McBride the Brave

There are always those bizarre exceptions. For example, the French keeper Alex Thépot was substituted in 1930 World Cup after being kicked in the head by a Mexican player. But this seems to have been unofficially allowed for in the same tournament US keeper Jimmy Douglas was injured when he was intentionally fouled by an Argentinian player. Barely able to stand up, let alone move, Douglas had to continue on. It was not until the 1958 World Cup that FIFA officially allowed substitutions and only then for one injured goalie and one injured field player. It was not until the 1970 World Cup that FIFA officially allowed three substitutions for tactical reasons as well as for injuries.

For the US in 1930, 1934 and 1950, extra players were on the roster in case of a catastrophic injury among the relatively fixed starting 11. Philadelphia’s own James Gentle, one of the 16 players on the roster in 1930, seems to have been chosen largely because he spoke Spanish: he didn’t play a minute in the tournament.

Things are of course different now and this is reflected in the size of team’s rosters. In the 2002 World Cup, for example, Bruce Arena started 16 players, using a different lineup for each of the five games the US played, both because players were injured and for tactical reasons. For the same reasons, it’s very likely that we’ll see a different lineup from the one that Bob Bradley picked to face England through the course of the group stages.

Part of the fun of watching the World Cup is talking about great moments and players from the past. While the record of the US at the World Cup, like that of most countries who have played in it, is not as memorable as many of us would like, the history of the US at the World Cup is full of players worth remembering.

The question is, are there enough of them to build a truly great World Cup team?

Below is a 30 player roster for a All-World Cup US team and my reasons for including each player. It’s up to you to whittle it down to a final 23.

Anyone on the 2010 US World Cup squad who hasn’t played in a previous World Cup is not included. With that in mind, if you think someone should have been included on the 30-player list, sound off in the comment area. But when you do so, also suggest who that player should replace and why. Fair is fair, after all.

Frank Borghi being carried off the pitch after keeping a clean sheet against England in 1950

Goalkeepers (Pick 3)

I know, Tim Howard should be on this list. But, while he was on the 2006 World Cup team, he didn’t play a minute because he was behind Kasey Keller and didn’t become the first-choice goalkeeper until Bob Bradley became coach. His game against England in 2010 was truly magnificent but the injury to his ribs might mean that further playing time is limited.

Frank Borghi (1950): One of the heroes of the 1–0 victory over England, he withstood a barrage of shots to keep a clean sheet against the best team in the world. The Brazilian crowd carried him and Joe Gaetjens off the pitch on their shoulders after the win. 9 caps (There were very few opportunities to earn national team starts before the US Soccer Federation began to get its act together in preparation for qualifying for the 1990 World Cup.).

Brad Friedel (1994, 1998, 2002): Played behind Tony Meola in 1994 and Kasey Keller in 1998. “The Human Wall was an absolute monster in 2002, where he became the first goalie since 1974 to save two penalty kicks during regular play. 82 caps.

Kasey Keller (1990, 1994, 1998, 2002): Like Meola, he was a stalwart on the US team and one of a wave of US goalkeepers to find success internationally in club play. Had the misfortune to be the starting keeper in the terrible showings of the US team at the 1998 and 2006 World Cups. 102 caps.

Tony Meola (1990, 1994, 1998, 2002): While never a success internationally in club play, he kept a clean sheet in the 1–0 victory over Trinidad and Tobago and played every minute for the US in the 1994 World Cup, until 2002 the best performance by the US since 1930. 100 caps.

Harry Keough wins a header against England in the 1950 World Cup

Defenders (Pick 7)

The obvious choices start showing up in 1994 because, let’s face it, the US defense let goals in like a sieve in 1934, 1950 and 1990. Come to think of it, it wasn’t so great in 1998 and 2006 either.

Marcelo Balboa (1990, 1994, 1998): One of the most capped players in soccer history, Balbao played in all three US matches in 1990—including two starts—and  played every minute in 1994. Steve Sampson played him a total of nine minutes in 1998. A defender with a habit of finding the net. 128 caps and 13 goals.

Carlos Bocanegra (2006, 2010): Played two matches in 2006 at left back, the current US captain is a proven leader. 80+ caps and 12 goals and counting.

Paul Caligiuri (1990, 1994): Scored the goal in the final match of qualification for 1990 to put the US in the World Cup for the first time since 1950, Caligiuri scored the first US goal since 1990 and started in every match for the US in the 1990 and 1994 World Cups. 110 caps and five goals.

Eddie Pope takes it to Alberto Gilardino in the 2006 World Cup

Thomas Dooley (1994, 1998): Played every minute of the 1994 World Cup and started every match in 1998 where he was the US captain. 81 caps and 7 goals.

Frankie Hejduk (1998, 2002): Two starts in 1998 and four starts in 2002, he can play on the right or the left. 85 caps and 7 goals.

Harry Keough (1950): He was everywhere in the match against England in 1950. 17 caps and 1 goal.

Alexi Lalas (1994, 1998): A standout in 1994, he later found some success playing in Italy. Selected for the 1998 team, he did not play a single minute. Now makes his living as a blowhard. 96 caps and 9 goals.

George Moorehouse (1930): A versatile utility player with experience playing left wing and a knack for carrying the ball up field to create dangerous scoring chances. 7 caps.

Oguchi Onyewu (2006, 2010): Started in all three matches in 2006, his disputed foul in the closing minutes of the last game against Ghana gave them the game winner. A towering presence who, against expectation, played all 90 minutes against England in 2010. 50+ caps and 5 goals and counting.

Eddie Pope (1998, 2002): Two starts in 1998 and five starts in 2002. Would have had three starts in 2006 but for a dubious red card in the match against Italy. 82 caps and 8 goals.

Walt Bahr

Midfielders (Pick 9)

Things start to get  little more difficult here, I think.

Walt Bahr (1950): His shot led to Joe Gaetjens goal to give the US the 1–0 victory over England in 1950. The Philadelphia-native was captain of the 1950 US team and widely considered to be the greatest player of his generation. 18 caps and 1 goal.

DaMarcus Beasley (2002, 2006, 2010): With three starts in the 2002 World Cup group stages, Beasley was the target of criticism along with Landon Donovan for poor performance in 2006. Against expectation, fought his way onto the 2010 team. 92 caps and 17 goals and counting.

Clint Dempsey (2006, 2010): Scored the only US goal of 2006 with an assist from Beasley, and the first goal for the US in 2010, Dempsey has shown a knack for the dramatic goal. 60+ caps and 19 goals and counting.

Landon Donovan (2002, 2006, 2010): A star in 2002—where he scored against Poland and Mexico—and a goat in 2006, he is now determined to claim his place in world soccer. 42 goals with 120+ caps and counting.

Thomas Florie (1930, 1934): Scored in 1930, one of the outstanding US midfielders of the 1930s. 8 caps and 2 goals.

Billy Gonsalves and Bert Patenaude

Billy Gonsalves (1930, 1934): “The Babe Ruth of American soccer,” this versatile player made a dangerous combination with Bert Patenaude as a forward in 1930 and was a threat as a center half in 1934. The recipient of many offers to play in Europe after 1934, he returned to America instead. 6 caps and 1 goal.

John Harkes (1990, 1994): One of the new wave of American players capable of finding success abroad, Harkes played in every group stage match in 1990 and 1994 but missed the Round of 16 match against Brazil because of suspension. The “Captain for Life” was not selected for the 1998 team because of “leadership issues,” e.g. sleeping with a teammate’s wife. 90 caps and 6 goals.

Cobi Jones (1994, 1998, 2002): Three appearances and a start against Brazil in 1994. Played every minute in 1998. Four appearances in 2002. The all-time US cap leader with 164 caps and 15 goals.

Tab Ramos (1990, 1994, 1998): A starter in every match in 1990 and 1994, played in two matches in 1998 including one start. 81 caps and 8 goals.

Claudio Reyna (1994, 1998, 2002, 2006): Selected for 1994 but did not play due to injury. Played every minute in 1998. Missed the first match in 2002 but started the next four games as captain. The only American other than Bert Patenaude to be named to a World Cup all-tournament team. Captain again in 1996 until injured in last match against Ghana. 112 caps and 8 goals.

Earnie Stewart (1994, 1998, 2002): Three starts as a forward in 1994. Moved to midfield where he had three appearances including two starts in 1998 and five appearances including two starts in 2002. Susceptible to the red card. 101 caps and 17 goals.

Aldo "Buff" Donnelli

Forwards (Pick 4)

The US has always been weak in the killer forward department, but this selection should give some food for thought.

Aldo “Buff” Donnelli (1934): An unknown when selected for the 1934 squad, he scored all four goals against Mexico in the special qualifier played in Rome and the only goal against Italy in the 7–1 loss. 2 caps and 5 goals.

Joe Gaetjens (1950): Scored the winning goal against England in 1950. Walt Bahr has said Gaetjens could score from anywhere. 3 caps and 1 goal.

Brian McBride (1998, 2002, 2006): Second behind Patenaude for goals scored at the World Cup, McBride is the first US player to score in two World Cups with one goal in 1998 and 2 in 2002. Fearless. 95 caps and 30 goals.

Joe-Max Moore (1994, 1998, 2002): Selected in 1994 but did not play. Two starts in 1998, two appearances in 2002. 100 caps and 24 goals.

Bert Patenaude (1930): Scored four goals including the first hat trick in World Cup history. Also had two assists. 4 caps and 6 goals.

Eric Wynalda (1990, 1994, 1998): Two games with one start in 1990. Four games with three starts and one goal in 1994. Two games with one start in 1998. 106 caps, 34 goals.

With the World Cup finally here and many of us hoping the U.S. would make history, it made sense to look back again at that history in one shot.

So, here, in all it’s glory, is the full series.

• 2006
• 2002 (At the World Cup)
• 2002 (The road to the World Cup)
• 1998 (At the World Cup)
• 1998 (The road to the World Cup)
• 1994
• 1990
• 1950-1990 (The World Cup Drought)
• 1950 — Philadelphia ties to the England-U.S. game
• 1950
• 1934
• 1930
• Before the first World Cup

While the US enjoyed its best finish at the inaugural World Cup in 1930 where it finished third, it is safe to say the team’s  best World Cup performance was in 2002. Finishing third in 1930 was a major accomplishment that had surprised many observers. But, only four European teams made the trip to Uruguay and no African or Asian countries were represented. Simply put, in 1930 the tournament was a “World Cup” more in name than actual fact.

