The US and the 1994 World Cup

Our series on the US at the World Cup continues with a look at the 1994 World Cup, the only time the US hosted the tournament (so far). You can read more about US World Cup appearances in 1930 (part 1), 1930 (part 2), 1934, 1950, the 1950-1990 drought, 1990, 1994, 1998 (part 1), 1998 (part 2), 2002 (part 1), 2002 (part2) and 2006.

The lead up to the 1994 World Cup

Player development in the US after the 1990 World Cup continued to be hampered by the lack of a viable professional league in the US. Those who could went to teams in Europe. Those who couldn’t continued with the USSF grant program first established in 1988 or with indoor or semi-professional clubs. The national team itself soon embarked on what was to be a very crowded international schedule. Meanwhile, the federation was undergoing a rapid period of development of its own.

Two months after the 1990 World Cup, the presidency of the USSF was up for re-election. Then-president Werner Fricker had led the effort to secure hosting the World Cup in the US. But he had disappointing success in selling the event to corporate America. FIFA had chosen the US to host in large part because it was hoped that the huge profits generated by the 1984 Olympics could be duplicated and was far from pleased. In the US soccer community Fricker was viewed as aloof and had fallen out of favor with many of the state and regional soccer associations.

Paul Stiehl was an early opposition candidate to Fricker but he was soon eclipsed by Alan Rothenberg, the man who had run the soccer tournament at the ’84 Olympics that had so impressed FIFA in the first place. Rothenberg’s election as president would lead to a transformation of the institutional culture at the USSF. At the time still reliant on volunteers, Rothenberg professionalized the federation, replacing the volunteers with, as David Wangerin writes in Soccer in a Football World, “salaried administrators with business acumen and experience in the burgeoning discipline of ‘event marketing.’”

Rothenberg’s election was followed by the appointment of Bora Milutinovic as coach of the national team. Milutinovic had coached Mexico to the quaterfinals in the 1986 World Cup and Costa Rica to the second round in 1990. Milutinovic’s coaching style—show the players what you want to do by playing along side them in practice and keep the game simple—helped to transform the team, as did a grueling schedule of international matches which included winning the inaugural Gold Cup in 1991. In 1993, for example, the US played 34 full internationals including matches against the likes of Brazil, England (who they beat for the first time since 1950) and Germany, three matches in the Copa America (the US and Mexico had been invited as guests) and five matches in the Gold Cup.

Throughout the less than inspiring run up to the World Cup which included draws to Moldova and Saudi Arabia, a defeat to Iceland and a close win over Armenia—all at home—Milutinovic employed a large number of players. His “persistence “in shuffling his line-up and instigating a parade of substitutions,” Wangerin writes, “hinted more at panic than experimentation.” When it came time for his final selection Milutinovic included only eight members from the 1990 team as well as five from UCLA where his assistant, Sigi Schmid, coached.

The 1990 tournament in Italy had been widely viewed as a disappointment in terms of entertainment value and FIFA instigated various rule changes such as clamping down on tackles from behind, a more generous interpretation of the offside rule for the attacking team and awarding three points for a victory rather than two, in an effort to increase more positive play. While some observers wondered if these rule changes were really more about pandering to a less knowledgeable American audience, and others decried the undeniable fact that the tournament had been commercialized with corporate tie-ins as never before, all were astonished when it was announced that 3.5 million of the available 3.65 million tickets had been sold before the start of the tournament, two-thirds of them in the US. Wangerin writes,

Never before had a single event so effectively unified the disparate strands of the country’s soccer community: immigrant fans, soccer moms and dads, wistful NASL devotees, college and high school coaches, and all those millions of youngsters. The World Cup had never seen such numbers

The US at the 1994 World Cup

For the first time since the inaugural 1930 World Cup in Uruguay, the US, as a the host nation, did not have to qualify. The more cynical of observers assumed the US would get an easy draw. While FIFA was kind enough to grant the US one of its top six seeds, the teams drawn in its group—Colombia, Romania and Switzerland—were anything but pushovers.

The first match for the US was on June 18, 1994 against Switzerland and was played at, of all places, the Pontiac Silverdome on a temporary grass pitch. The first match in World Cup history to be played indoors, the stadium had been designed to keep the winter out and was not equipped with air conditioning. The stifling heat did nothing to dampen the enthusiasm of the more than 73,000 people on hand to see the match who proceeded to produce a level of partisan support probably never before experienced by a US team.

