On June 12 this summer, in the town of Rustenberg, South Africa, England will face the United States in an opening round game of the World Cup Finals. On paper, this is a mismatch. England operates the most lucrative soccer league in the world, the "Premier League" filled with great players from all over the globe, including a healthy dose of local boys. Here in the United States, "Major League Soccer" is considered a backwater 2nd-tier operation, even by many American soccer fans. Heck, an aging English star by the name of David Beckham (perhaps you've heard of him?), a longshot to find a spot on England's World Cup team at this stage of his career, was immediately considered the best player in the league the moment he signed with MLS and started playing in Los Angeles. If a fringe player from England is a superstar in America, what does that bode for the match in June when the best from each nation face off in South Africa? It ought to be an English romp, no? But history tells us differently, and not just the Bunker Hill variety.The year was 1950. England operated what was then simply known as the "Football League." Then, as the Premier League is now, it was considered the gold standard of soccer (remember that in England, soccer is simply called "football", the reasons for which require more space than this post will hold). Minus a couple of disruptions due to war, the league had been operating without fail for over half a century. It was in England where the "Laws" of the game had been first written down (note that they were...and still are... described as "Laws" rather than mere "rules" in England... as if there's a policeman and a judge awaiting you after that nasty tripping foul). It was in England where the first professional teams formed. It was the English national team that had never been defeated at home, and only a handful of times overall. Even the Italians, winners of the previous two World Cups (the previous Cups were held before the war, and at the time England declined to attend for a variety of reasons) called the English side "Il Maestro" (the Masters). The English FA (Football Association) was filled with gentlemen of means, often greeted with "Sir" in front of their names, and just as powerful in international affairs as FIFA, the recognized world governing body of soccer. To fill their team, they plucked the greatest names in soccer from prestigious professional teams.
In America, soccer was dying out in 1950. It had risen up during the 20's with some strong ethnic leagues on the East coast, but lost the battle for the public's imagination when the depression hit and only baseball really survived. At colleges across the country, there was a revival of "football" taking place that would eventually catapult a nascent pro league to national prominence. But that revival featured "American football," a version of the game that had long ago split from the official English football "Laws" and more resembled rugby. A professional soccer league was non-existent. There was a US Soccer federation, run out of a tiny office in New York by guys with day jobs. They would fill their team with guys from amateur weekend leagues, mostly from St. Louis. The US only "qualified" for the World Cup because they agreed to send a team when many nations withdrew citing financial difficulties (and by virtue of a win over tiny Cuba).
In Belo Horizonte, Brazil, the two teams met in the first round of the World Cup Finals. The Americans had already lost their opener, a 3-1 decision to Spain during which they actually acquitted themselves well for about 70 minutes before the Spanish professionals took over. The English had already dispatched Peru by the workmanlike score of 2-0. The English clearly were looking forward to meeting Spain, for what would surely decide first place in the group.
When the match started, it started just as everyone expected. The English completely dominated the action, hitting the post twice within the first dozen minutes, and forcing the American keeper Frank Borghi into a series of diving saves. England kept the pressure on for the first half-hour before the US even got the ball anywhere near the other goal. According to later accounts, the English performance in this game was the most dominating of the entire tournament except.... they neglected to actually score any goals. Time and again the English attack was thwarted at the last moment by Borghi, a desperate defender, or the posts.
Eventually, the US team managed to get the ball clear a few times, and in the 37th minute the g
ame was turned on its head. Usual team captain Walter Bahr (by a strange twist of fate, the team had actually given the armband to Ed McIlhenny "because he's British" for the day of the game) had the ball running down the left sideline and struck a long looper towards the English goal. It seemed totally harmless, until forward Joe Gaetjens, an immigrant from Haiti who was a late addition to the team, seemingly appeared out of nowhere and headed the ball down past the English keeper. It was an incredible lapse of concentration by the English. The picture here tells the story. The English keeper is standing like topiary while the ball bounces behind him. And where are the defenders? They fell asleep and let Gaetjens run in unchallenged. Perhaps they were surprised that the ball had even made it to their end. Spectators at the game considered the goal an incredible fluke, and some writers joked that the ball had simply ricocheted off Gaetjens as he fell down. But no matter the nature of the goal, it was now United States 1, England 0 in a game that surely deserved a different score.
