World Cup Corner

A country need not have a continually successful run in the Football World Cup to lay claim to a few worthwhile pages in its illustrious history. The US, in particular, puts in a significantly rich and colorful contribution to the memoirs of the World Cup, in spite of all the “happy fun-ball” jokes poked at them and the “99% of the country doesn’t watch” remarks often made. From a bungling shameful embarrassment in 1998, to rowdy and surprising incredulity in 1930, to an encouragingly victorious stint in 1950, and finally to a necessarily ambitious and heroic endeavor in 2002, the US has indeed eked out its own special place in World Cup History.

The very first World Cup tournament was held in Uruguay in 1930, where 13 nations all in all competed and where the host country did end up winning. By this time, the US had been dabbling in professional football since the 1920’s. Notably, this team also included the squad with purportedly the best name that a team can ever have, the Fall River Marksmen. Belittled and practically written off as “the shot-putters” by the French line-up, the team from the US soared with double 3-0 wins over each of Belgium and Paraguay, landing them a match-up with the Argentine side in the semi-final round. Admittedly, perhaps it did help that the US had brought in both professional and semi-professional players from England, who helped them win their way through to the semi-final round. Although the US wound up getting crushed by Argentina, with a 6-1 trouncing, their very first taste of the World Cup was unquestionably considered a success.

Unfortunately for the US, their next jab at World Cup glory would turn out to be less successful. In contrast to the tournament held in 1930 when a pools system was in effect, the tournament hosted by Italy in 1934 employed a straight knock-out system. The US was pitted against Mexico for a slot in that year’s World Cup, and because both teams could not see eye to eye in order to set a date and a venue for the qualifying match, both teams then had to go all the way to Italy for that single qualifying game. Incidentally, this disagreement would be among the first hints at what would eventually come to be as an intense rivalry between both countries.

Anyway, the US managed to beat Mexico, 4-2, earning them a slot in the First Round. They were then pitted next against the Italian line-up for an elimination game, which they appallingly lost, 7-1. Since then, professional football in the US, which was already on unsteady ground to begin with, deteriorated into a chain of semi-professional regional leagues. Eventually, football in the US grew even less popular than it already was, slowly but surely drifting to the periphery of the collective consciousness of US sports.

The next World Cup was hosted by Brazil and was held in 1950, since the tournament was cancelled successively in 1942 and 1946 due to the Second World War. Not surprisingly, the US did not make the cut to make it to the final group pool. Nevertheless, the US win versus England in Belo Horizonte during that year’s World Cup turned out to be one of the most unforgettable victories ever in US World Cup history.

Winning 1-0, the US relished the victory and, even more so, the resulting attempt of the English media and football fans to desperately cover up for their shameful defeat over the succeeding fifty or so years. Of course, mention should be made of the “accidental” misprint in English newspapers of the final scores as 10-1 on the side of England. Again, the Yanks simply could not go over the top about their sweet victory over the English, and they will always commemorate Joe Gaetjens for that winning goal. Despite eventually being played out by Spain, 3-1, and Chile, 5-2, the US team will never be able to more than lay on their triumph over the English with a trowel. Surely, that kept US football fans more or less pleased and contented, well until forty years later, when the US again decided to grace the World Cup with their presence.

However, despite their delighted triumph over the English, the Yanks still failed to up the ante of US professional football, with three different professional leagues in the 60s and 70s nose-diving into the ground before they could even take off. In 1990, with a squad consisting of college players and semi-professionals and headed by Bob Gansler, the US flew to Italy to suffer defeat in the hands of Czech Republic 5-1, and then followed by Italy 1-0, and finally by Austria 2-1.

The next World Cup, in 1994, was hosted by the US, where they played against Switzerland for the First Round Group. A highly plausible 1-1, with the US goal that of an excellent free kick score made by Eric Wynalda, paved the way for a second match-up versus Colombia, which the Yanks easily won, 2-1. Despite losing in the Second Round to Brazil 1-0, which eventually became the champions, the momentum gained from being the host of the 1994 World Cup led to the formation of a US pro football league, Major League Soccer, which continues to exist until now.

Regrettably, the next World Cup hosted by France in 1998 has come to be considered by many Americans as the worst among their stabs at World Cup glory in terms of results, performance, and expectation. Having had a single, easy 3-0 win over Austria, then US manager Steve Sampson seemed to be convinced that he was great. Consequently, he devoted a greater part of the pre-tournament press cons explaining the 3-6-1 formation, while snubbing questions on his omitting John Harkes, aka “Captain for Life” from the team.

The US would then eventually be beaten to a pulp, 3-0, by Germany, after Sampson’s prided 3-6-1 formation was picked apart. This further led to discord among the US line-up regarding Sampson’s system and tactics. Obviously, this was aggravated by their 2-1 defeat to Iran, which incidentally was politically-hued owing to the hostage crisis overshadowing the US relations with Iran ever since the end of the Jimmy Carter presidency. The US was booted out of the tournament even before their hollow 1-0 loss to Yugoslavia.

Fortunately for the US, their performance in Japan and Korea in 2002 was everything that their 1998 pratfall was not. The dedicated and fearless team, headed by smart and confident manager Bruce Arena, managed to make seemingly improbably wins, leading to their landing in the quarterfinals and a very close fight versus the slightly deteriorated German team.

Notably, perhaps the US 3-2 win over Portugal in the opening match was as surprising as the relished win over England in 1950. One of the favorites in the tournament, the Portuguese team underestimated the Americans and saw what they were really up against not until too late, after an ungainly own goal and extraordinary tallies from John O’Brien and Brian McBride.

After having been pitted against host South Korea with a resulting 1-1 draw, the US by then had become a bit overconfident, losing 3-1 in their match-up against Poland. It was a good thing that Portugal lost a match to Korea, or the US would have been sent home earlier. Hence, the American team made it through to the Round of 16 and was matched, quite appropriately, against long-time regional rival, Mexico.

The US knew that they were highly capable of defeating Mexico, having beaten them in the qualifying round. They did just that, with a McBride tally early on and another subsequent one from Landon Donovan.

The US put up a tough and industrious fight in quarterfinal game against Germany, but for all their effort, they were still unable to level out the 1-0 lead put in by German Michael Ballack. This, especially after the shameful display made by match official Hugh Dallas, the so-called You Dull Ass, after turning a blind eye to a clear penalty made by Greg Berhalter in the 49th minute.

Nonetheless, the US performance in 2002 was a fine one and one to be remembered for its success. There were, in fact, some prospective Euro professional contracts for some of the American players. Whatever the case, this puts a lot pressure on the US to do even better in Germany in 2006.