Despite the noise, Switzerland scored first on a free kick from Georges Bregy and suddenly the US were faced with the possibility that their hope to make it to the second round would be quashed by the weakest team in the group. A wonder of a free kick by Eric Wynalda tied the score at 1-1 just before the half. While the Swiss controlled play for long stretches in the second half, both sides wilted in the hot and humid conditions. The match ended as a 1-1 draw and the hopes of the US were still alive. It was also the first point the earned by the US in a World Cup since its defeat of England in 1950. (You can watch a YouTube clip of Wynalda’s goal below.)

US celebrates its victory over Colombia

Four days later the US faced Colombia in front of 93,000 at the Rose Bowl. Colombia was viewed by many as one of the tournament’s contenders but they had lost their first match to Romania.

Colombia controlled play in the early stages of the match. Momentum was shifting to the US when in the 34th minute a low cross from John Harkes intended for Ernie Stewart resulted in own goal by Colombian defender Andres Escobar. In the 52nd minute, Tab Ramos lifted the ball over the Colombian defense to the feet of Stewart who put the ball past the keeper for the second goal of the match. Adolfo Valencia got a goal back for the Colombians in the 89th minute but it was too little too late.

While many were quick to proclaim the victory as some kind of ‘miracle on the grass,’ others wondered if perhaps the Colombians were guilty of believing too much the hype that had surrounded them going into the World Cup. Whatever the case, it was an important upset: the US hopes were still alive while Colombia’s were over. (You can watch a YouTube clip of the match below.)

On July 2nd, Andres Escobar, who was known by the nickname “El Caballero del Futbol“—”The Gentelman of Football” or “Football’s Knight”—was shot twelve times outside of a bar in Medellin suburb, presumably at the direction of gambling syndicates who had lost money on the USA v Colombia match. The killer reportedly shouted “Goal!” before each shot.

On June 26 the US faced Romania, again at the Rose Bowl, needing only one point to secure a spot in the second round. But the US was undone by Romania’s greater experience and tactical discipline. Roger Allaway and Colin Jose note in The United States Tackles the World Cup that the counterattacking style of the Romanians was idea for the scorching conditions: 101°F for the 93, 869 spectators in the stands, 120°F for the 22 players on the pitch. Dan Petrescu’s strike in the 19th minute proved to be enough to best the US and the match ended 1-0. (You can watch a YouTube clip of Petrescu’s goal below.)

Romania and Switzerland advanced to the next round as first and second place finishers in the group. The US still had a chance to advance if its four points proved to be enough to place it among the top four 3rd place finishers of the group stage. It took two days to find out, but the US finished in the top four and next faced Brazil.

Alexi Lalas, a tenacious defender, blowhard

84,000 were on hand at Stanford Stadium on July 4th, joined by some 28 million television viewers. Although the final scoreline was only 1-0, Brazil controlled play for the entire match and the US was unable to muster a single shot on goal. This was due in some part to the fact that two of the best US midfielders were unavailable for the match: John Harkes was suspended for getting two yellow cards in group play and Claudio Reyna was out with a hamstring injury. Tab Ramos, who had started the match, left it when Brazilian defender Leonardo elbowed him in the head and fractured his skull. Now down to ten men, Brazil continued to attack. In the 72nd minute they were rewarded when Romario found a way through the packed US defense to lay the ball off to Bebeto, who scored the only goal of the match. For the US the 1994 World Cup was over. (You can watch a YouTube clip of the match below.)

Switzerland would be knocked out of the round of 16 by Spain, 3-0. Romania defeated Argentina 3-2 in what many considered to be the best match of the 1994 World Cup but lost to Sweden in the quarterfinals on penalty kicks after extra time. Brazil would meet Italy in front of 94,000 at the Rose Bowl in the first World Cup final to be decided by penalty kicks. When an injured Roberto Baggio missed for Italy, Brazil would lift the trophy for the first time since 1970.

After the 1994 World Cup

The 1994 World Cup was a tremendous success, both for FIFA and for US soccer. Average attendance was just under 69,000 and the event would set a new record for total attendance with nearly 3.6 million going to matches, a record that still stands. It was also the highest attended sporting event in US history. Perhaps most importantly, the US team had not embarrassed itself at home on the world stage.

There were still plenty who found low scoring games boring or a final decided by penalty kicks incomprehensible. Others, thanks to an unprecedented level of television coverage or because they were able to attend a match, found beauty and excitement in a sport, a competition and a culture to which they had never before been exposed.

As more US players made their way to Europe to play, the momentum from the 1994 World Cup finally led in 1996 to the first season of a viable professional league, Major League Soccer. How the effect of this increase in domestic and international club experience would benefit the US at the 1998 World Cup in France was yet to be seen. First the US would have to qualify.

USA v Switzerland: Wynalda’s Gola

USA v Colombia

USA v Romania: Petrescu’s Gola

USA v Brazil