Miro Rys (July 18, 1957 – September 1977) was a

Czech American Czech Americans ( cz, Čechoameričané), known in the 19th and early 20th century as Bohemian Americans, are citizens of the United States whose ancestry is wholly or partly originate from the Czech lands, a term which refers to the majority o ...

soccer

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who played professionally in the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: * North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league * North American Soccer League (2011–2017), a former Division II league {{disambig ...

. Rys earned three

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, scoring one goal, with the U.S. national team. A talented striker with, according to

Bill Foulkes William Anthony Foulkes ( or ; 5 January 1932 – 25 November 2013) was an English footballer who played for Manchester United in the Busby Babes teams of the 1950s, and also in the 1960s. His favoured position was centre-half. For Manchester ...

, "a cannon-like shot and a tremendous desire", Rys was the biggest American soccer prospect of his time and, according to

Jim Pollihan James Pollihan is a former U.S. soccer player who was an outstanding collegiate forward with Quincy University but moved to defense as a professional. He earned fifteen caps with the U.S. national team between 1976 and 1979. Player College P ...

, was expected to become "the top American player in a year or two" when he died in a car accident outside

Dortmund Dortmund (; Westphalian nds, Düörpm ; la, Tremonia) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the eighth-largest city of Germany, with a population of 588,250 inhabitants as of 2021. It is th ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

while there to try out for several professional teams.

Club career

Born in Czechoslovakia, Rys grew up in

Cicero, Illinois Cicero (originally known as Hawthorne) is a suburb of Chicago and an incorporated town in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 85,268. making it the 11th largest municipality in Illinois. The town of Cic ...

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 The Chicago Sting (1974–1988) was an American professional soccer team representing Chicago. The Sting played in the North American Soccer League from 1975 to 1984 and in the Major Indoor Soccer League in the 1982–83 season and again from ...

of the

. He played seventeen games and scored four goals for

that season. After the season, he trained with Manchester United and Tranmere Rovers. Rys was traded to the

Los Angeles Aztecs The Los Angeles Aztecs was an American professional soccer team based in Los Angeles, California that existed from 1974 to 1981. The Aztecs competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1974 to 1981 as well as the 1975 NASL Indoor tourn ...

during the 1977 season. He played in two games, scoring two goals for the Aztecs.

International career

Rys earned three

with the U.S. national team in 1976. His first game came in a

World Cup qualifier The FIFA World Cup qualification is a competitive match that a national association football team takes in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the (men's) FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments are hel ...

against

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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 Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

. He was at the time the youngest U.S. player to appear in a World Cup qualifying game. The Illinois High School Soccer Association (IHSSCA) awards an annual Miro Rys Sportsmanship Award.

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

. While he is often said to have signed with

Hertha Berlin Hertha, Berliner Sport-Club e. V., commonly known as Hertha BSC (), and sometimes referred to as Hertha Berlin, Hertha BSC Berlin, or simply Hertha, is a German professional football club based in the locality of Westend of the borough of Charlo ...

, there is no record of him ever winning a contract with any European club.

References

External links

Michael Lewis; ''Young Soccer Stars''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rys, Miro 1957 births 1977 deaths American men's soccer players Men's association football forwards Chicago Sting (NASL) players Czechoslovak emigrants to the United States Hertha BSC players Los Angeles Aztecs players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players People from Cicero, Illinois Sportspeople from Kladno Footballers from the Central Bohemian Region Road incident deaths in West Germany Soccer players from Cook County, Illinois United States men's international soccer players