CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES - January 18: Chris Armas of USA on the ball during the International ... More Friendly match between USA and Denmark at Home Depot Center Carson on January 18, 2004 in California, United States. (Photo by Graham Whitby Boot/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images) Getty Images If you go by cold numbers, then Chris Armas' career statistics were pretty ordinary. He finished with all of 36 goal contributions (12 goals and 24 assists) in 260 Major League Soccer matches. Armas, however, brought another value to the soccer pitch. He forged a reputation on keeping down the numbers of some of the best playmakers as the leading defensive midfielder just about a generation ago for the Chicago Fire and LA Galaxy. Call the position what you want - defensive midfielder, holding midfielder, central midfielder or a Number 6 - Armas became the poster child on how to perform that role superbly during an outstanding 12-year career. "People forget that every successful team has a successful holding midfielder," said MLS senior technical director, competition Alfonso Mondelo said. "It's such a key position." MORE FOR YOU Google’s Update Decision—Bad News For 50% Of Android Users Malware Steals 1.7 Billion Passwords — Now For Sale On The Dark Web Meta, Microsoft Spike On Robust Earnings Reports—As Microsoft Reclaims Crown As World’s Largest Company Despite his accomplishments - 66 appearances for the U.S. men's national team, one MLS Cup championship, four Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup titles, five MLS Best XI honors and six MLS All-Star Game selections - it took Armas a confounding 18 years after he hung up his jersey for good to receive the ultimate honor. On Saturday, he will be inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame on the Veteran's Ballot in Frisco, Texas. CHICAGO - OCTOBER 21: Chicago Fire's Chris Armas (L) and Bakary Soumare (4) celebrate with John ... More Thorrington (C) after Thorrington scored the winning goal during the second half of an MLS game against the Los Angeles Galaxy at Toyota Park on October 21, 2007 in Bridgeview, Illinois. The Fire won 1-0. (Photo by Brian Kersey/MLS/WireImage) A gentleman and an icon "Sometimes the Hall of Fame is a little bit of a popularity contest," Mondelo said. "But in this case, I can't think of anybody more deserving throughout his career because of not only what he has accomplished, but unfortunately, what he was not able to do." Mondelo was referring to the fact that Armas missed two World Cups and an Olympic selection through no fault of his own, incurring knee injuries each time. "He is a gentleman of the game, and he is an icon, someone that other players look up to and try to emulate," Mondelo added. It should be noted that Mondelo could be a bit biased. He coached the Brentwood, N.Y. native in the Olympic Development Program on Long Island. "You already got to see the qualities and characteristics that made him the player that ended up being a stalwart in the MLS, a national team player, captain of the national team," Mondelo said. "He was an honest player who comes and gives everything that he has every single time he steps on the field, from whether it be at practice or whether it be a team you can rely on completely." Mondelo also coached Armas when the Long Island Rough Riders captured the 1995 U.S. Interregional Soccer League crown, with the midfielder helping set up the game-winning goal with seconds to spare in regulation. UNITED STATES - OCTOBER 25: Soccer: MLS Championship, Chicago Fire's Chris Armas in action vs DC ... More United, Pasadena, CA 10/25/1998 (Photo by Robert Beck/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images) (SetNumber: X56621) Sports Illustrated via Getty Images That championship season At 5-foot-7 and 150 lbs., Armas hardly looked like the most intimidating player on the field. But the league learned otherwise. The 1998 season turned out to be a special one for Armas. The Galaxy traded him to theFire for Mexican international goalkeeper Jorge Campos. It turned into a one-sided deal for Chicago, which captured the MLS Cup as an expansion team that year. Armas was a big reason why. His numbers against the league’s top creative midfielders that season were mind-boggling. The quartet of D.C. United’s Marco Etcheverry, LA Galaxy’s Mauricio Cienfuegos, Kansas City Wizards’ Preki and Tampa Bay Mutiny’s Carlos Valderrama combined for 35 goals and 60 assists in 100 games. When they went up against Armas, there was a precipitous drop in their production. They combined for only two goals and four assists in 15 games, including the playoffs, against Armas. Let's repeat those numbers: two goals and four assists in 15 games. During an interview with this writer in 2020, Armas admitted he still wasn't happy he allowed that many goals and assists. "Those guys are four of the best in the league in terms of playmakers," he said. "I am annoyed at myself as we speak that I gave goals and assists against them at all. I would like to actually see those because did they come from dead-ball situations, where they not my part of the field? Where did I go wrong?" During a Zoom media conference last week, Armas talked about his tussles with them. This writer asked Armas which was the most difficult player he faced. His answer was a bit surprising. "I always said the toughest guy was Peter