Marcelo Balboa, one of the Southern California-bred legends who led the charge for American soccer in the late 1980s and early 1990s, was inducted Tuesday into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame.

Balboa (Cerritos/Cerritos HS) played in three World Cups, anchoring the U.S. backline in 1990 and 1994, to highlight a career in which he represented the U.S. national time 128 times.

He played primarily in Colorado, where he lives, spending 1992 and 1993 with A-League powerhouse Colorado Foxes and the first six seasons of Major League Soccer with the Colorado Rapids. He's worked as a television analyst for ESPN, ABC, NBC and on Rapids telecasts and as host of a radio show in Denver while running Trebol Soccer Club in Lafayette, Colo.

“It was just exciting,” Balboa told the Boulder Daily Camera. “You want to be able to leave a legacy for your kids, and that's the first thing I thought about. They can look at what their father did and tell their kids. That part of it is really cool. And this award isn't just for me. I couldn't have done this without all the teammates and fans that supported me over the years.”