In 2002, the US again surprised many observers by making it to the quarterfinals and the team’s performance in the quarterfinal match left many observers thinking that the US had actually outplayed the winner of that game and eventual finalist Germany. After a dismal performance in 1998 where the US finished 32nd out of 32 teams, the US had shown it deserved to be on the world stage.

While the third place finish in 1930 came at a time when the American Soccer League could legitimately claim to be the second most popular professional team sport in the US, the economy of professional sports was barely developed. Professional soccer would experience years of decline before the NASL all too brief brief and entirely unstable appearance. Its reliance on aging foreign players to sell tickets meant that the league’s contribution to the development of talent for the national team was marginal at best.

With the appearance of  Major League Soccer in 1996—the origin of which was tied to the US winning the bid to host the 1994 World Cup—the US now had a pool of players who either had their beginnings in, or were currently playing in, a stable professional American soccer league, even if it was one that continued to struggle to find its place in a professional sports economy that had long been staked out by American football, baseball, basketball and hockey.

The US campaign in 2002 had gone some way in helping to shore up MLS as fans of the national team both new and old looked for ways to continue to follow the game. Importantly, the US performance had raised the expectations of those fans as well as more casual observers. Simply making it to the World Cup was no longer enough. By the time of its fifth consecutive World Cup appearance in Germany in 2006 US soccer fans now expected the team to advance from the group stage.

Qualifying for the 2006 World Cup

Eddie Johnson

Some 34 countries participated in the preliminary round of CONCACAF qualifiers, with ten groups of three teams and two groups of two teams. The best ranked team in each of the first ten groups of three was given a bye. At least ten teams—three of which were coached by former US national team coaches— in the first round would use players from the MLS, an indication of the league’s growing regional importance.

Placed in the first group of the preliminary round, the US faced Grenada, who had beaten Guyana by a total score of 8–1 in its first two games. The US beat Grenada in both of their meetings. DaMarcus Beasley scored a brace (45′, 71′) and Greg Vanney one (90′), in a 3-0 victory on June 13, 2004 at Columbus Crew Stadium. When the teams met at Grenada National Stadium on June 20, the match was tighter. Jason Roberts (12′) and Ricky Charles (77′) scored for Grenada but the US was never behind in the match with goals from Landon Donovan (6′), Josh Wolff (19′) and Beasley (76′).

The US was again in Group 1 in the second stage of the CONCACAF qualifiers, this time along with Panama, Jamaica and El Salvador. They began against Jamaica away at Independence Park on August 18 in front of  wildly enthusiastic home support. The home team came out to attack but the US was able to stop any threats until Ian Goodison scored in the 49th minute. Brian Ching, playing in his third international, salvaged the tie when he shot home a pass from Donovan in the 88th minute.

Hosting El Salvador at Gillette Stadium on September 4, the US dominated the match, outshooting their opponents for 19–1 for a 2–0 win from goals by Ching (5′) and Donovan (68′). Playing Panama four days later at Estadio Rommel Fernandez, the US put in one of their worst performances in years, though Roberto Brown’s goal in the 69th minute was equaled by Cobi Jones in stoppage time from what appeared to be an offsides position.

The US coasted its way through the rest of the second stage of qualifiers. At Estadio Cuscatlan in El Salvador on October 9, Brian McBride scored the first goal in the 2–0 victory in the 29th minute. Eddie Johnson, playing in his international debut, scored the second in the 75th minute, just five minutes after coming on as a sub. Four days later the US demolished Panama 6–1 at RFK Stadium. Donovan’s two goals (21′, 56′) was bested by Johnson’s hat trick (69, 84′, 86′), this time after being subbed into the game in the 65th minute. Panama contributed to the tally with an own goal by Jose Anthony Torres in the 89th minute.

Having secured its advancement to the final round of qualification, the last match against Jamaica at Columbus Crew Stadium on November 17 was notable primarily for Johnson scoring his fifth goal (15′) in only 61 minutes on the pitch as an international, so becoming the first US player to score in his first three qualification games. Jamaica’s Andrew Williams scored in the 26th minute for a 1–1 draw.

Celebrating the 2-0 win over Mexico to qualify for the 2006 World Cup

In the third and final stage of qualification, the US was joined by Mexico, Costa Rica, Trinidad & Tobago, Guatemala and Panama. At first the US  team was overshadowed by events off the field: the US players were involved in a contract dispute with the the United States Soccer Federation over player compensation, retroactivity and World Cup bonuses that resulted in the cancellation of the January 2005 training camp. Thankfully, the players agreed to put aside the dispute until after the qualifiers were completed.

The US renewed its campaign with a 2–1 victory over Trinidad & Tobago on February 9 at Queen’s Park Oval in Port-of-Spain, with Johnson (23′) scoring again. Eddie Lewis scored in the 53rd minute and Angus Eve got a consolation goal for the home team in the 87th minute.

Lewis next scored the team’s lone goal in the 58th minute in a 2–1 loss to Mexico at the Azteca on March 27. Having packed the midfield with five players, the US held off Mexico for the first 30 minutes when Jared Borgetti scored. Two minutes later, Zinha scored again for Mexico. The US rebounded three days later with a 2–0 victory over Guatemala at Legion field in Birmingham, Alabama, with goals by Johnson (11′) and Steve Ralston (69′).

The US next hosted Costa Rica on June 4 at Rice Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City. Two goals by Donovan (10′, 62′) and another by McBride (87′) gave the US a 3–0 win. Four days later, the US beat Panama 3–0 with goals from Carlos Bocanegra (6′), Donovan (19′) and McBride (39′). Taking time off to win the 2005 Gold Cup over Panama on penalty kicks, the team resumed its qualification campaign with a 1–0 victory over Trinidad & Tobago on August 17 at Rentschler Field, thanks to a McBride goal in the 2nd minute.

The US now needed only one more victory to qualify for the 2006 World Cup. Fittingly, their next opponent was Mexico. After a scoreless first half at Columbus Crew Stadium on September 3, the US took the lead with a goal from Ralston in the 53rd minute. Four minutes later, Claudio Reyna delivered the ball to Beasley who finished to make it 2–0, the final scoreline of the match.

Unimaginable only a few years before, the US had qualified for the World Cup with three matches to go. A 0–0 draw against Guatemala at Estadio Mateo Flores on September 7 was followed by a disappointing 3–0 loss to Costa Rica at Estadio Ricardo Saprissa on October 8 with a single goal by Paulo Wanchope (34′) and two from Carlos Hernandez (60′, 88′). But the US rebounded with a convincing 2–0 victory over Panama four days later at Gillette Stadium thanks to goals from Kyle Martino (51′) and Taylor Twellman (57′).

Bobby Convey

At the 2006 World Cup

The performance of the US team at the 2002 World Cup, combined with its dominance in the CONCACAF qualifications for the 2006 World Cup and being ranked fifth in the world going into the tournament, meant high expectations within the US team and for its fans.

Eleven players returned from the 2002 squad. For core players Kasey Keller and Reyna, 2006 would be their fourth World Cup, the third for McBride and Eddie Pope. Young phenoms at the 2002 World Cup like Donovan, Beasley, Wolff and Pablo Mastroeni were joined by new talents like Philadelphia’s own Bobby Convey as well as Oguchi Onyewu, Johnson and Ching. But the US had been drawn into the Group of Death with the number 2 ranked Czech Republic, number 13 ranked Italy, and Ghana who, despite being ranked 48th, were a formidable force.

Reyna tries to stop Tomas Rosicky

USA 0–3 Czech Republic

When the US played Czechoslovakia in its first World Cup match in 40 years in 1990, it took 25 minutes for the Czechs to score in what became a 5–1 rout. This time, reality came to the US five minutes into the first match off of the head of Jan Koller. By the time Tomas Rosicky was finished adding two more goals in the 36th and 76th minute the US was in a state of shock. Looking like a “bewildered World Cup newcomer again,” the US had managed only one shot on goal during the game. Its showing at the previous World Cup meant that the US was taken very seriously by the Czech team and they “swarmed” Donovan and Beasley, the surprise sensations of 2002.

Coach Bruce Arena, not one to publicly criticize his players, said ”Landon showed no aggressiveness tonight . . . We got nothing out of Beasley on the night.” Convey was singled out as one of the few US players who had ”the courage” to attack. Said Keller after the game, ”We didn’t play well. We didn’t compete. We didn’t make the plays . . . It was just a shame. We definitely gave the game away, and that’s what we’re frustrated about.” (You can watch a YouTube clip of the game below.)

With their next match against Italy only five days away, Reyna warned, ”We all have to learn quick, especially the young guys . . . We can’t wait months or years to get better. We have to get better quickly, and I think we can do that.” In actuality, the US’ chances were very slim: in the previous two World Cups, only one team, Turkey, had lost its first match and managed to advance out of the group stage.

Beasley battles Italy's Allessandro Nesta

USA 1–1 Italy

In a game that featured a lot of red in the form of blood, it was red cards that were the deciding factor in this hard fought match.

The US knew it needed a win if it was to have any control over its own destiny and the team made its intentions clear to the Italians from the start. But in the 22nd minute the team’s difficulties in defending set pieces showed when Alberto Gilardino got behind the US defense to head home Andrea Pirlo’s free kick. Five minutes later the US got lucky when Convey’s free kick was deflected into the net by Cristian Zaccardo.

And then the Uruguayan referee Jorge Larrionda began “flashing red cards at a pace seldom seen in World Cup play,” sending off Daniele De Rossi for a nasty challenge to McBride that required three stitches to his left cheek. Seventeen minutes later, Mastroeni was sent off for a cleats-up challenge to Pirlo. Mastroeni said afterward, ”I think that foul anywhere in the world is a yellow card.” Two minutes into the second half Pope was sent off after receiving a second yellow card for a tackle in which he first won the ball and then took down Gilardino. The rest of the match would be played nine on ten.

McBride the Brave

Still, the US continued to attack and in the 66th minute Beasley appeared to score the go ahead goal only to have it called back for offsides. The US was kept in the game largely because of an outstanding performance by Keller that included him making two terrific saves of dangerous shots by Alessandro Del Piero. Said Keller after the match, “It was a crazy game.” (You can watch a YouTube clip of the game below.)

The draw gave the US its first point in any World Cup match in Europe. While this may have been an small consolation, greater consolation was provided by the upset victory by Ghana over the Czech Republic: the point meant that the US could advance if they could beat Ghana and Italy also beat the Czechs.

