Tony Meola
Sport: Soccer
Born: February 21, 1969
Town: Kearny, New Jersey
Antonio Michael Meola was born February 21, 1969 in Belleville and grew up in Kearny, NJ. His father, Vincenzo, had played soccer professionally before emigrating from Italy. In a tony consumed by soccer, Tony was regarded as something special. Not only was he the best goalkeeper in a generation, he was fast, powerful and had a booming right foot that made him a threat to score when he played on the forward line. At Kearny High School, he played both positions and graduated with 42 goals and 41 shutouts. Tony also captained the Kardinals basketball team and was good enough as a hitter to make all-state as a junior in 1987 and get drafted by the Yankees.
At this point, Tony was consumed by soccer, too. He accepted an athletic scholarship from the University of Virginia that was split between the soccer and baseball programs. Now exclusively a goalkeeper, Tony won the Hermann Trophy and the MAC Player of the Year Award in 1989, and was an All-American for the Cavaliers as a freshman and sophomore. Following the 1989 soccer season, Tony left UVA to join the US national team. He was picked for the 1990 World Cup roster along with Kasey Keller and David Vanole. Also on the team were John Harkes and Tab Ramos, players Tony had basically grown up with in Hudson County. Tony played all three matches in Italy, but the US squad did not make it out of their group.
As Major League Soccer was still years away, Tony took his game to England, where he was a backup with the Brighton & Hove Seagulls, a second-division club. When he finally got a chance to start, he was named Man of the Match. Unable to renew his work permit, Tony returned to the US and spent a year with the Ft. Lauderdale Strikers of APSL. His best work in goal was with Team USA. Tony was the main man again during the 1994 World Cup.
After the tournament, he tried to to be the Jets placekicker but didn’t make the team. He also took a part in the off-Broadway production of Tony & Tina’s Wedding. In 1995, he played for the Long Island Rough Riders of the United Soccer League and led them to the championship. He did not return to the national team until 1999; when he did he was rarely the #1 goalie on the roster.
With MLS finally on the near horizon, Tony went to Italy and trained with Parma FC to sharpen his skills. He was delighted to be allotted to the MetroStars and was their starting goalie for three seasons. Tony was traded t Kansas City Wizards in 1999 but missed most of the season with an injury. He returned to full health in 2000 and was named MLS MVP after setting a league record with 16 clean sheets. The Wizards went on to win the MLS Cup and Tony was named MVP of the game. In that season’s All-Star Game, Tony played the first half in goal and then moved up to forward in the second half.
Tony played well for Kansas City over the next three years, but in 2004 he was slowed by injury and, at 35, the Wizards chose not to re-sign him. Their loss was the MetroStars gain. They brought Tony back home and he had an exceptional year, finishing on the MLS Best XI. He stayed with the club through their name change to Red Bulls. The 2006 season was his last in MLS and his last for the national team. He retired with exactly 100 international caps. Tony played one year of indoor soccer and called it a career.
Tony got involved in various business ventures and started his own goalie glove company. In 2012, he was inducted into the Soccer Hall of Fame. Tony found a comfortable niche in broadcasting, doing his best work for Fox Sports. In 2020, he signed on to do color commentary for Chicago Fire games.