30 Years Later: USMNT 1990 World Cup Roster Player Capsules

Born on Nov. 2, 1964 in Washington, D.C., Armstrong was a pioneer along with his friend Jimmy Banks as the first Black players born in the United States to play for the USMNT at a World Cup. He began as an attacking player and starred for the University of Maryland. With no outdoor league after the North American Soccer League folded after its 1984 season, Armstrong turned to the great indoors, performing for the Cleveland Force and Baltimore Blast in the Major Indoor Soccer League. After starting in both qualifiers in 1988, he broke his leg while playing for Baltimore in January 1989, missing most of the final qualifying round. Armstrong returned as a starter in a scoreless home tie with El Salvador and started all three matches at Italia '90.

He played for Santos in Brazil (1991), Maryland Bays in the American Soccer League (1991), Washington Warthogs in the Continental Indoor Soccer League (1995) and the Charlotte Eagles in the United Soccer League (1996). Armstrong made 81 appearances for the USMNT from 1987-1994, also featuring in the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

Co-founder and director of the East Nash Soccer Mission, Armstrong is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame, Maryland Soccer Hall of Fame and the University of Maryland Athletic Hall of Fame.

Born in Milwaukee on Sept. 2, 1964, Banks began playing at age six through a Salvation Army program near the city’s Westlawn Housing Projects. While performing for the Milwaukee Bavarians, he first acquainted with future U.S. head coach Bob Gansler. Beginning his collegiate career at UW-Parkside in 1983, Banks transferred to join Gansler at UW-Milwaukee. Banks and Desmond Armstrong became the first U.S.-born Black players to play for the USMNT in a World Cup. He made two appearances at Italia ’90 while playing 35 times for the Red, White and Blue from 1986-1991.

Without a first division professional outdoor league, Banks played his entire pro career indoors. Selected No. 1 by the Major Indoor Soccer League’s Kansas City Comets and the American Indoor Soccer Association’s Milwaukee Wave in the leagues’ respective 1987 drafts, he decided to sign with his hometown team, playing from 1987-1993. A league all-star in 1992, Banks was inducted into the Milwaukee Wave Hall of Fame.

He became head coach of the men’s team at the Milwaukee School of Engineering in 1999. During his 20 years, Banks amassed 198 wins, plus two NCAA Division III Tournament appearances and two NACC conference championships. Banks passed away April 26, 2014 at Columbia St. Mary’s Hospital in Milwaukee, Wisc., after a battle with stomach cancer at the age of 54.

Caligiuri started just one qualifier during the 1990 cycle, but what a memorable and historic performance it was on Nov. 19, 1989, when he scored the goal that sent the U.S. to its first World Cup in four decades with a 1-0 triumph at Trinidad & Tobago. He also holds the distinction of scoring the first USA World Cup goal in 40 years when he tallied against Czechoslovakia in the opening match of Italia ‘90.

Born on March 9, 1964, Caligiuri captained the 1985 UCLA team coached by the legendary Sigi Schmid that won the NCAA Division I title. He represented the U.S. at a special international all-star game in 1987 and started all three U.S. games at the Seoul Olympics. He went on to become one of the first U.S. players to play for a European team, performing with Meppen of the West German Second Division (1988-89), and missed the first three 1989 qualifiers because of his Meppen commitments. Caligiuri also competed for Hamburger SV, Hansa Rostock and SC Freiburg in Germany.

Returning home, he joined Columbus Crew SC for the 1996 inaugural MLS season and performed for the LA Galaxy in 1997 until his 2001 retirement. Caligiuri, a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame, guided the Cal Poly Pomona men and women for several years at the same time. He is currently head coach at Orange County FC in the National Premier Soccer League.

Doyle enjoyed a distinguished career for club and country, earning 53 caps. He also was a member of the 1988 Summer Olympics team and was named the first MLS Defender of the Year while starring for the San Jose Clash in 1996. A graduate of the University of San Francisco, the 6-3, center back helped stabilize the U.S. defense in his two Italia '90 appearances. A year after the World Cup, he scored what would stand as the game-winning goal in the USA’s 2-0 semifinal defeat of Mexico en route to helping the USMNT win the inaugural 1991 Concacaf Gold Cup.

After retiring as a player, he was general manager of the San Jose Earthquakes after he was an assistant coach with the club and was a member of the U.S. Soccer Board of Directors for two years.

Doyle is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame, California Youth Soccer Hall of Fame and University of San Francisco Hall of Fame. Doyle is the director of coaching of the Mustang Soccer League in Danville, Calif.