USA 1–2 Ghana

The US faced Ghana in a do-or-die match on June 22 at EasyCredit-Stadion in Nuremberg. When Haminu Draman put Ghana up 1–0 in the 22nd minute the US did not wilt and in the 43rd minute Clint Dempsey equalized with a volley from a cross by Beasley. Only four minutes later, in the second minute of first half stoppage time, the game turned on a hotly disputed call by German referee Markus Merk. Jostling for a header on the edge of the penalty area, the 6-foot-4 Onyewu made contact with the 5-foot-8 Razak Pimpong. Steven Appiah converted the penalty kick to put Ghana up 2–1.

Donovan after the loss to Ghana

The team’s best chance to equalize in the second half was a diving header by the fearless McBride in the 66th minute that banged off of the post. But the US simply could not find the net. Despite Italy’s 2–0 victory over the Czech Republic, the US was out of the World Cup. (You can watch a YouTube clip of the game below.)

Said Donovan after the match,

The worst part is the finality of it . . . Even during the game, you don’t get the sense, ‘This is it.’ The whistle blows and it’s over.

Ghana would lose 3–0 to Brazil in the Round of 16. Italy would beat Australia 1–0 off of a controversial penalty during stoppage time. In the quarterfinals they beat Ukraine 3–0. Against Germany in the semifinals Italy won with two goals after extra time. In the final—well, we all know what happened there, don’t we.

As they had done in 1998, the US  finished dead last in the tournament. The team managed only four shots on goal during group play, the lowest tally of any team at the 2006 World Cup. Three weeks after the tournament, Arena was dismissed. By the end of the year, the US had dropped to 31st in the FIFA rankings. Ghana was ranked 28th.

After the 2006 World Cup

Altidore and Davies celebrate after going up 1-0 over Spain in the Confederations Cup

Bob Bradley replaced Arena as coach of the national team after a period as interim coach in May of 2007. In June he led the US to win the 2007 Gold Cup and the US climbed to 16th in the FIFA rankings. After a less than impressive start in the 2009 Confederations Cup that included a 3–1 loss to Italy and a 3–0 loss to Brazil, the US beat Egypt 3–0 to advance the semifinals where it produced a shocking 2–0 upset over number one ranked Spain. Scoring two goals against Brazil in the first half of the final, the US gave up three goals in the second half and lost. But the lift of the team’s performance was a gift to US soccer fans that, along with a successful, if somewhat shaky, qualification campaign for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, once again produced expectations that it is hoped are more realistically grounded.

Soccer in the US continues to grow, just as MLS continues to add new clubs to the league. In 2006, more Americans attended the World Cup than in 16 of the seventeen tournaments put together—the exception being the 1994 World Cup hosted by the US. For the 2010 World Cup, Americans fans bought more match tickets than any other traveling nation, more than England and Germany combined. In 2006 an astonishing seventeen million viewers tuned in to watch the World Cup final, more than would watch the final game of the 2006 World Series. It is entirely possible that more will watch the US team’s first match of the World Cup against England.

US soccer fans are now among the best informed in the world. As the sport’s fan base continues to grow, the familiar news stories connecting the popularity of the sport in the US to the national team’s performance at the World Cup are less about the soccer’s survival than about how success at the World Cup might help to increase the popularity of MLS. Every fan of the game in the US expects the team to advance out of the group stage because informed fans know that the US is realistically good enough to make this happen. If they should do so even casual watchers of the game will know it was not a fluke. If the US does not advance, disappointment will be great. But that disappointment will not be the result of unrealistic expectation. Should the team not advance, soccer in the US may take some hits from the naysayers, but its popularity will continue to grow, serviced as it is by live games and extensive news coverage on cable and the Internet. However the team does, US Soccer will move on. After all, the beginning of qualification for the 2014 World Cup is only two years away.

USA v Czech Republic

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USA v Italy

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USA v Ghana

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On the road to the 2002 World Cup hosted by South Korea and Japan, US coach Bruce Arena had used 31 different players in the sixteen qualifying matches in 2000 and 2001. The large number of players used was as much related to injuries and suspensions as it was to the desire to try emerging new talent like Landon Donovan and DaMarcus Beasley. At the World Cup, Arena would start sixteen different players, using different lineups for each of the team’s five matches.

By the time the US had won the 2002 Gold Cup on February 2 by beating Costa Rica, Arena had largely settled on his World Cup roster, one which featured eleven players from MLS, six from England and six from other European leagues. Even with the 20-year-old Donovan and 19-year old-Beasley, the average age of the squad was 29.

Arena was upfront about his team’s chances:

We’re not going to win [the World Cup] because we’re not a good enough team. I don’t think anyone is going to be damaged by us saying that. I mean, how many countries have won it? If we can get a point in the first game, it will put the whole group in chaos.

Donovan, Mathis and Beasley

Hoping for a point against Portugal’s “golden generation” in a group that included Poland and host country South Korea seemed reasonable enough. With veterans like Claudio Reyna and Clint Mathis injured and newcomers like Pablo Mastroeni, Beasley and Donovan making up a starting eleven that had never been tried before—David Wangerin notes in Soccer in a Football World that before the match Arena joked with reporters that none of them could name his starting lineup—surely a victory would be too much to hope for?

The Group Stage

USA 3–2 Portugal

The US met Portugal on June 5 at Suwon World Cup Stadium. Four minutes into the game a Brian McBride header from a corner kick by Earnie Stewart was parried by Portugal goalie Vitor Baia directly to the feet of John O’Brien, who promptly put the ball into the net. Some 26 minutes later, a Donovan cross was deflected by defender Jorge Costa toward goal and Baia was unable to make the save. In the 36th minute, Tony Sanneh’s crossed to a diving McBride for a beautiful header to make it 3–0. Mastreoni recalled later, “After the first goal, I didn’t really celebrate, I just jogged back. The second goal, same thing. But after the third goal, it was like, ‘This is for real.’” For the first time since the 1930 when Bert Patenaude had scored the first hat trick in the history of the tournament the US had scored three goals in a World Cup match.

Sanneh challenges Ki Hyeon Seol

How “real” it was became quickly apparent when Beto Severo scored for Portugal in the 39th minute. When an own goal by Jeff Agoos made it 3–2 in the 70th minute, history buffs began to draw references to Portugal’s come-from-behind win over North Korea in 1966 when they had also been down by three goals and eventually won 5–3. While much of the final 45 minutes was played in the US half of the field, the US managed to hold on for its first World Cup victory on foreign soil in 72 years. (You can view a YouTube clip of the match below.)

USA 1–1 South Korea

South Korea had been creating some chaos of its own, winning its first match against Poland 2–0. When the US stepped onto the pitch at Taegu World Cup Stadium on June 10 they encountered a wall of noise generated by the home support that must have be reminiscent of what they regularly encountered in qualifying matches in Mexico or Costa Rica. South Korea would dominate much of the match, outshooting the US 19–6, with seven corner kicks and none for the US.

But they had yet to establish their dominance when the now starting—and Mohawk sporting—Mathis received a through ball from O’Brien and left-footed it past goalkeeper Lee Woon-jae in the 24th minute. Friedel had an outstanding match which included saving a penalty kick from Lee Eul-yong in the 41st minute and two spectacular saves of shots from Seol Ki-hyeon. Ahn Jung-hwan’s flick-on header from Eul-yong’s free kick finally gave South Korea the equalizer in the 78th minute. In the 87th minute South Korea had its last best chance to win the match when Choi Yong-soo sent a shot from ten yards out over the bar, but the US managed to hold on for a draw.

Sometimes a draw can feel something like a victory. Given the South Koreans’ dominance throughout the match and voracious home support, this was one of those times. Though they had been outplayed, the US had managed to hold on for what would become a crucial point with winless Poland up next while South Korea still had to face Portugal. (You can view a YouTube clip of the match below.)

Poland 3–1 US

Frankie Hejduk battles Poland's Emmanuel Olisadebe

With Poland already eliminated, the US needed only a tie in their match against Poland at Taejon World Cup Stadium on June 14 advance to the second round. Poland, however, had other ideas. Three minutes into the match Emmanuel Olisadebe made it 1–0 for Poland when he poked home a deflection from a corner kick. After five minutes of play Poland was up 2–0 thanks to a goal from Pawel Kryszalowicz. In between those two goals, a goal by Donovan was called back. Marcin Zewlakow made it 3—0 in the 66th minute. In the 83rd minute Donovan scored what amounted to a consolation goal. From only needing a tie to advance it now seemed that the US was finished, for surely Portugal, who had shellacked Poland 4–0 four days earlier, would beat South Korea.

But, 115 miles away, at Incheon Munhak Stadium, the improbable had happened. In the 70th minute, Park Ji-sung scored against a Portugal side that was down to nine men, thanks to two red cards, to give South Korea seven points and a first place finish in the group. The US finished in second place with four points. Portugal and Poland, each with three points, were going home. (You can view a YouTube clip of the match below.)

The Round of 16

USA 2—0 Mexico

At Jeonju Stadium on June 17, the US faced Mexico in the Round of 16. It was somehow fitting that the US would now face its bitterest rival for, if ever there was a time to prove to the world that the US deserved its place in the tournament, it was now. It helped that the US had won four out of five of their last meetings with Mexico.

Donovan makes it 2-0 over Mexico

For the first 36 minutes of the match, the US absorbed the pressure applied by Mexico. Then, McBride quickly took a free kick to set Reyna free on the right, who passed the ball to Josh Wolff at the near post. Wolff then pushed the ball out to a lurking McBride who scored with a blast from 12 yards out. Ten minutes into the second half, Mexico was denied a certain penalty and possible red card when O’Brien appeared to punch a shot clear of goal with his right hand. Ten minutes after that, Donovan’s header in the 65th minute made it 2–0. Increasingly frustrated, Mexico started getting chippy, and an ugly challenge on Cobi Jones resulted in Rafael Marquez being sent off in the 88th minute. But dirty play was no more effective than clean play and the US was on its way to the quarterfinals, continuing their best campaign since reaching the semifinals at the inaugural World Cup in 1930.

Once again Arena had used a different lineup, this time debuting defender Gregg Berhalter and Eddie Lewis. Donovan had again been played in a different position then his previous match. When asked if the performance of the US thus far at the World meant that the team was now in the upper echelon of the world game, Arena responded, “Not even close. We’re not pretending to be at the same level as the established teams, but the gap has closed considerably.” (You can view a YouTube clip of the match below.)

