 Meola in 2006 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Antonio Michael Meola | |||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1969-02-21)February 21, 1969 (age 56) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Belleville, New Jersey, U.S. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Goalkeeper | |||||||||||||||||||
| College career | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||||||||
| 1988–1989 | Virginia Cavaliers | |||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||||||||
| 1990 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 2 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||
| 1990 | Watford | 0 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||
| 1991 | Fort Lauderdale Strikers | 7 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||
| 1994–1995 | Buffalo Blizzard (indoor) | 12 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||
| 1995 | Long Island Rough Riders | 14 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||
| 1996–1998 | New York/New Jersey MetroStars | 90 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||
| 1999–2004 | Kansas City Wizards | 125 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2005–2006 | New York Red Bulls[1] | 35 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2007–2008 | New Jersey Ironmen (indoor) | 24 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||
| Total | 309 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1988–2006 | United States | 100 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||
| Managerial career | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2015–2016 | Jacksonville Armada | |||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of October 20, 2008 ‡ National team caps and goals as of November 24, 2006 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Antonio Michael Meola (/miˈoʊlə/;Italian:[ˈmɛːola]; born February 21, 1969) is an American former professionalsoccer player who played as agoalkeeper. He represented theUnited States national team at the1990,1994, and2002World Cups. From 1996 to 2006, he played inMajor League Soccer, the U.S. top soccer division, where he obtained multiple honors. Meola is currently a radio host onSiriusXM FC.
Meola was born inBelleville, New Jersey. He grew up inKearny. He played boys' soccer forKearny High School.[2] He learned his love for the game from his father, Vincenzo, who played for Italiansecond division clubAvellino before immigrating to the U.S. Meola was All-State both as a goalkeeper (1985) and a forward (1986). He had a part in 41 clean sheets and scored 42 goals during his high school career.
In 1999, Meola was named byThe Star-Ledger as one of the top ten New Jersey high school soccer players of the 1980s.[3] Meola not only excelled at soccer, he was a three-sportvarsity letterman. He was the captain of the school'sbasketball team and was named an All-Statebaseball player in 1987. TheNew York Yankees drafted him out of high school, though Meola did not sign a contract with them.
Meola attended theUniversity of Virginia on a soccer/baseball athletic scholarship. While at Virginia, he played under coachBruce Arena. By the time he was playing for the Cavaliers, he had already begun to make a name for himself on the international scene. In October 1987, he backstopped the U.S. U-20 national team at the1987 FIFA World Youth Championship.[4] He earned first teamAll American honors both his freshman and sophomore years. He also won theHermann Trophy as a freshman in 1988 and theMAC Award as a sophomore in 1989. On December 15, 1989, he announced that he was leaving UVA to pursue a career with the U.S. national team.
Meola alsolettered for the UVA Cavaliers baseball team his freshman year of 1988 as athird baseman.[5]
Meola had signed with theU.S. Soccer Federation before the1990 FIFA World Cup. Following the cup, Meola signed on loan with English second division clubBrighton & Hove Albion where he played eleven games; only two were league games. He gained his first start when he replaced the injuredPerry Digweed and promptly won man of the match honors.[6] On September 14, 1990, Meola was transferred to second division clubWatford before moving back to the U.S.,[7] which he did when he was unable to renew his work permit due to his inability to gain first team time with Watford.[8]
In 1991, Meola played for theFort Lauderdale Strikers of theAmerican Professional Soccer League. He shared the goal withArnie Mausser.[9]
Meola attempted to become aplacekicker withNFL'sNew York Jets in July 1994, was paid $29,000 signing bonus.[10]
Although Meola signed with theBuffalo Blizzard of theNPSL on December 14, 1994, for the 1994–95 indoor season and became the team's starting keeper, he left in mid-February 1995, as he had taken a lead role in the off-Broadway playTony and Tina's Wedding and needed to join the cast.[citation needed]
In February 1995, Meola joined theLong Island Rough Riders for its upcoming 1995USISL season.[citation needed] That year the Rough Riders claimed the USISL championship.
Meola spent three weeks in February 1996 training with Italian clubParma. Upon the creation of Major League Soccer, he wasallocated to theNY/NJ MetroStars, for whom he played between 1996 and 1998, starting almost every game. During his time with the MetroStars, he set a league record with nine shutouts in 1996. He did not win theMLS Goalkeeper of the Year Award, however; the honor went toMark Dodd.
Meola was traded to theKansas City Wizards (withAlexi Lalas forMark Chung andMike Ammann) in 1999, but missed most of his first year in the midwest due to injury.Chris Snitko andDavid Winner backstopped during Meola's absence. The team struggled for results and wins with both Winner and Snitko.
In 2000, Meola was namedLeague MVP,Goalkeeper of the Year, andMLS Cup MVP as he led Kansas City to thechampionship. He set a new league record by recording 16 shutouts. Meola was voted into the 2000 MLS All Star Game playing the first half in goal, and made a cameo in the 2nd half up top as a forward.
Meola played for the Wizards through the 2004 MLS season. That year, an injury forced him out of contention.Bo Oshoniyi took over the goalkeeping position, although Meola recorded a shutout in the Wizards' U.S. Open Cup final win over the Chicago Fire, and Meola was not asked back for next season, instead stuck with Oshoniyi as the starting goalkeeper.
Meola was re-acquired by the MetroStars in June 2005. He was named to theMLS All-Time Best XI after the season. Following the 2006 season, Meola was waived by the team, now known as theNew York Red Bulls.