Growing up in the soccer hotbed of Kearny, N.J., Harkes learned the game and honed his skills along with fellow Italia 90 participants Tab Ramos and Tony Meola. Born on March 8, 1967 to Scottish immigrants in Kearny, he was the team's midfield engine during qualifying (performing in all eight matches in 1989) and the World Cup.

While 1984 can sound ominous to some people, it was a very good year for Harkes as he led Kearny high School to the New Jersey state championship with a 24-0-0 record. He also was named the Parade High School Player of the Year. After a standout career under head coach Bruce Arena at the University of Virginia, Harkes earned the Missouri Athletic Club Award as the top player in the country and decided to skip his senior season to play for the USMNT and in the 1988 Olympics.

A two-time World Cup veteran, Harkes made 90 appearances and scored six times. After making history at Sheffield Wednesday as the first American to play in the English Premier League and the second American to score at Wembley Stadium, he went on to play with Derby County and West Ham United. He returned home for MLS's inaugural season to help D.C. United two league championships before finishing his career with the New England Revolution and Columbus. Harkes was a New York Red Bulls assistant coach in 2006-07 and directed FC Cincinnati (USL Championship). A member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame, Harkes is head coach of the Greenville Triumph (USL League One).

While Keller did not play a minute in qualifying or in Italy, he went on to forge a distinguished career at home and abroad. Keller, born in Olympia, Wash. on Nov. 29, 1969, earned first team All-American honors at the University of Portland. He embarked on an amazing 17-year career in Europe, starring for Millwall, Leicester City, Rayo Vallecano, Tottenham Hotspur, Southampton, Borussia Moenchengladbach and Fulham. He returned to the states and played for Seattle Sounders FC for three seasons before retiring in 2011.

Keller is one of only three USMNT players to be named to four different FIFA World Cup rosters – playing in the 1998 and 2006 tournaments – and amassed 102 caps during his international career. His most memorable performance came in the 1998 Concacaf Gold Cup semifinals, a 1-0 win over Brazil in which he made 10 saves, many of them spectacular.

A member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame, Keller's other honors include the Silver Ball at the 1989 U-20 World Cup when he helped the U.S. to a fourth-place finish, 1998 Gold Cup MVP, U.S. Soccer Male Athlete of the Year (1997, 1999, 2005) and 2011 MLS Goalkeeper of the Year. He currently serves as a color commentator on the Sounders' TV broadcasts.

If Meola ever writes a book, he might want to call 1989, "His Favorite Year." Not only did he break into the USMNT's Starting XI, he backstopped the final four matches as the Americans clinched their first World Cup berth in 40 years. He was attending the University of Virginia at the time, helping that school to a share of the NCAA Division title with Santa Clara University. Meola also won the Hermann Trophy and the Missouri Athletic Club honors as the best men's player that year before playing all three matches in Italy.

Meola hardly rested on his laurels, playing for the MetroStars, who were close to his boyhood home in Kearny, N.J. He eventually joined the Kansas City Wizards, leading the Bob Gansler-coached team to the 2000 MLS Cup crown. The year 2000 wasn't too bad either as Meola just about swept every major award category, including three prestigious honors (MLS Cup Final MVP, Goalkeeper and Comeback Player of the Year following knee surgery in 1999).

Born in Bellevile, N.J. on Feb. 21, 1969, Meola grew up with John Harkes and Tab Ramos, earned 100 caps and went on to two more FIFA World Cups – captaining the side and playing all four matches in 1994 before serving as a reserve in 2002. The 6-1, 205-lb. goalkeeper also was the anchor of the Long Island Rough Riders' 1995 U.S. Interregional Soccer League team with future U.S. international Chris Armas, and even dabbled in indoor soccer with the New Jersey Ironmen. Meola, who joined the Chicago Fire as a color commentator in 2020, had a similar role for FOX during the 2018 World Cup. He also has co-hosted the radio show Counter Attack on SiriusXM since 2013.

Arguably the most talented and creative U.S. player of all-time and definitely of his generation, Ramos was a driving force on whatever team he played for. That included leading St. Benedict's Prep (Newark, N.J) to the state championship while being named Parade Magazine's Player of the Year, the U.S. U-20 team, the 1988 Olympic Team and the 1989 Futsal National Team at the Five-A-Side World Championship. He was drafted as the 10th overall pick in the 1984 NASL Draft but decided to attend North Carolina State instead.

His two best known international goals were scored against Costa Rica in 1-0 results eight years apart. In 1989, Ramos found the net in a home win in St. Louis, and in 1997 he added a long-range strike for another one-goal victory in Portland.

