonardo. On January 3, 1995 he became the first player signed with MLS, allocated to the future New York/New Jersey franchise, which became the MetroStars. For that year, the league loanded him out to Tigres of Nuevo Leon in Mexico. In 1998, he played in his third World Cup, becoming one of the first three US players (Eric Wynalda, Marcelo Balboa) to do so. He retired after seven years with the Metros (1996-2002) as 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 Metro jersey.