The Quarterfinals

USA 0—Germany 1

Pablo Mastroeni takes on Germany's Michael Ballack

While Germany had reached the quarterfinals or better in thirteen consecutive World Cups, they were not as strong as they had been in 1974 or 1990. Many wondered if this would be the match in which they would stumble. The US felt confident enough to take the attack to Germany from the start but simply couldn’t convert their chances. Late in the first half, momentum shifted to Germany and they began to threaten the US with a series of dead-ball opportunities. In the 39th minute Michael Ballack headed a free kick from Christian Ziege into the US goal.

Germany spent the second half defending their one goal lead and were eventually outshot by the US 11–6. Berhalter’s volley in the 50th minute was saved only by Torsten Frings unintentional handball and Sanneh’s header in the 80th minute was just barely wide. In the end, the US simply couldn’t finish their chances and the match ended 1–0 for Germany. (You can view a YouTube clip of the match below.)

While some suggested that the German’s had simply absorbed the US attack, others felt that the US had clearly outplayed their opponents. On any given day, Frings’ handball might have been called and Sanneh’s header gone in. In the moment, despite their disappointment, the US players could be proud of their performance for they had played well and hard and done much to quiet the ghost of 1998. Germany would go on to beat South Korea 1–0 in the semifinals and would lose to Brazil 2–0 in the final. Whether Arena and the US soccer were building an organization that could rightly claim a place among the upper echelon of the world’s game would be a topic for the next World Cup.

USA v Portugal

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USA v South Korea

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USA v Poland

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USA v Mexico

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USA v Germany

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Our series on the US at the World Cup continues with the second part of our look at the 1998 World Cup.

Putting 1998 in the past

The US had been humiliated at the 1998 World Cup, its poor performance on the field—one goal scored in three losses— mirrored by acrimony and dissent off the field. Four days after the last match of the group stage, a 1-0 loss to Yugoslavia, US coach Steve Sampson, by now the focus of widespread criticism from within and without the US team, resigned.

In October of 1998, Bruce Arena was named as Sampson’s replacement. Though Arena had a notably successful career as a coach at the University Virginia, including five national championships with four in a row in 1991-1994, his national team experience was limited to a 1-1-1 record at the 1996 Summer Olympics.

At the club level, Arena had enjoyed far greater success with DC United including two MLS Cup and one US Open Cup victory. Reaching the CONCACAF Champions Cup semifinals in 1997, he lead DC United to win the Champions Cup in August of 1998 and followed that by winning the Interamerican Cup in November. All in all, not a bad way to kick-start one’s national team coaching career.

Bruce Arena

Arena would enjoy the full support of the United States Soccer Federation, as well as an unprecedented $2 million salary. He and his team rewarded such confidence quickly, defeating Germany 3-0 in February of 1999. Six months later Arena’s team defeated Germany again to finish third in the Confederations Cup. In the meanwhile, the US also defeated Argentina.

Apart from the country embracing the US Women’s team after their victory in the 1999 Women’s World Cup, much was at stake for the soccer in the US. Aside from wishing to erase the memory of the team’s dismal performance in 1998, MLS continued to struggle. If the prospects for soccer were to improve, it was essential that the US team have a good showing at the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan. Before they would have that chance, they would have to make it through sixteen matches of semifinal and final qualifying.

Qualifying for the 2002 World Cup: the semifinal campaign

The first two qualifiers were away games. If that wasn’t tough enough, they each took place in July when conditions were sure to be hot and humid in Central America. For the first match on July 16, 2000, Guatemala sought to advantage of the local conditions: only a few weeks before the kickoff, they moved the location of the match from cooler Guatemala City to the tropical provincial city of Mazatenago.

Ante Razov gave the US a 1-0 lead just before the half at Estadio Carlos Salazar thanks to a pass from Claudio Reyna. As the second half progressed, the conditions began to tell on the many European-based players on the US side, playing as they were in their off-season, and Arena was slow in making substitutions. Momentum shifted to Guatemala and Carlos Ruiz equalized in the 88th minute, despite the fact that many believed he should have been ejected from the game after two clear fouls on Kasey Keller and defender Robin Fraser.  All in all, the US was satisfied with a point on the road in such conditions.

Earnie Stewart

The team next faced Costa Rica on July 23 at Estadio Ricardo Saprissa in San Jose. Rolando Fonseca scored for Costa Rica in the 10th minute with a header. Earnie Stewart equalized for the US in the 66th minute when he pounced on the rebound from Razov’s shot. The game would end controversially when Gregg Berhalter was called for a disputed handball in the penalty area and Hernan Medford converted the penalty kick in the 90th minute. Both Reyna and Arena verbally abused the official after the match—Reyna went so far as to throw his captain’s armband at him. Two months later, FIFA suspended Reyna for the next two qualifiers and Arena for three.

After two away games that resulted in only one point, the team desperately needed to win their next match. When they faced Barbados at Foxboro Stadium on August 16, the US completely dominated from the opening whistle. Their efforts were helped by the fact that two Barbados players had been given red cards by the end of the first half. The final score was 7-0 for the US with goals by Eddie Pope (14′), Brian McBride (28′), Joe-Max Moore (45′, 82′), John O’Brien (46′), Tab Ramos (72′) and Earnie Stewart (74′). It was the highest goal tally for the US in a World Cup qualifier, topping the six scored against Bermuda in 1968. Now in second place over Guatemala on goal difference, the seven goals could prove to be very valuable.

On September 3 the US faced Guatemala at RFK Stadium. Despite the fact that Eddie Lewis had been sent off in the 66th minute, Guatemala seemed content to settle for an away point and the match remained scoreless through the 72nd minute when McBride scored with a left-footed volley to beat Guatemala keeper Edgar Estrada. The 1-0 victory put the US in second place in the group with seven points, just two points behind first place Costa Rica, who they would meet at Columbus Stadium on October 11.

Clint Mathis

With Reyna, Lewis and Stewart suspended from the match, and McBride, Ramos, O’Brien, Pope and Brad Friedel injured, the US fielded a side that contained only five of the players who had faced Guatemala only a month before. A win would have secured advancement to the final round of qualifiers for either team. Instead, the result was a 0-0 draw.

The last match of the semifinal round was a must-win for the US if it was to be in control of its own destiny rather than rely on the outcomes of other qualifiers. In the first half, the US had difficulty moving the ball accurately on a pitch that was as wet as it was bumpy. Clint Mathis finally put the US on the board in the 63rd minute after finishing a pass from Moore. Stewart made it 2-0 in the 73rd minute. Four minutes later, Cobi Jones added another goal. Razoz finished things off with a fourth goal in the 90th minute and the US was through to the final round of qualifiers.

Josh Wolff

The final qualification round for the 2002 World Cup

Just as Guatemala had sought to gain an advantage by hosting its match against the US in a tropical city in July, the US looked to gain advantage by locating their first match of the final qualification round, scheduled for February 28, 2001, at Columbus Crew Stadium in Ohio. Their opponent: Mexico.

With the temperature below freezing and backed by an overwhelmingly pro-US crowd, the team gained a 2-0 victory over Mexico. Other than injuries to Reyna and McBride, nothing much happened in the first half. In the 47th minute Josh Wolff scored the first US goal with what was the first US shot of the match. Mexico threatened to equalize but Stewart’s goal in the 87th minute secured the win.

The US traveled to Estadio Olimpicos in San Pedro Sula to face Honduras on March 28. Injuries were again a factor with McBride, Moore, Pope and Reyna all sidelined. Stewart put the US in the lead in the 33rd minute when his 25 yard shot deflected off the back of defender Jose Reynaldo Clavasquin to wrongfoot Honduras keeper Noel Valladares. The home team came out with a vengeance in the second half and Julio Cesar de Leon scored an equalizer in the 59th minute. The US defense remained firm against the Honduran attack and a tie seemed likely. Then, in the 86th minute, Mathis scored a beautiful goal with a sharply taken free kick from 22 yards out. Against expectation, the US had won.

Jeff Agoos

The US next hosted Costa Rica at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City on April 25. As had been the case in their last meeting, a handball was to be decisive. In the 70th minute Jeff Agoos‘ corner kick was headed by Mathis to Josh Wolff who then pushed the ball across the line to score. But when Mathis headed the ball he also swiped it with his arm. The Costa Rican players did not argue the noncall as much as the US had argued the called foul in July and the US was suddenly top of the final qualification group with nine points. Costa Rica, Jamaica and Mexico were tied for second with four points each.

The US met Jamaica at Kingston’s National Stadium on June 16. Playing conservatively, the US was happy with the point gained from the 0-0 draw. Solid defensive play had frustrated the Jamaican attack and two Jamaica goals were rightly called back.

On June 20 the US hosted Trinidad & Tobago at Foxboro Stadium. As had been the case in the previous games of this round, the US offense did not look particularly strong. Still, the defense was solid and the result was the team’s eighth shutout in its last nine qualifiers. What offense there was came in the first twenty minutes with Razov scoring in the 2nd minute and Stewart in the 20th. Now at the halfway point of the final qualification round, the US had thirteen points, ahead of second-place Costa Rica by three points. Incredibly, Mexico was in fifth place with only four points.

On July 1 the US traveled to Estadio Azteca to play Mexico. Enrique Meza had been replaced by Javier Aguirre as coach and the Mexico team was determined to keep its World Cup hopes alive. With Mathis injured, Reyna suspended and O’Brien not available because his club team, Ajax, had threatened to bench him for the rest of the season if he played, the US fielded a weakened midfield. Mexico dominated play from the opening whistle. In the 16th minute Alberto Garcia Aspe’s free kick from 40 yards out found an unmarked Jared Borgetti for the only goal of the match. Once again the US had lost at the Azteca. With Costa Rica’s victory over Honduras earlier in the day, the US was now in second place on goal difference.

On September 1 the US hosted Honduras at RFK Stadium. Again the US was missing some key starters and Honduras dominated the home side. Stewart scored for the US in the 7th minute. Milton Nunez responded for Honduras in the 28th minute and the score was tied 1-1 at the half after Stewart’s weak penalty kick was saved. A questionable penalty led to Carlos Pavon converting in the 59th minute. In the 76th minute, Nunez got his second goal of the match to make it 3-1. Stewart got his second of the match in the 83rd minute but the US could do no more.

