USA

USA National Soccer Team

The US Soccer Team has been around since 1884 playing non-official matches against Canada. Since then the team has been through ups and downs as the interest for the sport fluctuated a lot in the country. The United States is regarded as one of the main forces of soccer in CONCACAF – North and Central American Confederation.

History

Early Years

Soccer in the United States of America started almost at the same time of when the rules for the sport were set in England. In 1862 the Oneidas of Boston became the first organized club in the country. After the Civil War soccer, still called football then, became popular in American Universities especially with the thousands of British immigrants arriving in the metropolitan areas of the East, Midwest and Pacific Coast of the country. In 1884 the American Football Association was created following the format of the English FA and one year later the United States played a non-official match against Canada which marked the first international challenge between countries played outside Britain. In 1914 the American FA became The United States Football Association (USFA). A successful European tour marked the beginning of the USFA reign. The US National Team traveled to Sweden and Norway in 1916 to play its first official international games. The first match was against Sweden in Stockholm and ended with the Americans winning 3-2.

Patenaude’s World Cup Hat Trick

The United States were one of the 13 teams that participated in the first FIFA World Cup in 1930 in Uruguay. The American team was among the favourites along with Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay and was seeded in Group 4. The USA dominated their group winning both their games, against Belgium and Paraguay respectively, by 3-0. Bert Patenaude scored a hat trick on the second match becoming the first player to ever achieve that mark in a World Cup.

The team them moved to the semi-finals but couldn’t resist Argentina’s strength. The South Americans crushed the USA with a 6-1 score in a game that left an American player with a broken leg. The United States finished in third place and that is up to the present days their best result in a World Cup.

Four years later the United States Soccer Team couldn’t repeat the same performance and was knocked out from the competition after losing by an embarrassing 7-1 score to Italy in the first round.

1950 World Cup

The Yankee team would return to the World Cup in 1950 when the event was played in Brazil but without a lot of expectations. Thirteen teams participated in the tournament and the USA was placed in Group 2 with Chile, Spain and the powerful England, who had just rejoined FIFA two years earlier.

In their first match against Spain, Gino Pariana scored the first goal for the USA at minute 17. The team managed to hold the Spaniards until the very end of the match when in 5 minutes Spain scored three goals, crushing the American Dream.

England arrived to the World Cup in Brazil as “The Kings of Football” and on their first match didn’t need a lot of effort to beat Chile 2-0. The team was confident that they would easily get the first place of the group and a victory over the United States would bring them closer to that goal.

Belo Horizonte was the city that hosted the match between England and the USA on June 29th, 1950. As the game started England was determined to get their first goal as fast as possible and within 12 minutes the British team had six clear chances. Goalkeeper Frank Borghi had to make some amazing saves to keep the Enlgish Team quiet.

And that’s how the game continued: England putting pressure and the USA’s defense working as hard as possible. But at the minute 37 the unthinkable happened.

Walter Bahr, in one of the few chances the United States had to attack the British defense, made a 25 yard cross into England’s box and Haitian-born Joe Gaetjens dove to head the ball past the English goalkeeper’s reach. On the second half the American team came with a renovated spirit and had the chance to score a second goal at minute 9. The team continued playing well and kept its posture until the final whistle. The Brazilian crowd went wild with the result. The English players could not believe and neither could the Americans. The incredible result is still one of the biggest upsets in the history of the World Cups. The historical fact was portrayed by author Geoffrey Douglas in his book “The Game of Their Lives” and in 2005 the story became a movie with the same name.

Post 1950 After 1950 the United States went into a deep ostracism in international soccer. And even though the sport grew in the country, especially in the mid-late 1970’s with the creation of the NASL and the presence of international players like Giorgio Chinaglia, George Best, Carlos Alberto, Johan Cruijff and Pelé, the National Team failed to qualify to the next nine editions of the FIFA World Cup. In 1988 the United States Soccer Federation formally offered contracts for players to serve the National Team. The Federation then owned the rights on the players and loaned them to their clubs. That cause many players to go back to play in American soil and built a foundation for youth development. The result came short after. The United States National Team qualified for the 1990 World Cup and in 1991 they would win the CONCACAF Golden Cup for the first time.

