Former Portland Timbers defender and U.S. Men's National Team player and coach Glenn "Mooch" Myernick has been elected to the U.S. National Soccer Hall of Fame, U.S. Soccer announced today.
Myernick, who passed away on Oct. 5, 2006 at the age of 51, made 60 appearances for the Timbers from 1980-1982, arriving in Portland following a trade with Toronto. A defender, he registered 11 career assists for the Timbers. Portland reached the playoffs in 1981, a season in which Myernick played in 19 games, logging five assists. In 1982, Myernick earned team MVP honors.
He enters the Hall of Fame on the Veteran Ballot as an American soccer pioneer who represented the U.S. at every level as a player and coach across a lifetime of soccer success.
Myernick served as an assistant coach for the USA at the 2002 and 2006 FIFA World Cups and was an integral part of the USA's quarterfinal run at the 2002 World Cup. He also coached the USA in its championship victory at the 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup after head coach Bruce Arena was suspended for the final.
"This means everything to us; his whole world was soccer," his wife, Nancy Myernick said to U.S. Soccer. "It revolved around the game from the time he was a little kid playing in Trenton, to youth soccer, and then going to college, and being with the National Team. He could never get enough. We built our lives around soccer, and we traveled the country to make it happen for him and to be involved in whatever level he could be. He put 110 percent effort into whatever he did with soccer. We wish he could have received this honor himself, but knowing the family will be there is a huge honor."
Myernick played more games for the U.S. National Team than any other U.S. National Team coach, serving as team captain in 1978 and earning 10 caps. He also started four games for the U.S. Olympic Team in qualifying for the 1976 Games in Montreal. He began his international coaching career as an assistant for the U.S. Under-20 Men's National Team in 1993 at the FIFA World Youth Championship in Australia, and then coached the U-17's at the FIFA U-17 World Championship in Ecuador.
After serving as an assistant coach for Arena at the 1996 Olympic Games, Myernick took the reins of the Colorado Rapids in Major League Soccer for four seasons from 1997-2000. He would eventually compile a 63-61-4 record and guided the team to the 1997 MLS Cup title game during his first season at the helm.
Myernick took over as the head coach of the U.S. Under-23 Men's National Team in 2002, helping the team qualify for the 2004 Olympics.
He had a standout collegiate career at Hartwick College in Oneonta, New York, winning the Hermann Trophy as the sport's outstanding player in 1976.
Joining Myernick in the Class of 2015 is former goalkeeper and four-time FIFA World Cup veteran Kasey Keller. Keller, a former University of Portland Pilot, played for the Portland Timbers of the Western Soccer Alliance during his 1989 college off-season where he won the league MVP award. Former U.S. Under-20 Men's National Team and Major League Soccer head coach Sigi Schmid was also elected to the Hall on the Builder Ballot.