Born in Montevideo, Uruguay on Sept. 21, 1966, Ramos went on to take part in the 1994 and 1998 World Cups and made 82 international appearances while tallying eight times. A hot property after Italia '90, the third part of the Kearny, N.J. triumvirate, signed with Real Betis (Spain) before moving to Tigres. He returned to the U.S. in 1996 to finish out his career with his "hometown" team, the MetroStars, playing seven years before retiring in 2002.

Ramos moved into coaching with the U.S. U-20 MNT, directing the side to four consecutive U-20 World Cups and also served as an assistant coach under Jurgen Klinsmann with the USMNT. A member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame, Ramos' is currently the head coach of the Houston Dynamo. 

Sullivan, who was born in San Jose, Calif. on April 18, 1965, was a unique two-sport star at Cupertino H.S. in soccer and American gridiron football. As a wide receiver, he set Northern California records for the longest touchdown reception (96 yards) and the most receiving yards in a game (197). But it was in college that Sullivan forged his soccer reputations, playing two years at San Diego State and finishing at the University of Tampa, earning All-America honors while scoring 35 goals in two seasons.

The National Team came calling when he was still at Tampa in 1987, starting a six-year tenure during which he played 19 times and scored twice. Sullivan was one of a handful players who had international experience on the team, playing for US Joué-lès-Tours and Le Touquet AC in France. He made two appearances at Italia '90, coming on as a substitute in the first two games.

He spent most of his playing career overseas, performing for Győri ETO FC (Hungary), Landskrona BoIS (Sweden), Brøndby IF (Denmark), Hertha BSC (Germany) and Yucatan (Mexico) before competing for the San Francisco Bay Diablos and San Jose Clash. After retiring, Sullivan became a commentator for FOX Soccer Channel and later BeIN Sports, including as an analyst for the last four World Cups.

Born on Feb. 6, 1963, Vanole helped start the tradition of USMNT and Major League Soccer goalkeepers who starred at UCLA (Brad Friedel, Nick Rimando, Matt Reis were among the others), backstopping the Bruins to the 1981 NCAA Division I crown. He went on perform for the Wichita Wings in the Major Indoor Soccer League (1987-88), San Jose Earthquakes in the Western Soccer Alliance (1988) and San Francisco Bay Blackhawks in the American Professional Soccer League (1991).

The 6-2, 225-lb. Vanole made qualifying appearances, surrendering three goals. His most memorable save came late in the 1-0 win over Costa Rica, when he saved a late penalty kick to preserve the win. The Redondo Beach, Calif. native represented the USA 13 times. He went to Italy as the team's third goalkeeper but did not see any action. He passed away from a heart attack on Jan. 15, 2007.

Windischmann's career was cut short by knee injuries, but he made an impact as captain of the Italia '90 squad. Born in Nuremberg, Germany on Dec. 6, 1965, he was one of the few players left over from the unsuccessful attempt to qualify for the 1986 World Cup and impressed first head coach Lothar Osiander and then Bob Gansler.

He became a USMNT regular, playing three games at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, scoring in a 1-1 draw vs. Argentina. In contrast to many of his teammates, Windischmann played for the semi-pro Brooklyn Italians before trying out the MISL with the Los Angeles Lazers. He also starred at two FIFA 5-A-Side tournaments for the USA, which finished third in 1989 and second in 1992.

He injured his knee during the latter tournament and was forced to retire from the game. The defender, who started all 10 qualifying matches for Italia '90, was U.S. Soccer's 1989 Male Athlete of the Year. He earned 50 total caps for the USMNT and holds the team record for most consecutive matches played at 36.

Today, Windischmann teaches at the Susan B. Anthony Academy in Queens, N.Y. and deals with at risk students in the Teen Center in New York City.

Gansler just about has done it all on every level, playing for the USA in World Cup and Olympic qualifiers, professionally with the Chicago Mustangs and coaching college, amateur, professional, youth national teams and the full squad. Born in Musci, Hungary on July 1, 1941 - he has German ancestry - Gansler emigrated to the U.S. with his family when he was 11. While pursuing a graduate degree at Marquette University, Gansler started his coaching journey, directing the Marquette University High School. He moved on to coach the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee from 1984-89, serving in that role while also taking the reins as the U.S. U-20 head coach leading up to the 1989 FIFA World Youth Championship. Several days after guiding the U.S. to a fourth-place finish at the U-20 World Cup in Saudi Arabia, Gansler was named coach of the national team, guiding the side through its first successful World Cup qualification since 1950.

Following his tenure as USMNT head coach, Gansler led the A-League’s Milwaukee Rampage, before later directing the Kansas City Wizards to the 2000 MLS Cup championship and was an assistant coach with Toronto FC in 2007. Gansler is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame, Milwaukee Rampage Hall of Fame and the United Soccer League Hall of Fame.