Joe-Max Moore

The US next faced Costa Rica on Sept 5 at Estadio Ricardo Saprissa. Costa Rica completely controlled the match and two goals by Ronlando Fonseca—one from a penalty kick in the 40th minute after a late tackle by Carlos Llamosa that resulted in a red card, the other from a breakaway in the 68th minute—gave them a 2-0 victory and clinched their place in the 2002 World Cup. The US was now tied for fourth place with Mexico with only two games remaining.

On October 7, the US hosted Jamaica at Foxboro Stadium. Despite the importance of the match, the US gave a less than impressive performance. Still they scored quickly when in the fourth minute when Moore’s diving header from Reyna’s free kick put the US up 1-0. Ten minutes later Jamie Lawrence equalized for Jamaica. The match remained tied until the 81st minute when Landon Donovan was brought down in the box. Moore converted the penalty and the US had the win.

Improbably, the victory was enough to clinch a place for the US at the World Cup. With Mexico being held to a draw by Costa Rica and Trinidad & Tobago, who had till now only managed one point, beating Honduras away, the US was assured of a third place finish even if it was to lose its final match.

That final match took place at Hasely Crawford National Stadium in Port-of-Spain against Trinidad & Tobago. With nothing at stake for either team—a sharp contrast to twelve years earlier when Paul Caligiuri’s dramatic goal had put the US in the World Cup for the first time in forty years—the game produced little excitement and no goals.

No matter, the US was going to the World Cup, tied with Mexico with seventeen points but in third place on goal difference. Whether the US would be able to erase the memory of their terrible showing at 1998 World Cup remained to be seen.

The US versus Mexico, round one: things are looking up

Just as had been the case in Costa Rica, when the US hosted Mexico at Foxboro Stadium on April 20, they twice had to come from behind to equalize. But this time they did not give up a late goal and actually looked to be more likely to score. Mexico scored first just 39 seconds after the opening whistle when Carlos Hermosillo lept in front of a Kasey Keller clearance. The ball deflected off of Hermosillo’s forehead, bounced off the ground and over Keller’s head into goal. Eddie Pope equalized for the US in the 35th minute only for Luis Hernandez to put Mexico ahead in the 54th minute. The US equalizer was the result of an own goal by Nicolas Ramirez in the 74th minute, perhaps a fitting end given the freakish nature of the first Mexico goal. While the US pressed for a late victory after US coach Steve Sampson replaced two defenders with attackers, they were unable to score. All things considered, taking a point from Mexico was not a bad result.

The draw with Mexico was followed by a 1-1 draw against El Salvador at Estadio Cuscatlan on June 29. Roy Lassiter scored for the US in the 52nd minute when he volleyed home a cross from John Harkes. El Salvador equalized in the 60th minute with an awkward goal from Raul Diaz Arce, who managed to mis-hit a left-footed shot off of his right leg into the net. The US nearly scored in the closing seconds when another Lassiter volley glanced off of the crossbar but had to settle for a point on the road. With half of the final round of qualifiers over, the US was in third place with six points, behind Mexico with eleven points and Costa Rica with seven. Canada, El Salvador and Jamaica each had five points.

Eddie Pope

On October 3 the US hosted Jamaica at RFK Stadium in a match that many probably would have thought would be a sure win. But the Jamaica team was on fire and, in the end, the US was fortunate to once again secure a draw. Jamaica had the US on its heels for much of the first half. Eric Wynalda converted a controversial penalty kick in the 59th minute for a handball that replays showed had clearly occurred outside of the box. Moments later, Paul Hall defected a square pass on the US backline to the feet of Deon Burton who promptly scored for Jamaica. Suddenly, the next match, against Mexico at Estadio Azteca, took on an unexpected importance for the US.

The US versus Mexico, round two: things are looking better still

Claudio Reyna

When the teams met on November 2 at Estadio Azteca, most expected Mexico to walk away with three points. After all, the previous seventeen visits the US had made to Mexico had resulted in seventeen defeats. To make matters worse, Ramos had suffered another injury, Earnie Stewart and Keller were also hurt, and Claudio Reyna was suspended for the match. But the dynamic play of the US in the opening minutes of the game helped to take the nearly 115,000 fans out of the picture. Even when US defender Jeff Agoos was sent off in the 32nd minute for a retaliatory elbow, the US continued to attack. The US turned to defensive play in the second half and by now the Mexico fans were booing their own team. Against all expectation the match ended in a scoreless draw, and this with a US side made up entirely of players from the MLS. While Mexico thus clinched a trip to the World Cup, the hopes of the US remained alive. After the match the coach of the Mexico team, Bora Milutinovic, the man who had led the US team in the 1994 World Cup, was fired.

When the US traveled to Swangard Stadium in British Columbia to face an already eliminated Canada on November 9, they knew that a victory combined with a ties or wins by Mexico and Jamaica over Costa Rica and El Salvador would mean that the US would qualify for the World Cup. Reyna scored first for the US in the fifth minute when, after receiving a cross from Roy Wegerle, he was able to spin away from his defender and send home a shot from just inside the box. Wegerle scored two more goals in the 80th and the 90th minute and the match ended as a 3-0 victory for the US.

Roy Wegerle

The match against El Salvador on November 16 at Foxboro Stadium was meaningless for the US but if the visitors could win and Jamaica were to lose at home to Mexico, El Salvador would be tied for third and qualify on goal difference. Sampson sat every player carrying a yellow card who would be suspended for the first game in France if they received a yellow in this game. Even without many of its star players, the US easily won 4-2.

The US at the 1998 World Cup

If the answer to the question of whether Sampson would remain as head coach remained uncertain following the successful qualification campaign, it seemed to be settled after the US defeated Brazil in the semifinals of the 1998 Gold Cup, even if though theUS lost to Mexico in the finals. Still, Sampson was on a year-to-year contract and every match seemed fraught with the possibility of repercussions with the federation.

While the team had earlier rallied behind Sampson, decisive defeats to the Netherlands and Belgium shortly after the Gold Cup appeared to shake the team’s confidence and Sampson began to tinker with the lineup. World Cup veterans like Marcelo Balboa, Alexi Lalas and Wynalda were absent from the final warm-up games as Sampson tried less experienced players. Some of the more experienced professionals on the team began to think that the coach was micro-managing, though others, perhaps thinking of the typical style of college coaches, saw no problem with Sampson’s methods.

Harkes and Wynalda: happier days

Most shocking was the omission of Harkes, whom Sampson had earlier referred to as “captain for life” of the US team, from the final World Cup roster for what was described as a series of minor disciplinary offenses and unexplained “leadership issues.” Sampson clearly felt his tactics vindicated when his 3-6-1 formation against Austria resulted in a 3-0 victory for the US. Such self-belief would be necessary if the US was to advance from a World Cup group that included Germany, Iran and Yugoslavia. Whether the team shared the convictions of the its coach was far from certain.

USA 0- 2 Germany

Brian Maisonneuve holds off Didi Hamann

When the US faced Germany on June 15 at the Parc des Princes in Paris, its lineup featured eight players who were making their World Cup debut. Sampson believed that Reyna would be the key to the team’s attack but Germany marked him out of the game and dominated possession in the first half. Eight minutes into the game some sloppy defense for the US on a corner kick led to the first goal for Germany when Jurgen Klinsmann out leaped two defenders at the far post to head Olaf Thon’s service in front of goal. Andreas Moller then headed the ball to beat Mike Burns, who was guarding the near post.

The US came out on the attack in the second half and for the first fifteen minutes seemed likely to score an equalizer. Frankie Hejduk, who had come on to replace Burns, nearly scored in the 52nd minute with a diving header that nearly beat Germany keeper Andreas Kopke. But the US attack soon petered out. Klinsmann beat US defender Thomas Dooley for a header in the penalty area. He then controlled the ball and promptly made it two for Germany. David Wangerin suggests in Soccer in a Football World that, while the scoreline was different from the 5-1 loss that the US suffered against Czechoslovakia in their opening game in 1990, “in some ways it reeked of the same naivety, the belief that slavish devotion to the whiteboard could triumph over international nous . . . Unfortunately, the veterans who were called up had largely let the side down.” (You can watch a YouTube clip of the match below.)

USA 1 – 2 Iran

Some sporting events take on an importance much larger than the game itself. The US match against Iran was one such event. While commentators speculated about the political importance of the match—and soccer boosters worried about the consequences of a US defeat for the prospects of the game in America—Sampson adjusted his line up. Burns, Stewart and Wynalda started on the bench and Sampson deployed a 3-5-2 formation. The US were favorites and the new formation produced several chances. But the US simply couldn’t finish. When Hamid Estili placed a looping header over Keller in the 40th minute, the US reaction was one of shock.

In the second half, Iran pulled back into defense. The US struck the post four times but was unable to find the net. Throwing everyone forward, their frustration turned to despair when, in the 84th minute Mehdi Mahdavikia started a run to receive the ball ten yards in the American half with no one to beat but Keller. A diving header from Brian McBride cut the score in half in the 87th minute. But the frantic scramble for another goal in the time remaining was fruitless and the US was out of contention to make it into the next round.

To the surprise of some, the mood between US and Iran fans both before and after the match was festive rather than hostile. (You can watch a YouTube clip of the match below.)

USA 0-1 Yugoslavia

Wynalda takes on Yugoslavia's Zeljko Petrovic

Given US involvement in the conflict in the Balkans at the time, the final match was another one weighted with political overtones. Meanwhile, conflict within the US team was beginning to spill out into the press. Lalas, who would not play a single minute in the tournament, told reporters, “everybody’s ready to explode.” Sampson once again changed the line up and the US produced what many considered their best performance of the tournament. But Slobodan Komljenovic’s goal from Brad Friedel’s parry of a Sinisa Mihajlovic‘s free kick in the 4th minute proved to be enough. The US had failed to advance past the group stages. It had lost all three of its matches and had scored only one goal. Of the 32 teams in the tournament, the US had finished dead last. (You can watch a YouTube clip of the match below.)

Yugoslavia would be defeated 2-1 in the Round of 16 by the Netherlands. Germany would beat Mexico 2-1 and lose 3-0 to Croatia. Croatia would be defeated 2-1 by France. France would beat Brazil 3-0 to win the 1998 World  Cup.

