March 6, 2008

Chris Megaloudis recently played for the booming Eastern New York Select Team (January), and it is uncertain if he will play again. The team was recently named Men’s Finalists at the 2008 USASA George F. Donnelly Cup in Carson, California.

He joined the Puerto Rico National Team in early January, and is currently training at the NY Red Bulls camp in Austria; if signed, he leaves USASA’s Eastern NY Select Team.

“This will be a good opportunity for him; he will definitely sign pro” said Eastern NY Amateur Soccer Association Vice President, Gus Xikis. “This will attract attention to him and to our teams.”

Megaloudis, 23, born into soccer, is originally from Queens, N.Y. His father, Michael, played for over 20 years in the Cosmopolitan Soccer League, and is currently with the Farmingdale Stars Over-30 team in the Long Island Soccer FC. Chris’s uncle, Nick Megaloudis, played professionally in the North American Soccer League and Major Indoor Soccer League.

Another uncle, Gus, played for the Puerto Rico National Team in the 1990’s. Certainly, soccer runs in the Megaloudis family.

Big Dreamer…

Chris’s all-time aspiration has been to play in the World Cup, and at the time, he believes that Puerto Rico can qualify if he works really hard at it.

“It was something I’ve always dreamed about as a kid,” Megaloudis said. “This is my opportunity to do it. “I’ll take it any way I can.”

In the last ten years, two Caribbean Islands have managed to prove that they play quality “football” by qualifying in the World Cup: Jamaica (1998) and Trinidad & Tobago (2006). Although it is a long shot, it is reachable.

Puerto Rican by descent, Chris’s mother, Carmen, is a native of Puerto Rico, which made team eligibility much simpler.

Additionally, he had the opportunity to play for Puerto Rico due to Dariel Collazo, Assistant Coach at Stony Brook University, and former and first Vice President of the (Federación Puertorriqueña de Fútbol) Puerto Rican Football Federation, from 2004-06.

On January 5, Chris had flown down to Salinas, about an hour and half outside of San Juan, to train and secure a spot with the team at the Puerto Rican Olympic Training Center.

Megaloudis scored a goal in a 2-0 win over Bermuda on January 16; and outstanding with a 40-yard free kick goal in a 2-2 tie with Trinidad & Tobago. These games were part of a friendly series against other Caribbean teams.

On March 26, Puerto Rico will host the Dominican Republic as part of the first leg of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. If Puerto Rico wins, they will encounter Honduras in the second round in a home-and-away series in June.

Chris, a former Seawolves forward (Stony Brook Men’s Soccer Team) where he played for two years, achieved a two-time first-team all-America East selection, tallied 15 goals and 12 assists, and led the team to the America East championship in 2005, and a berth in the NCAA College Cup. He majored in Sociology.

Regardless of his busy schedule, two trips to Puerto Rico, with stops in Bermuda and California (all in January), didn’t impede him from attending the NY Red Bulls tryouts in New Jersey.

The camp, only for the Red Bulls’ drafts and by invitation only of college and amateur players in the metropolitan area, made Megaloudis hop on a plane, but this one headed to Europe.

Chris is completing the team’s training camp in Salzburg, Austria for a two week period.

Despite what could emerge of this opportunity, Megaloudis is planning to be in Puerto Rico before March 26, to train for their World Cup qualifying match against the Dominican Republic.

Chris Megaloudis (right) warming up with Eastern NY Select Team
           at the 2008 USASA Donnelly Cup in Carson, CA.