1990 World Cup It took 40 years between 1950 and 1990 for The United States to appear once again in a FIFA World Cup. The team was under the command of Hungarian born coach Bob Gansler. A great number of young inexperienced college players were on the rosters and the team was heavily beaten 5-1 by Czechoslovakia in the opening game. Five days later the team played more defensively against hosts Italy and the defeat was less severe: 1-0. On the last game the USA suffered 2 goals against Austria and Murray scored the second American goal in the tournament. It was also the farewell goal as the Yankees were eliminated from the World Cup. In 1991 Soccer in the United States took a turn when the first FIFA Women’s World Cup happened in China and the US Women’s Team won the title beating Norway 2-1 under the eyes of 63,000 spectators. It was the beginning of the Golden Generation with Mia Hamm, Julie Foudy, Brandi Chastain, Kristine Lilly and Michelle Akers. The US Women’s Team would still win another World Cup in 1999 and 2 Olympic Gold Medals (1996 and 2004) and become the most successful women’s national soccer team in the world. As for the men’s team a lot of evolution also followed the 1990 World Cup as the next edition of the tournament was set to happen in American soil.

Copa América 1993 As the South American Football Federation (CONMEBOL) decided to open two spots in their continental competition for teams from other Confederations, the USA got the chance to participate in the 1993 Copa America that took place in Ecuador. And even though the United States Soccer Team finished last in the competition with only one point obtained in a 3-3 tie with Venezuela, the test gave the US players international experience that would help them have a better performance in the 1994 FIFA World Cup.

The MLS
The MLS was created in 1993 as part of the deal between Alan Rothenberg (who worked as a lawyer for a team owner from the defunct NASL), the US Soccer Federation and FIFA. In order to host the 1994 World Cup, the United States would have to create and organized professional soccer league.

The league certainly helped increase the visibility of American soccer to the world and recently players like Marcelo Gallardo, Cuahtemoc Blanco and David Beckham have joined MLS Teams.

1994 World Cup – Playing at Home

A lot of contradiction surrounded the choice of the United States of America to host the 1994 FIFA World Cup but what could’ve been a disaster in terms of attendance turned out to be one of the best organized World Cups of all times. An average of almost 70,000 people per match is still a record in the history of the competition and a good participation for the US National Team completed the success of the event.

The American team had Cobi Jones, Alexi Lalas, Eric Wynalda, Claudio Reina, Tab Ramos and Paul Caligiuri, names that became landmark in this new rising of soccer in the country. And they didn’t disappoint. One victory over Colombia and one tie against Switzerland gave the USA a spot in the Round of 16.

The first knock out round of the 1994 World Cup was strategically set to be played on the most important National Holiday in the country. On July 4th, The US Soccer Team lined up to face Brazil for more than 84,000 people at the Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto, California. The team played a good game and it took Brazil 72 minutes to score their winning goal. The USA journey in the tournament ended right there but the seed had been planted.

Success in the 1995 Copa América

Following the success in the 1994 World Cup the United States were, once again, invited to be part of the South American Nations Tournament in 1995. The Americans surprised everyone when they finished as first of Group C after beating Batistuta’s Argentina with a sound 3-0.

The US Soccer team moved on to the quarter-finals and eliminated their rivals Mexico in the penalty shootout with Brad Friedel becoming the hero of the match after saving two penalties.

A little more than one year after the World Cup elimination, the USA lined up to face Brazil for a place in the Copa America Final. But the early goal scored by defender Aldair repeated the 1-0 score from a year earlier. The Americans, who finished in 4th place, might have lost the game but gained respect as a strong, disciplined and dangerous soccer team.

1998 World Cup Funk

After a tie with Mexico that helped the U.S. Team qualify for the 1998 World Cup, coach Steve Sampson decided to dismantle the team and bring new players and introduce a new formation to the squad. It was a risky gamble that did not pay off. The US Soccer Team had, placed in Group F along with Germany, Yugoslavia and Iran, had hopes to fight for a place in the next round but ended up as the worst team of the tournament after losing all three group matches and having scored only one goal.

Back to the right path (or not)

The team that brilliantly won their second Gold Cup in 2001 was coached by Bruce Arena and got their ticket to the 2002 World Cup. By then the US Soccer Federation had put in action the “2010 Project”. A bold blueprint that establishes that in the 2010 World Cup the US National Soccer Team will have developed enough to fight for the title.

And in the 200 FIFA World Cup the team started off very well beating Portugal in their opening match and finishing as second in Group D after hosts South Korea.

The team then eliminated Mexico 2-0 in the Round of 16 and were set to face 3-time World Champions Germany in the quarter-finals. A goal by Michael Ballack in the 39th minute of the match would set the score and send the USA back home. But for the US Soccer Federation it was all part of the development plan.