After the 1998 World Cup

With the US out of the World Cup, the acrimony felt by many players toward Steve Sampson began to be expressed without restraint. Wangerin writes,

‘They stunk. And they hated their coach,’ was the pithy summary of one Associated Press writer, and as the players packed their bags their hatred seemed to intensify. ‘We were naive to think an inexperienced coach would see the value of experienced players,’ concluded Wynalda, who only once appeared in the starting line-up. ‘We should never let this happen again.’ Ramos insisted he had played his last match for the team with Sampson in charge. His assessment of the manager’s competence—’as he became more of a coach, we became less of a team’—drew the threat of a fine from the USSF.

Ramos, who saw a total of 78 minutes of playing time, said further, “From the beginning, this whole World Cup has been a mess . . . I blame the coaches for the losses.”

Sampson remained unapologetic about leaving Harkes at home or sitting veteran players and suggested that few US players were ready to play at the level of the World Cup. Given that all but for of the national team’s outfield players were based in MLS, some wondered what this said about the quality of the three-year old league. Sampson resigned four days after the loss to Yugoslavia.

Meanwhile, it was time for the US to regroup after its dismal performance. First off the team needed a new coach and they found him in Bruce Arena. In his first nine months in charge Arena lead the US to two victories over Germany, one over Argentina, and a third place finish in the Confederations Cup. Qualifications for the next World Cup began in July, 2000. It would be a long road to get to the finals again.

Twelve years after the 1998 World Cup, in the wake of the John Terry scandal, Sampson finally acknowledged the real reason he had left Harkes at home: Harkes had been having an affair with Wynalda’s wife.

USA v Germany

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USA v Iran

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USA v Yugoslavia

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Our series on the US at the World Cup continues with a look at the road to the 1998 World Cup hosted by France. 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 2), 2002 (part 1),  2002 (part 2) and 2006.

The lead up to the 1998 World Cup

The 1994 World Cup had been a resounding success for US soccer with match attendance reaching a level that has yet to be bettered and extensive television coverage widening awareness of both soccer and the World Cup in American households. The US team had even played surprisingly well and had managed to advance to the Round of 16 where it lost to Brazil.

The momentum created by the World Cup was furthered when Major League Soccer debuted in 1996. Actually, delays in finding the necessary investors to get the league underway led many to wonder if the momentum gained as a result of the 1994 World Cup was being squandered. When it became clear that the league would not be able to start in 1995, Tab Ramos, the first to sign a MLS contract, expressed the fears of many when he said, “It seems like soccer has disappeared again.”

While it had taken eight years for the first kick of the league to take place, and the league was smaller than many had hoped with more than a few major cities not being represented by teams, MLS nevertheless provided a home for American soccer players who were either unable or unwilling to play outside the US.

Importantly, MLS was not created as a replica of the NASL. The single-entity structure that defined the league meant that owners bought into the success of the league as a whole rather than the success of an individual club. This, combined with a salary cap, meant that the kind of unsustainable buying sprees which had threatened the long-term survival of NASL clubs and ultimately the league itself would not be repeated. If players were not making wages similar to those in other professional US sport leagues they at least were getting regular playing time. This, combined with an active schedule of friendlies and tournaments for the national team could only benefit the development of US players. Whether the national team would quickly reap the rewards of such benefits remained to be seen.

Who’s the coach?

Steve Sampson

The coach of the US 1994 World Cup, Bora Milutinovic, was gone in 1995—the federation said he had resigned, he said he had been fired. Whatever the case, the federation tried to court several big-name managers including former Portugal manager Carlos Queiroz and Carlos Alberto Parreira, coach of the 1994 World Cup winning Brazil team. While the search for a replacement went on, Steve Sampson, an assistant coach on the squad, became temporary head coach.

After leading the US team to a 4-0 victory over Mexico in the 1995 US Cup of the Americas and taking the team to the finals of the Copa America where the US lost 1-0 to Brazil—this after defeating Chile, Argentina and Mexico along the way—Sampson was made head coach, becoming the first native-born, full-time coach in the history of the US national team.

A poor showing in the 1996 US Cup was followed by a players walkout over a dispute about bonus money—only two weeks before the first round of CONCACAF qualifiers was to begin Sampson was forced to field a squad of replacement players for a friendly against Peru. While the dispute would continue for months, the players returned in time for the first qualifier against Guatemala.

The qualification campaign for the 1998 World Cup: the semi-finals

The US met Guatemala at RFK Stadium on November 3, 1996, in a bruising contest. After Eric Wynalda scored the first goal of the match in the 55th minute, Guatemala increased the tempo of their attack. Only a goal from Brian McBride sealed the victory and that didn’t happen until the 89th minute.

Thomas Dooley

A week later, the US met Trinidad & Tobago at Richmond Stadium in Virginia. Desperate for a win with only one point gained from their previous three qualifiers, the visitors had to attack and the game featured a great deal of open play. Still, almost an hour of play elapsed before the US scored its first goal off of a Thomas Dooley header. With Trinidad & Tobago pressing forward for an equalizer, the US got a second goal in the 85th minute from a shot by Wynalda and the match ended 2-0.

On November 24, the US traveled to Port-of-Spain to face Trinidad & Tobago in the return leg, the first US visit since Paul Cagliuri’s goal there in 1989 had secured qualification for the 1990 World Cup. With Trinidad & Tobago already eliminated following their loss in Richmond, it was a much different atmosphere than seven years before when both teams needed a win to qualify. The US scored the only goal of the match when, as the home team continued to argue the foul,  John Harkes took a quick free kick. Harkes’s kick found Joe-Max Moore who then chipped Michael Maurice, the keeper who Cagliuri had beaten seven years earlier. An ACL tear suffered by Ramos in the second half of the match would put him on the sidelines for nearly nine months.

Joe-Max Moore

A victory over Costa Rica on December 1 would mean that the US would clinch advancement to the final round. As the hostile crowd rained coins, batteries, shoes and bags of urine on the US players from the stands—”I’ve never been spat upon so much in my life,” said US keeper Brad Friedel—the Costa Rica team showered the US goal with shots.

Midway through the first half Paulo Wanchope poked home Costa Rica’s first goal off of a low cross from Hernan Medford. In the closing minutes of the match the score was 2-0 for Costa Rica before Cobi Jones scored a consolation goal in the 89th minute. Both Costa Rica and the US now had nine points. When Guatemala beat Trinidad & Tobago a week later to secure seven points the return leg took on a grave significance: if the US lost to Costa Rica at Stanford Stadium on December 14, and then lost to Guatemala, the US would drop to third in the group and not advance.

While the US did not dominate play in the return leg they did secure a victory and advancement to the next round of qualifiers. McBride pounced on a loose ball in the penalty area to make it 1-0 in the 16th minute. In the 60th minute Roy Lassiter volleyed home the rebound from a shot by Alexi Lalas to make it 2-0. Costa Rica got a goal in the closing minutes of play but they were unable to do more.

Frankie Hejduk

The match against Guatemala at Estadio Cuscatlan on December 21 was the first time the US had played a qualifier having already made it to the next round. For Guatemala, a victory would mean that they still had a slim chance of qualifying. But because of a fatal stampede at a qualifier against Costa Rica in October at Estadio Mateo Flores that left at least 83 dead and more than 140 injured, Guatemala’s remaining home games were played at neutral sites, in this case in El Salvador. The recently naturalized Preki Radosalvjevic scored the first US goal in the seventh minute after he stripped a defender of the ball for a one-on-one with the keeper. Guatemala responded with two goals before Frankie Hejduk broke free in the penalty area off of a through ball by Preki to tie the match. The game ended in a 2-2 draw, not that it mattered for Guatemala: Costa Rica had beaten Trinidad & Tobago the same day to advance to the next round.

The qualification campaign for the 1998 World Cup: the finals

In the final group of six teams the US would face Canada, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Jamaica and Mexico. The first match against Jamaica at National Stadium in Kingston on March 2, 1997, ended as a scoreless draw. Coached by the Brazilian Rene Simoes and with a squad filled out by players of Jamaican descent who were playing in England, Jamaica was a markedly improved team and by all accounts the better team on that day. Keeper Kasey Keller was key in helping to secure an away point for the US.

Earnie Stewart

The US next faced Canada on March 16 at Stanford Stadium. Canada had historically been one of the reasons for the US World Cup appearance drought  between 1950 and 1990. But, in the seventeen years since the two teams had met for a qualifier, Canadian soccer had declined. Though the final scoreline might suggest otherwise, the US didn’t actually dominate the match. After a Wynalda goal in the 8th minute was followed by Eddie Pope’s goal in the 14th minute, they didn’t need too. Earnie Stewart’s goal in the 89th minute completed the 3-0 victory.

On March 23 the US again faced Costa Rica. The fans at Estadio Ricardo Saprissa were on good behavior this time with the batteries and bags of urine of the previous meeting being replaced by streamers and confetti. Medford scored first for Costa Rica in the 10th minute off of a lovely through ball from Ronald Gomez. Wynalda equalized in the 24th minute with a long, hooking shot from outside of the penalty area. Gomez hit a Costa Rica free kick to Mauricio Solis who blasted a shot past Keller in the 32nd minute. In the 68th minute Lassiter notched another goal to his tally against Costa Rica when he intercepted a square pass to dribble around a defender and deliver a sharp shot into the back of the net. Costa Rica scored the game winner in the off of Lopez’ 76th minute goal. With three matches down and only four points gained, things were suddenly looking grim for the US. And Mexico was next.

The story of the US at the 1998 World Cup will conclude tomorrow.

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

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USA v Colombia

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USA v Romania: Petrescu’s Gola

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USA v Brazil

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The lead up to the 1990 World Cup

On Independence Day, 1988, FIFA announced that the United States would host the 1994 World Cup.

Despite the fact that the US had failed to qualify for the World Cup for 38 years and lacked a genuinely professional outdoor league, FIFA sensed an opportunity.

The US-hosted 1984 Summer Olympics had been spectacularly successful with the organizers reporting a surplus of $200 million. Despite the fact that ABC coverage of soccer at the 1984 Games was practically nonexistent, more than 1.4 million people had attended its soccer matches with an average of 44,500 at each match. Some 78,265 turned up to see the US v Costa Rica match, topping the previous record for home attendance of a US national team match by 45,000. The final between France and Brazil drew nearly 102,000 to the Rose Bowl.

As one member of the Brazilian delegation said of the selection of the US as a host country and soccer in America, “A lot of people can make a lot of money if the games take off.”

If the US was to have any credibility as a host country, David Wangerin writes in Soccer in a Football World, “reaching Italy in 1990 was now imperative.”