Meola signed a contract in summer 2007 with theNew Jersey Ironmen, an indoor soccer expansion team based in Newark, NJ that played in theMajor Indoor Soccer League. As starting goalie, Meola led the team to the playoffs in its first year.
Meola made hisU.S. national team debut on June 10, 1988, againstEcuador. Meola's second cap came in a June 4, 1989 victory over Peru in the Marlboro Cup which won the U.S. the cup. The team took the trophy to the Scots-American Club in Kearny, New Jersey. After the party, Meola drove back to the team's hotel, dropped the trophy at the front desk and drove home. As he remembers it, "A week later Doug Newman called me up and asked where the cup was. I told him I'd left it at for him at the hotel. . . . I'm sure they got it back. Back then there weren't too many cups in U.S. Soccer."[11]
Later in the summer, the national team went on a tour of Italy, playing severalSerie A teams. At the time,David Vanole was the main goalkeeper of the U.S., but over the previous month, he had fought with the U.S. Soccer Federation over a contract dispute and traded his place on the field with Meola to get his burgeoning weight under control. U.S. coachBob Gansler wanted to start Meola againstA.S. Roma, but Meola was injured in a freak accident when a ball struck his head during practice. Vanole started in his place, but let in three goals in a 4-3 U.S. victory.[12] This bad performance led Gansler to drop Vanole, who never again played for the U.S., thus making Meola an undisputed starter between the sticks. He played the remaining qualifying games for the1990 FIFA World Cup, including the famous1–0 victory overTrinidad and Tobago that sealed a spot for the U.S. in the final tournament, where he also played every minute in goal.
Meola remained the keeper of choice for the U.S. national team from 1990 through the1994 FIFA World Cup. At that tournament, his play andponytail made him a recognizable face around the country. After the U.S. loss to Brazil in the second round of the World Cup, Meola informed the U.S. coachBora Milutinović that he intended to pursue a professionalAmerican football career as aplacekicker. Milutinović never called Meola back to the U.S. team. In a 2024 interview with CBS, Meola claimed that this lack of callback was actually related to leave he took for family reasons and that an unnamed USSF official effectively told him he was being blackballed as a result.
https://megaphone.link/CAD5252121166
It was not until January 1999 that Meola again played for the U.S. By that time,Kasey Keller andBrad Friedel were competing for the starting goalkeeper spot on the team and Meola never regained the first team place he had enjoyed in the early 1990s. However, he continued to play for the U.S. and earned his 100th cap in 2006. He was the third-choice goalkeeper at the2002 FIFA World Cup behind Friedel and Keller.
On November 24, 2015, Meola was hired for his first coaching position in theNASL withJacksonville Armada FC.[13] Meola recorded his first managerial victory in the club's home opener againstMiami FC on April 15, 2016.[14] Meola was fired on August 7, 2016, after posting an overall record of 2W-6D-10L, including a 1-2-5 record in the Fall Season and 1-4-5 showing in the Spring Season.[15]
| Team | From | To | Record | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | L | T | Win % | ||||
| Jacksonville Armada | November 24, 2015[16] | August 7, 2016[15] | 18 | 2 | 10 | 6 | 011.11 | |
| Total | 18 | 2 | 10 | 6 | 011.11 | |||
Meola's non-soccer ventures include appearingoff-Broadway inTony and Tina's Wedding in 1995, and running his ownmortgage firm.
Meola was the original drummer for New Jersey cover band Mushmouth and still plays with the band on occasion.
A soccer video game for theSNES with Meola's name,Tony Meola's Sidekicks Soccer (also known asSuper Copa in Latin America andRuy Ramos' World Wide Soccer in Japan), was released in 1993.
In 2012, Meola was inducted into theNational Soccer Hall of Fame.
Meola now lives inToms River, New Jersey[17] and has three children, Jon, Kylie, and Aidan. Jon Meola was a member of theUniversity of Virginia baseball team during the 2016 season,[18] before transferring toStetson University.[19] His son Aidan is a member of theOklahoma State Cowboys baseball team.[20]
Meola worked onbeIN Sports coverage of Copa America. He also commentates onMLS games forFOX when their lead commentators are unavailable.
In 2018, he was a featured commentator onFOX andFS1 for theirUnited States broadcasts of theFIFA World Cup. In 2020, he was named as the color commentator for theChicago Fire FC.
| Club performance | League | Cup | League Cup | Continental | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Club | League | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| United States | League | Open Cup | League Cup | North America | Total | |||||||
| 1996 | NY/NJ MetroStars | Major League Soccer | 29 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 32 | 0 | ||||
| 1997 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 33 | 0 | ||||
| 1998 | 31 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 36 | 0 | ||||
| 1999 | Kansas City Wizards | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | |||
| 2000 | 31 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 38 | 0 | ||||||
| 2001 | 17 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 20 | 0 | ||||||
| 2002 | 17 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 20 | 0 | ||||||
| 2003 | 30 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 33 | 0 | ||||||
| 2004 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 22 | 0 | ||||
| 2005 | New York Red Bulls | 15 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 17 | 0 | |||||
| 2006 | 20 | 0 | 20 | 0 | ||||||||
| Total | United States | 250 | 0 | 23 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 280 | 0 | |||
| Career total | 250 | 0 | 23 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 280 | 0 | ||||
United States squads | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
