In September 1953, Elmer Schroeder, U.S. soccer’s first American-born president, was brutally murdered in his West Philadelphia apartment. No one was ever convicted for his murder. PSP’s Ed Farnsworth writes about the life and death of a man who was an American soccer pioneer in more ways than one.
This weekend, the US faces Mexico in a one-off game to reach the 2017 Confederations Cup. The first time the US played a one-off playoff game was also against Mexico in 1934 with a World Cup berth at stake.
On May 3, 1936, Philadelphia German Americans became the first amateur team, and the first team from the city of Philadelphia, to win the US Open Cup.
The last time the US played Belgium in the World Cup was 84 years ago in the inaugural World Cup. The US won, 3-0.
The 1934 US World Cup team had a Philadelphia manager and coach and also included five players from the Philadelphia German Americans ASL team.
We continue our series on the US at the World Cup with a look at the first World Cup in 1930, where the Bert Patenaude scored the first hat trick in World Cup history and the US finished the tournament in third place.