The US would get two very lucky breaks in their qualification campaign. Mexico had been disqualified from participating in the 1990 World Cup for fielding over-age players in a FIFA youth tournament (the Mexico soccer yearbook had helpfully published the players’ birth-dates) and Canada was eliminated by Guatemala in the preliminary round.

The US nearly doesn’t make it out of the preliminary qualification round

The first US match in the qualifiers for the 1990 World Cup was away against Jamaica. The game ended as a 0-0 draw. Unless the US could win the return leg, it would be out of qualification.

With less than 30 minutes to in the second half, the US, whose starting lineup featured five players with no club affiliation, was tied with Jamaica 1-1 and the embarrassment of an early exit was a very real possibility. But, spurred on by the substitution of Hugo Perez and taking the lead off of his penalty kick in the 68th minute, the US finished the match with a 5-2 victory.

US Soccer for once recognized that something needed to be done – the stakes were simply too high. Wangerin writes,

Within hours of the victory the USSF announced that it would sign players to contracts of its own, assuring them of a modest salary and committing them to the national team, though allowing them to be loaned to other clubs. ‘Playing regularly on the highest level is of the utmost importance for the players,’ maintained Werner Fricker [president of the USSF and former player for Philadelphia United German Hungarians] – an aphorism uttered by many of his predecessors which, at last, seemed more than simply rhetoric.’

Bob Gansler became the full time coach of the US team, replacing the part time Lothar Osiander, who had continued to work as a waiter in San Francisco during his stint as national team coach. Walt Chyzowych joined Gansler as national director of coaching.

Still, the organizational inexperience of the federation remained apparent as the team headed into the round- robin portion of the qualification.

The US in the qualification round-robin

In its first match of the round-robin portion of World Cup qualification, the US faced Costa Rica on April 16, 1989 at the National Stadium in San Jose. The US lost 1-0. Roger Allaway and Colin Jose write in The United States Tackles the World Cup, “speculation that the United States had a realistic chance of qualifying for the World Cup finals this time around had ballooned into talk that the Americans were the CONCACAF favorites.” It was now clear that if the US was to qualify “it would have to play catchup in the group standings throughout the seven-month competition.”

For the return leg on April 30, the US were able to protect a 1-0 lead, thanks to goalkeeper David Vanole‘s save of a penalty kick in the 88th minute.

Two weeks later, the US had a 1-0 lead against Trinidad & Tobago going into the half off of a goal by Steve Trittschuh. In the 88th minute the visitors equalized to get a share of the points at a stadium whose pitch was barely 70 yards wide, had been mismarked, and had been vandalized the night before when someone had driven a car on the pitch.

On June 17 the US campaign righted itself with a 2-1 victory over Guatemala thanks in part to a Guatemala own goal at Veterans Memorial Stadium in New Britain, Connecticut. The US had five points from its first four games. But with three of the remaining four games away against El Salvador, Guatemala and Trinidad & Tobago, the US faced a tough road ahead.

Paul Caligiuri

Because of persistent crowd trouble, FIFA had ordered that El Salvador play its final three games on neutral ground, so the US faced them on September 17 at Estadio Nacional in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. A goal by Perez gave the US a 1-0 victory. The US was now in third place with seven points and three games remaining. Trinidad & Tobago had nine points with one game left and Costa Rica had played all of its matches and finished with eleven points.

On October 8, the US managed a 0-0 draw against Guatemala at the Estadio Mateo Flores in Guatemala City, a disappointing result because Guatemala had already been eliminated. The 0-0 draw on November 5 against El Salvador, who was also eliminated, was even more disappointing for occuring at home at the St. Louis Soccer Park. If the US had won this match it would only have needed a draw against Trinidad & Tobago away.

Wangerin writes that, for the US, “Elimination would not only erode the federation’s credibility as a World Cup host but also threaten its financial position – it had borrowed half a million dollars to underwrite the national team, with the clear expectation of reaching Italy.” Mike Windischmann, the new captain of the US team said to his teammates, “Don’t you realize if we lose some of us will have to go out and get jobs?”

Tab Ramos

On November 19, some 35,000 spectators crammed into the National Stadium at Port-of-Spain to support their home team. Needing an attacking team to secure a win to qualify, Gansler had been forced to make four changes to his lineup, including starting Paul Caligiuri. This decision delivered in the 31st minute when Caligiuri received a pass from Tab Ramos, flicked a tidy chip past one defender and struck a left-footed volley from 25 yards out that took the Trinidad goalie completely by surprise to find the back of the net. Caligiuri’s strike was quickly dubbed “the shot heard round the world” by the American press and the US was on it’s way to Italy. While Joe Gaetjen’s goal in the US victory over England in the 1950 World Cup is probably more historic, Caligiuri’s goal is undoubtedly more important, the catalyst for seven consecutive World Cup qualifications. (You can watch a YouTube clip of the match below.)

The US at the 1990 World Cup

The US entered the World Cup in Italy with a roster whose average age was 23 and included three players who were still on college teams. A series of warm-up matches produced unimpressive wins over the likes of Malta and Lichtenstein and defeats to the Soviet Union, Costa Rica, East Germany, Colombia and Hungary. Gansler, who expected to make it to the second round, said of the team’s tactical philosophy, “Our formula is simple: 11 guys play offense, and 11 guys play defense.” The English football journalist Brian Glanville dismissed the US team as a “galumping side of corn-fed college boys.” But as Wangerin notes, “if their university experience and its emphasis on structured, disciplined team play did not lend itself to creative freedom and ball artistry, it had certainly built a competitive psyche and an indomitable spirit.”

The US was drawn into Group A with Italy, Czechoslovakia and Austria. On June 10, 1990, that “competitive psyche and an indomitable spirit” would be severely tested when the US faced Czechoslovakia at the Studio Comunale in Florence.

For the first fifteen minutes of the match the US must have been encouraged as the Czechs probed the US formation. In the 25th minute Tomas Skuhravy scored the first goal for the Czechs. Michal Bilek got the second in the 39th minute on a penalty kick. Ivan Hasek made it three in the 50th minute. After the 51st minute the US were down to ten men when Eric Wynalda was ejected for shoving Josef Chovanec. Calgiuri pulled one back for the US to make it 3-1 in the 61st minute. Stealing the ball near the center circle, he passed to Bruce Murray, who passed the ball back to Calgiuri who then broke free down the center of the pitch, avoided a tackle, and then rounded the keeper to shoot from 12 yards out. A second goal by Skuhravy in the 78th was followed by a Milan Luhovy goal in stoppage time. (You can watch a YouTube clip of the match below.)

The New York Times said that the US team had been “humiliated to the point of embarrassment.” The London Times reported that the US “were utterly exposed by such Bronze Age devices as an overlapping full-back.” The headline in Milan’s Corriere della Sera read, “USA, What A Delusion.”

The next match was against Italy and when Giuseppe Gianni scored in the 11th minute, most observers probably settled in for a goal fest. Instead, on June 14 at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, the US almost produced one of the shocks of the tournament.

Bruce Murray in 1994

Whereas the US lineup had been geared for attack against Czechoslovakia, against Italy the US played a defensive game. When Gianluca Vialli missed a penalty kick in the 19th minute, Allaway and Jose write that, “Italy never regained its momentum and the roaring Roman crowd gradually turned quiet.”

In the 70th minute the US nearly equalized when Italian keeper Walter Zenga couldn’t hold a free kick by Bruce Murray. Peter Vermes, who had grown up in Willingboro, New Jersey, struck the rebound but the ball was cleared off the line.

After the match the Italian manager Azeglio Vicini declared, “The Americans proved they are an excellent team, nothing like the team that lost 5-1.” Gansler said, “this is the US team I know.” (You can watch a YouTube clip of the match below.)

The final match against Austria on June 19 at Stadio Comunale was a nasty affair which resulted in thirty-seven fouls and nine bookings. Despite the fact that Austria’s Peter Artner was ejected from the match in the 34th minute, Austria’s Andreas Ogris scored in the 52nd minute followed by a goal by Gerhard Rodax in the 65th minute. Bruce Murray scored for the US in the 85th minute when he finished a short cross from Tab Ramos into the goalmouth. (You can watch a YouTube clip of the match below.)

Three matches, three losses, and the US was headed home.

Italy would lose to penalties against Argentina in the semi-finals. Czechoslovakia would lose to the eventual winners, West Germany, in the quarterfinals.

After the 1990 World Cup

While the US had improved through the course of the World Cup, it was clear that the lack of professional league experience was a major factor in its poor performance. And while the program of friendlies before the World Cup was a great improvement over earlier preparations, Wangerin writes that the “endless string of exhibitions against half-interested opposition had left the Americans unprepared.”

Only four players on the US 1990 World Cup team had European experience. But what is significant is that twelve members of the team would sign to European clubs after the World Cup.* With no top flight professional outdoor league to play in in the US, this experience would be invaluable in the 1994 US World Cup team.

Meanwhile, if the 1994 World Cup was to be any kind of a success, the federation would have to sell it not only to the American public, but to corporate America.

“The goal hear round the world”

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USA v Czechoslovakia

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USA v Italy

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USA v Austria

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*They were, with greater or lesser degrees of success: Brian Bliss for Carl-Zeiss in Germany; Paul Caligiuri, who had earlier played for SV Meppen went on to play for Hansa Rostock, Freiburg and St. Pauli; John Doyle for Orgryte in Sweden and Vfb Leipzig; John Harkes for Sheffield Wenesday, Derby County and West Ham; Kasey Keller for Milwall, Leicester City, Rayo Vallecano, Tottenham Hotspur, Southampton, Borussia Mönchengladbach, Fulham; Tony Meola for Watford; Bruce Murray, who had earlier played for Luzerne, later played for Milwall; Tab Ramos for Figueras and Real Betis; Chris Sullivan, who had earlier played for Le Touquet, was with Raba ETO Gyor in Hungary and later played for Brondby in Denmark; Steve Trittschuh for Sparta Prague and Dordrecht in the Netherlands; Peter Vermes, who had earlier played for Raba ETO Gyor, was with Volendam in the Netherlands in 1990 and later played for Figueras; Eric Wynalda for Saarbrucken and Bochum.

The US shocked the world when it defeated England at the 1950 World Cup. Yet for forty years after that famous victory – that’s nine consecutive World Cups -  the US would not make it out of the qualifying rounds. Here’s a brief review of the US qualifying attempts by World Cup year. After that we’ll look at some of the reasons why the US were, well, just plainly bad.

