A little history on the US men's national team
Welcome to my page devoted the men's US national team. I hope
soon to have a page devoted to the women's national team (who
will be hosting the 1999 Women's World Cup finals.
The US men's team recently qualified for the 1998 World Cup finals
in France. It is the 3rd finals in a row they will participate in.
The best performance ever for a US national team was in the
very first World Cup Finals (Uruguay '30) in which the red, white and
blue qualified for the semifinals. Their most stunning upset was
a 1-0 win over England in the 1950 Finals group stage in Brazil. In
fact, it was so unexpected, that, as legend has it, many American
newspapers saw the US-England: 1-0 scoreline and assumed that it *had*
to be an error, thus running the result as US-England: 1-10! After a
40 year absence from soccer's ultimate event, the US qualified for
the 1990 tournament in Italy, thanks to a late goal by Paul Caliguiri
in their last qualifier in Trinidad & Tobago. The US lost all three
matches in Italia '90, despite a heroic effort against the hosts in
front of 100,000 hostile fans at Rome's Stadio Olimpico. The US lost
1-0.
Of course nearly all football fans know that the US hosted the 1994
Finals. They went 1-1-1 in the group stage before losing 1-0 to eventual
champions Brazil.
The qualifying run for 1998 was a good one for the US. In the preliminary
and final phases of the qualifying tournament, the US lost only twice
in 18 contests, both of those occuring in Costa Rica. Additionally,
the Americans gained their first ever point in Mexico, playing to a 0-0
draw against the 'Tricolores' in the former Azteca Stadium.
As a result of the draw, in the World Cup group phase, the Americans
will play against Germany, Iran and Yugoslavia (in that order). If
they finish in the top two in their group, they will advance to the
second round (most likely against Belgium or the Netherlands).
The US plays in the CONCACAF region, which comprises teams from
North America, Central America and the Carribean. The US and Mexico
are the best teams in CONCACAF, with Costa Rica, El Salvador and,
recently, Jamaica also being competitive, regionally.
In the semifinals of the 1998 continental tournament, the CONCACAF Gold
Cup, the US shocked Brazil by the score of 1-0, recording their
first-ever win against the Brazilians. In fact, it was the first
time since 1930 (9 matches) that the Americans had even scored
against the blue and gold. This ranks as arguably the biggest
win in history for the United States.
World Cup '98 was an unmitigated disaster for the US, as we finished 32nd
out of 32 teams. It was the best, most talented side we've ever sent, yet
the worst ever result (last place) of any finals we've ever participated in.
Click here to read an essay on the debacle.
In the 1999 Confederations' Cup in Mexico, the US defeated New Zealand (2-1) and Germany
(2-0) in the group phase sandwiching a 1-0 loss to Brasil. In the semifinals,
the Americans lost 1-0 on a golden goal to the hosts, thus continuing their
Mexico City jinx. The Yanks have recorded but a single draw in 18 matchs in
the Mexican capital.
Major results this decade
1999 Confederations' Cup seminfinalists
1998 World Cup finals, participants
1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup finalists
1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup semifinalists
1995 Copa America semifinalists
1995 US Cup winners
1994 World Cup finals, qualified for 2nd round
1993 CONCACAF Gold Cup finalists
1991 CONCACAF Gold Cup winners
1990 World Cup finals, participants
For the best unofficial site on the net for US soccer info, check out
the site for Sam's Army, the unofficial
supporters' club for the US national teams. It's maintained by Mark
Wheeler, who has excellent and detailed info on the men's and women's
national teams plus all the youth national teams.
Click here to return to my USA soccer page.
Click here to return to my home page.
Page updated: 18 August '99, 1950 EDT
Email: saabrian@yahoo.com