The USA continued sharing with Mexico the title of the biggest forces in CONCACAF soccer as the Americans won its third Gold Cup in 2005. But in the 2006 World Cup in Germany the team once again finished among the worst. The USA didn’t win any of its matches and the tie against Italy was all the American Team could get from the tournament.

Present

After the 2006 FIFA World Cup Bruce Arena didn’t have his contract renewed and the US Soccer Federation started looking for a new coach for the National Team. The first choice was German Jürgen Klinsmann but the parts didn’t come to an agreement and Chivas USA coach Bob Bradley was named for the position.

2007 began with the USA claiming for the 4th time the CONCACAF Gold Cup title after beating Mexico 2-1 in the final match played at the Soldier Field in Chicago.

In June of 2007 the US Soccer Federation decided to send the team to play the Copa America without the main players. The result was more than disastrous: the Americans lost all of its three group matches scoring only 2 goals and allowing 8. The team had the worst campaign among the 12 participants.

The US Soccer Team now hopes to qualify for the 2010 World Cup and at least repeat the good performances from 1994 and 2002 but this going further than the Round of 16.

Stars of the Current Squad

Tim Howard
Date of Birth: March 6, 1979
Position: Goalkeeper
Height: 191cm (6ft 4in)

Tim Howard recently regained the status of first choice of goalkeeper for the US Team thanks to his excellent present form playing for Everton FC of England. Between 1998 and 2003 he had 85 appearances for MLS former club MetroStars before being transferred to Manchester United. Howard’s safe hands maintain the USA recent tradition of revealing excellent goalkeepers. He joins the row where Tony Meola, Brad Friedel and Kasey Keller already are.

Landon Donovan
Date of Birth: March 4, 1982
Position: Midfielder/Forward
Height: 173cm (5ft 3in)
Possibly the most talented United States player of the last 15 years Landon Donovan recently claimed the record of goals scored for the National Team with 35 (one more than Eric Wynalda) in 99 matches. In 2002 he was elected the best young player of the World Cup and now his experience along with his ability makes him a essential name on the US Soccer Team roster.

Brian Ching
Date of Birth: May 24, 1978
Position: Striker
Height: 185cm (6ft 1in)
Ching’s success with the National Team came in 2004 when he scored the equalizer in the match against Jamaica during the CONCACAF Qualifying Tournament for the 2006 World Cup. Since then he’s been regularly called for the US Soccer Team and already sums up 26 caps and 5 goals.

Head Coach: Bob Bradley
Date of Birth: March 3, 1958
After nine seasons successfully coaching MLS Teams Chicago Fire, MetroStars and Chivas USA Bradley holds the record as the coach with most number of wins in the league history. He was announced as the USA Men’s Soccer Team coach in the end of 2006 to replace Bruce Arena. He led the team to win its 4th CONCACAF Title in the beginning of 2007 but had a bad Copa America campaign when the Federation decided to sent a “B” team to the tournament. This year he is still undefeated with victories over Sweden (2-0) and Poland (3-0) and a tie with Mexico (2-2).

Team Legends

Bert Albert Patenaude
Date of Birth: November 4, 1909 Position: Striker Caps: 4 Goals: 6

Joseph Edouard Gaetjens
Date of Birth: March 19, 1924 Position: Forward Caps: 3 Goals: 1

Cobi N'Gai Jones
Date of Birth: June 16, 1970 Position: Midfielder Caps: 164 Goals: 70

Ricardo Ramos Ricciardi "Tab" Tabares
Date of Birth: September 21, 1966 Position: Midfielder Caps: 81 Goals: 8

Alexi Lalas
Date of Birth: June 1, 1970 Position: Defender Caps: 96 Goals: 9

Eric Wynalda
Date of Birth: June 9, 1969 Position: Forward Caps: 107 Goals: 34

Paul David Caligiuri
Date of Birth: May 9, 1964 Position: Midfielder/Defender Caps: 110 Goals: 5

Most International Matches Played

Most Appearances

Most Goals

Player Recognition & Awards

Most Appearances

• Cobi Jones – Defense – 164 caps

Most Goals

• Landon Donovan – Striker – 35 goals in 99 matches

Team Honours

• CONCACAF Golden Cup Champions: 1991, 2002, 2005, 2007

Management

Uniforms

Important Links

• Bianca Kajlich - Landon Donovan’s wife
• US Soccer

References

• http://www.soccerhall.org/history/us_soccer_history.htm
• http://www.ussoccer.com/teams/mens/index.jsp.html