CHICAGO (AP) Brad Friedel, Carlos Bocanegra and Thierry Henry are among first-year eligibles nominated for the National Soccer Hall of Fame's class of 2018.
Also on the ballot for the first time are Juan Pablo Angel, Bobby Convey, Jay DeMerit, Stuart Holden, Eddie Johnson and Lori Lindsey.
To be eligible, a player must have played at least 20 full international games for the United States (reduced to 10 if the games were before 1990); or have played at least five seasons in an American first-division professional league and been a postseason league all-star at least once; or played at least five seasons in the Major Indoor Soccer League between the end of the NASL in 1984 and the end of the MISL in 1992, and been selected as a first-team postseason all-star in at least one of those seasons.
The Hall of Fame facility in Frisco, Texas, will open on Oct. 20-21, and will feature induction ceremonies, followed by FC Dallas hosting Sporting Kansas City in an MLS match.
There are 32 individuals on the player ballot, nine on the veterans ballot and seven on the builders ballot.
Any player appearing on at least 66.7 percent of ballots will earn election. Voters can select up to 10 players.
Voters can choose up to five veteran candidates, and the top vote getter will be elected as long as he or she appears on a minimum of 50 percent of the ballots. Builders must be at least 50 years of age and are eligible by making their mark in the soccer community in a non-playing capacity while having a major, sustained and positive impact on American Soccer at the national, federation or first-division level for at least 10 years. The voting procedure is the same for them as for seniors.
The ballots:
PLAYERS
Juan Pablo Angel, David Beckham, Gregg Berhalter, Carlos Bocanegra, Steve Cherundolo, Brian Ching, Bobby Convey, Jeff Cunningham, Jay DeMerit, Brad Friedel, Kevin Hartman, Frankie Hejduk, Thierry Henry, Stuart Holden, Eddie Johnson, Chris Klein, Eddie Lewis, Lori Lindsey, Kate Sobrero Markgraf, Pablo Mastroeni, Clint Mathis, Tiffeny Milbrett, Heather Mitts, Jaime Moreno, Ben Olsen, Pat Onstad, Steve Ralston, Ante Razov, Tony Sanneh, Taylor Twellman, Aly Wagner, Josh Wolff.
VETERANS
Mike Burns, Kevin Crow, John Doyle, Marco Etcheverry, Linda Hamilton, Shep Messing, Cindy Parlow, Tiffany Roberts, Tisha Venturini-Hoch.
BUILDERS
Esse Baharmast, Dr. Robert Contiguglia, Joe Cummings, Tim Leiweke, Francisco Marcos, Kevin Payne, Steve Sampson.
