Miro Rys

Miro Rys (July 18, 1957 – September 1977) was a Czech American soccer forward who played professionally in the North American Soccer League. Rys earned three caps, scoring one goal, with the U.S. national team. A talented striker with, according to Bill Foulkes, "a cannon-like shot and a tremendous desire", Rys was the biggest American soccer prospect of his time and, according to Jim Pollihan, was expected to become "the top American player in a year or two" when he died in a car accident outside Dortmund, Germany while there to try out for several professional teams.[1]

Miro Rys
Personal information
Date of birth (1957-07-18)July 18, 1957
Place of birth Kladno, Czechoslovakia
Date of death September 12, 1977 (aged 20)
Place of death Germany
Position(s) Forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1976–1977 Chicago Sting 19 (4)
1977 Los Angeles Aztecs 2 (0)
International career
1976 United States 3 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

Born in Czechoslovakia, Rys grew up in Cicero, Illinois where he played high school soccer at Morton East High School. Following his graduation in 1976, Rys signed a professional contract with the Chicago Sting of the North American Soccer League. He played seventeen games and scored four goals for Chicago Sting that season.[2] After the season, he trained with Manchester United and Tranmere Rovers.

Rys was traded to the Los Angeles Aztecs during the 1977 season. He played in two games, scoring two goals for the Aztecs.

International career

Rys earned three caps with the U.S. national team in 1976. His first game came in a World Cup qualifier against Canada in Seattle on October 20, 1976. Rys scored in that game, a 2-0 victory, making him one of a handful of U.S. players who have scored in their debut match. Rys then played in two scoreless ties with Haiti.[3] He was at the time the youngest U.S. player to appear in a World Cup qualifying game.[4]

The Illinois High School Soccer Association (IHSSCA) awards an annual Miro Rys Sportsmanship Award.[5]

Death

After the season, Rys traveled to Germany for tryouts with clubs including Hertha Berlin and Borussia Dortmund. On Sept. 12, while riding in a car with a local coach and several young players from a team he'd been training with, he was killed in two-vehicle accident outside Dortmund.[1] While he is often said to have signed with Hertha Berlin, there is no record of him ever winning a contract with any European club.[6]

References
  1. Lewis, Michael. "Miro Rys: US football's first teenage star was killed before his prime". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 20 December 2021. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  2. Record of Chicago Sting games Archived 2005-02-25 at the Wayback Machine
  3. RSSSF Archived 2010-02-05 at the Wayback Machine
  4. Augusta Georgia: Other Sports:U.S. likely to start 19-year-old in World Cup qualifier 09/01/01
  5. Maine South Boys Soccer Archived 2008-11-21 at the Wayback Machine
  6. Marino-Nachison, David; Rousek, Leos (2014-10-10). "A Young Striker's Death Haunts American Soccer". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Archived from the original on 2018-05-15. Retrieved 2018-05-14.
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