Tab Ramos

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

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

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.

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 1984 the New York Cosmos 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.

Ramos attended college at NC State where he played NCAA soccer for four years.

He was All ACC his four years and a three time All-American.

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.

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.

However, he returned in 1989 to leave again when he signed with the United States men's national soccer team.

He then moved to the Miami Sharks for the 1989 season.

He was selected as a league All Star that year.

Ramos and several other national team players signed contracts with the United States Soccer Federation (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 for the 1990–1991 season.

He played with Tito Vilanova who would later become FC Barcelona'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.

He was suspended for three games and interest in him dried up until the end of the season.

In 1999, he was named by The Star-Ledger 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).

He finally graduated in 2001 with a Bachelor of Arts in Foreign Language (Spanish) and Literature after taking years of correspondence courses.

He featured in three World Cups and was elected to the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2005.

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 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 where Ramos lived in Harrison and Kearny.

He attended Saint Benedict's Preparatory School, the same high school attended by Claudio Reyna a few years later.

They were both inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2005.