December 9, 2022 – Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) News Release
There are so many reasons why the great Steve Zungul deservedly and belatedly was elected to the National Soccer Hall of Fame.
Yes, he totaled a ridiculous number of goals and assists, setting indoor standards and the bar sky high.
But he was much more than just numbers.
He was a winner many times over.
One game stands out in my mind – the 1981 Major Indoor Soccer League championship game between the New York Arrows and St. Louis Steamers before 17,206 enthusiastic supporters at the Checkerdome in St. Louis that March 29.
In the final minute of the winner-take-all one-match final, the game was tied at 5-5.
Quite appropriately, two of the best players in the league were pitted against one another.
Steve Zungul vs. Slobo Ilijevski.
A perennial MVP forward vs. a two-time MISL goalkeeper of the year.
Countryman vs. countryman.
Up until then, Zungul had accrued three goals and assisted on a fourth, living up to one of the greatest nicknames in all of sports, The Lord of All Indoors. He had one more magic moment in him.
As with many indoor goals, the deciding tally happened so quickly.
Defender David D’Errico stripped a Steamers player of the ball at midfield. He passed to Luis Alberto, whose goal tied the match at 5-5 with 3:30 remaining in regulation. Meanwhile, Zungul worked his way free of his coverage.
“They know if they stop me, they’re going to win the game,” Zungul said at the time.
Alberto then pinpointed a feed to the 26-year-old Yugoslavian native, who had only Ilijevski standing in the way of the Arrows’ third consecutive MISL championship.
“I know he goes out,” said Zungul, who moved slightly to his left. “I moved the ball on the side. It was essential.”
Ilijjevski was desperate. He tried to do anything to stop Zungul, who was inside the penalty arc.
“He was alone,” he said. “I had to catch him or the ball. I grabbed his shirt before he shot.”
It didn’t matter.
The goalkeeper fell to the ground as Zungul, demonstrating his finesse, slotted the ball into the unattended net for a 6-5 Arrows advantage.
“It was a lucky goal,” Ilijevski said.
“It was so sloppy,” Zungul said.
Moreover, it also was the winning goal.
Thirty seconds later, the Arrows celebrated their third consecutive MISL crown in as many tries since the league started during the 1978-79 campaign. Zungul ran to the middle of the arena and dropped to the carpet from exhaustion.
A 2011 inductee of the Indoor Soccer Hall of Fame, Zungul scored…