What happened?

1954: The US is dead in the water right from the start with 4-0 and 3-1 losses to Mexico.

St. Louis Kutis circa 1954

1958: The US loses 6-0 to Mexico in the first qualifying match. In the return game, the first against Mexico to be held in the US, the team loses 7-2. Still with a slim chance of qualifying, the US Open Cup and National Amateur Cup winners, St. Louis Kutis, are chosen to play Canada rather than a picked team. They lose 5-1 and 3-2.

1962: The US rallies from a 3-0 deficit to draw 3-3 with Mexico at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles. In the return leg in Mexico the US lose 3-0.

1966: Before the US plays Mexico in its first qualifying match, Mexico has already defeated Honduras twice. The US manages a 2-2 draw at Memorial Coliseum and then loses 2-0 to Mexico away. With Mexico thus in first place in the qualifying group, the US plays two meaningless matches against Honduras away, winning the first 1-0 and drawing the second 1-1. In Honduras, the US team has to find its own transportation (including a painter’s truck) from the airports to their hotels. They also have to find their own transport from the hotels to the stadiums, at which no dressing room facilities are provided.

1970: With Mexico having an automatic qualifying spot as the host nation, the US does not have to face their nemesis to qualify for the first time since they beat them in the 1934 qualification match in Rome. The US loses 4-2 away to Canada but manages a 1-0 victory at home. The US then comes up with a big 6-2 victory over little Bermuda followed by a second victory by the score of 2-0. After a seven month break during which the coach, Phil Woosnam, leaves the team to become director of a struggling NASL, the US can advance to a playoff against the winner of the matches between El Salvador and Honduras (which would spark the Soccer War on 1970) if they can beat Haiti. They lose 2-0 away and 1-0 at home.

1974: The US comes back from being down 3-0 to lose 3-2 in the first match against Canada. They manage a 2-2 draw in the return match at home but then lose 3-1 to Mexico away and 2-1 at home.

1978: The US begins its qualifying campaign with a 1-1 draw away against Canada followed by a 0-0 draw against Mexico at home. It then loses 3-0 to Mexico away and beats Canada 2-0 at home. With CONCACAF changing the qualification format for this World Cup so that two North American teams will advance to the next qualification round, the US faces Canada in a tie-breaker on neutral ground in Haiti. The US loses 3-0.

1982: With the same qualification format as the 1978 World Cup, the US will advance to the next round if it can finish in second place in its games against Mexico and Canada. The US first has a scoreless draw against Canada at home and then loses away 2-1. The US then loses 5-1 to Mexico. The US would need Canada to win in Mexico and to also beat Mexico themselves in their return leg match in Florida. It was not to be. Canada tied Mexico and the US was left with the consolation of a 2-1 victory, its first full international win against Mexico since 1934. The team’s performance in this campaign is not helped by the divisiveness within the team over the NASL players’ strike.

1986: With Mexico again hosting the World Cup thanks to Colombia’s withdrawal, the US again doesn’t have to face Mexico for qualification. They began their campaign with a 0-0 draw against Netherlands Antilles, defeating them 4-0 in the return leg at home. The US then beat Trinidad & Tobago 2-1 and 1-0. Against Costa Rica away, the US are pleased with a 1-1 result and need only a tie at home to win their group. They lose 1-0.

Why did it happen?

For much of its history, the governing body of soccer in the US was essentially a semi-professional organization that lacked both financial and organizational power and prowess. This was long reflected in how the national team was selected, managed, prepared, and maintained.

On the pitch, the US faced two consistently better opponents for much of its forty year drought of World Cup appearances, one which is a continuing challenge to this day, the other just as the federation and the team were beginning to resemble something like a professional international soccer organization and address longstanding problems, much as existed already throughout Europe and South America.

Mexico

When the US and Mexico faced one another in a qualification match in Rome before the World Cup in 1934, the US was the more developed soccer nation and easily won 4-2. Roger Allaway and Colin Jose write in The United States Tackles the World Cup, “It is easy to overestimate the significance of this victory. Mexico was not yet the strong team that it was later to become. This was only the ninth full international game it had ever played.”

With a comparatively small number of participating countries following the devastation of the Second World War, the US qualified for the 1950 World Cup despite losing to Mexico 6-0 and 6-2. It wasn’t until the qualification games for the 1958 World Cup that the US actually played Mexico in the US for the first time and it wasn’t until the qualification games of the 1982 World Cup that the US managed to beat Mexico in a meaningful match. The US is currently 0-22-1 in Mexico, the lone draw being a 0-0 tie on November 2, 1997.

Canada

In the qualification games for the 1958, 1970, 1974, 1978 and 1982, losses or draws to Canada were all factors in the US being eliminated.

A weak federation

What is now called the US Soccer Federation got it’s start in 1913 as the United States of America Foot Ball Association. In 1945 it became the United States Soccer Football Association and adopted its present name in 1974. I’ll refer to it here as “the federation” for the sake of simplicity.

For much of its history, the federation was a weak organization with little power to enforce its own or FIFA regulations, as evidenced by the American Soccer Wars of the late 1920s. Some of this weakness was due to the fact that the federation was chronically short of money. For years the federation was run out of donated office space at the Tuttle Brothers textile firm in New York. The shortage of money also meant that there were little resources for teams to train together for meaningful periods of time before competitions. For far too long the federation was also myopic in its vision, tied as it was to the soccer establishment of the Northeast of the US.

The lack of money also effected the selection process: for years teams were made up of players from the East Coast and Midwest on the basis of geographical convenience as funds were not available to pay for the travel and living expenses of players from the West Coast. When money was not available for participation in international tournaments such as the Olympics and the World Cup, federation officers often had to donate their own money or had to strong arm federation members into making donations.

Chronically poor preparation

The lack of money led to absurdly poor team preparation before the beginning of qualification campaigns. For example, let’s look at the qualifications for the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland.

As had been the case with the qualification games for the 1950 World Cup, the qualifications matches were held in Mexico. Because Mexico rightly insisted that the US comply with FIFA regulations stipulating that only native-born or naturalized citizens were eligible to be selected for a national team, the US roster was not finalized until just days before the team left for the games. While the Mexico team had been training together for weeks the US team had only two days for training before meeting their opponents in front of 60,000 spectators in Mexico City where they promptly lost 4-0. This would also be the case in the first qualification game against Mexico for the 1958 World Cup where the US lost 6-0 in Mexico and 7-2 two weeks later in Long Beach. It was not until the qualifications for the 1966 World Cup that the national squad was scheduled time to prepare as a team: twelve days of training in Bermuda with four warm-up games.

Things began to look up in the preparations for the 1970 World Cup qualification games. Under the guidance of Phil Woosnam, for the first time the squad was chosen by the coach rather than a selection committee. Players were paid a weekly wage of $75 and given a very modest stipend, a vast improvement over the previous qualification campaign when Alex Ely, who played for the Philadelphia Ukrainian Nationals, had to borrow $10 from the federation in order to get home to Philadelphia after the team returned from Mexico to New York. “When they asked for the money back, I couldn’t take it any more. I was so disgusted, I left the country.”

When the federation hired Walt Chyzowych before the 1978 World Cup qualifications, he was only the second full time coach in the history of the federation.

The Olympics versus the World Cup

The popularity of the Olympics was itself a problem. It was simply easier to raise funds for the Olympics, a tournament every American sports fan had heard of, than to raise money for the World Cup, a tournament likely to be known only to fans of soccer. This was even more true after the Second World War when the Olympics became a place for the East and West to fight the propaganda battle that was so much of the Cold War.

In the 1950s the federation chose to focus its scant resources on the Olympics. Tony Cirino writes in U.S. Soccer vs the World,

The U.S. Soccer Football Association, though not particularly active in promoting the game, kept an eye on the calendar and never missed important dates. While it left the “professional” team [e.g. the World Cup team] to ASL interests, the federation took the Olympic team seriously, as it had in the past. The Olympics had a bigger national response in the press and was considered the official federation function. In addition, it was easier for a national Olympic committee to raise money, not to mention receipts from the gate.

While the federation would begin to direct more support to qualifying starting with the 1966 World Cup, it would take the NASL to widen support for soccer in the US.

Weak professional leagues

Team America

Several professional leagues existed in the US before the first season of the NASL in 1968. But these leagues were at best semi-professional and players did not make their living from the game. No matter how gifted US players may have been they were simply no match for truly professional players, particularly in terms of fitness. This had been the case at the 1934 and 1950 World Cups and it would also be the case in qualifiers against Mexico through the 1950s and 1960s, then emerging as the soccer powerhouse of North America.

Though never as successful as its first incarnation in the 1920s, the long established semi-professional American Soccer League (ASL) long provided a competitive environment for the development of the county’s best soccer players, even if the names of many of the league’s teams reflected the ethnic marginalization of soccer from the mainstream of American sport. Though the NASL got off to a rocky start, it soon eclipsed the ASL and by the late 1970s was proving to be a surprising success. But its success was based upon a dependence on foreign players and, with the exception of teams like the St. Louis Stars and the Philadelphia Atoms, native-born players had difficulty finding playing time.

The NASL and the federation attempted to address this problem with the formation of Team America in 1983. Based in Washington D.C., Team America was intended to be a professional version of the national team. It proved to be a complete flop. With several US national team players refusing to leave their existing club teams and the Major Indoor League Soccer (MISL) refusing to allow its players to join an NASL team, the roster had to be filled out with foreign players. Team America got off to a 8-5 start before losing fifteen of its last seventeen games. At the end of its first season, the owner, Robert Lifton, pulled the plug on the team.

When the NASL folded in 1984, that left indoor soccer as the top flight of professional soccer in the US ahead of qualifications for the 1986 World Cup.

US soccer gets its act together

With the demise of the NASL, the MISL in financial trouble and the US hosting of its first World Cup soon to be a reality, US Soccer realized it was time to get its act together. In August of 1988, the federation announced it would offer full time contracts for national team players so that they could make a living playing the game. When the US began its qualifying campaign for the 1990 World Cup, only one player was not under contract to the USSF. When Paul Caligiuri scored the goal for the US in its 1-0 victory over Costa Rica  on April 16, 1989 at the National Stadium in San Jose, Costa Rica, the US would be back in the World Cup for the first time in forty years.

Images of 1973 USMNT and Team America courtesy of Dan Loney and Big Soccer.

Image of St. Louis Kutis courtesy of TFCforever and Weechie.