Novak, who was actually one of my teammates. [Head coach] Bob Bradley in Chicago would never put me on the same team as him [in training]," he replied. "Also, Jesse Marsch. "I'm not sure how many goals I gave up when I was marking those guys, but the amount of times I got elbowed in my face or poked in my throat, this is like normal behavior from Peter and Jesse." Armas said that he would add Oscar Pareja, who did his damage with FC Dallas and New Revolution, to the list. "They were all so difficult and posed different challenges to me," he added. "I think it made me better along the way. The common theme was they just were so good. You couldn't really stop them on the day. It was always trying to limit what they did, knowing what they were good at and just trying to put them in a tough game. I always would try to take time and space away, much like I coach now." Armas, who directs the Colorado Rapids in MLS, said that he "definitely had to have a different strategy for each guy. Valderrama was a magician on the ball. Etcheverry could hurt you with his passing ability from long ranges. Pareja and [MetroStars and Italian international Roberto] Donadoni, these guys you could never get close enough because they can get away from you. I can only catch them in my dreams. Because this is a PG post, we can't share with you some of the players' reactions. "Marco Etcheverry, when I saw him after the playing career was done or at an all-star game, we'd always hug each other, but he always would look at me like he wanted to kill me," Armas said. "He had such a look on his face in those games, but I knew there was some mutual respect there. I appreciated all those matchups and battles, and all those guys helped me improve in my career." Chris Armas #14 and #8 Jovan Kirovski of the United States National Football Team go into a tackle ... More with #10 Lothar Matthäus of Germany during the International Friendly match on 3rd February 1999 at the Alltel Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida, United States. The USA won the match 3 - 0. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Allsport/Getty Images) Getty Images Overcoming adversity There is little doubt that Armas is one of the best USMNT players who has never competed in a World Cup. He was a prime candidate to be one of the USA's overage players at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, but a knee injury kept him home. A devastating knee injury just before the 2002 World Cup, denied him from traveling to Korea. Four years later, another knee injury stopped him from the 2006 World Cup in Germany. The 2002 injury turned serious quickly. “Many people might not know that part of the 2002 World Cup team 10 days before the World Cup, I blew out my knee, my ACL,” Armas said. "It was, as anyone would imagine, just difficult. You miss one game as a player, it would hurt. But going from maybe the top of your game, top of your fitness levels, top quality, to a hospital getting ready for surgery was a difficult mental challenge." It was one of the biggest challenges of Armas' life as he caught a staph infection in his knee during rehab. "It was no longer about soccer anymore, or World Cups anymore," he said. "I just wanted to be healthy because you start hearing for the first time your white count, all these levels are off. It's in your blood stream, deep into your bone. This stuff can be life and death at times." He wound up on a PICC line, was on antibiotics and lost 20 lbs. "Hadn't had big adversity to that point,” Armas said. "I learned what my family meant to me, what I meant to them, how steady they are. They were rocks for me. My wife was amazing." Armas recovered the best way possible, becoming the dominant defensive midfielder in MLS again and was awarded the 2003 MLS comeback player of the year. "I fought hard to get back," he said. "I was a miserable guy for about two weeks. ... Just to not feeling sorry for myself. I did come back strong." COMMERCE CITY, CO - NOVEMBER 01: Head coach Chris Armas of the Colorado Rapids looks on in a first ... More round match against the Los Angeles Galaxy during the MLS Cup playoffs at Dick's Sporting Goods Park on November 1, 2024 in Commerce City, Colorado. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images) Getty Images A quick exit As turns Armas out, won't be able to enjoy all of Saturday's ceremonies. After his induction, he will be whisked off to his day job. He plans on coaching the Rapids (4-2-4, 16 points), who are in fifth place in the Western Conference, at D.C. United in Washington, D.C. at 7:30 p.m. ET. "The clock will be ticking," he said. "The [Hall of Fame] committee has helped arrange where I can speak first and just to get honored. Unfortunately, I have to leave the fellow inductees, not something I'm happy about. I'd love to be right alongside them, listening to them get inducted in their speeches. It's always a neat thing. "I think there's enough time that if there's no bumps in the road, essentially, to get into the airport, which shouldn't be an issue. I won't be taking anything with me. So I just try to remove any type of situation where we could delay things. There'll be transportation waiting and I'll get there before kickoff. That's what I expect to happen and be there for my team." Be there for my team. That just about defines Chris Armas' Hall of Fame career. Follow me on LinkedIn. Editorial StandardsForbes Accolades