After the goal, the English resumed their siege of the American end, but were continually denied just as before. If anything, the Americans defended even more voraciously in the second half, inspired to hold a lead they couldn't against the Spaniards a few days before. Chance after chance went wanting for the English as the clock ticked on. After 90 minutes, the referee ended the match with the scoreline still unchanged. A jubilant local crowd, mesmerized by witnessing the upset of the tournament, carried off the Americans like world champions. The English stood around in disbelief. One player was overheard muttering "Bloody ridiculous! Can't we play them again tomorrow?"The question today is will 2010's match have a similar result to 1950's? It very likely could, and not just because the US traditionally does well against England (see: Battle of New Orleans and Siege of Yorktown). While the Premier League is widely considered the best in the world, its best players are often foreigners. It's been a decade since an Englishman led that league in scoring. The English have struggled to find competent goalkeepers, to the point that American goalkeepers are now hot commodities. England's best players are all hitting the downside of their careers. Midfield leaders Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard will both be over 30 this summer. Defender and former captain John Terry is embroiled in a Tiger Woods-esque affair scandal also involving English teammate Wayne Bridge. And while England always fields a talented team, an honest appraisal would say that they traditionally underachieve at the World Cup. Only once, in 1966 on home soil, have the English won the title. Most of the time, they bow out relatively early.
Contrast that with the American squad. While David Beckham came to MLS with a ton of media hype and proclamations as the best player in the league, he has actually been fairly average. Meanwhile, his LA teammate American Landon Donovan arrived in England to play a few games for historic Everton FC amid relative obscurity, but has sparked the team to a run up the standings while the press is singing his praises. The Americans have other players accustomed to the Premier League and English players specifically, in guys like Tim Howard, Clint Dempsey, and Jozy Altidore. Speaking of Altidore, he has yet another thing going for him. He's not just the likely starting forward for the US when they meet England this summer, his family hails from Haiti, just like Joe Gaetjens 60 years ago.
So will Jozy Altidore equal Joe Gaetjens? Will Landon Donovan be the new Walter Bahr? Can the US team pull off a repeat from 60 years ago? Will Rustenberg be remembered like Belo Horizonte? I think it can, and I honestly think it will.
SAH
The post needs a couple minor corrections. It states,
ReplyDelete"The English had already dispatched Peru by the workmanlike score of 2-0."
England beat *Chile* in their first game. Peru didn't qualify for the World Cup in 1950. Peru had participated in the first World Cup, in 1930, but would not appear again in the final tournament until 1970.
As to the first of the vintage photographs above, purported to be Joe Gaetjens's goal, the post states,
"The picture here tells the story. The English keeper is standing like topiary while the ball bounces behind him."
But the photo has been altered, and does *not* show the U.S. goal. Indeed, there is no known photo of that goal. (There are a few seconds of amateur film showing the ball rolling around at the back of the net, but it does not show any players in the frame.)
The original of the photo reproduced above shows the ball between the camera and the netting -- that is, on the *outside* of the goal. Apparently, it's been kicked or headed over the goal, and is falling down the back of the net.
In the version we have here, however, someone has altered it by drawing strands of netting over the image of the ball, making it look like the U.S. has just put the ball in the back of the net. That is a deliberate deception. (By whom, I have no idea.)
Moving on:
"One player was overheard muttering 'Bloody ridiculous! Can't we play them again tomorrow?' "
That England player was Wilf Mannion, one of the most highly-regarded forwards in the history of the game. I think it's only fair to note the recollections of Walter Bahr and his wife, Davies, of the occasion in 1987 when Júlio Mazzei, former coach of the NY Cosmos, arranged for a reunion in Belo Horizonte of players from the 1950 game. (This was a press event arranged as part of the Pele Cup, a youth tournament in Brazil.)
Those who were able to attend included the Bahrs, Harry Keough and his wife, and Mannion and his wife. The Bahrs say that the Mannions were delightful company, incredibly gracious people. Wilf was philosophical, in retrospect. "We would have never scored. It was just one of those days. It's a credit to the Americans."
On yet another point, the description given above of the U.S. goal also seems a little inexact in stating that Bahr "had the ball running down the left sideline and struck a long looper towards the English goal."
Bahr himself, revisiting the field in 1987, more specifically described the play leading to the goal. He walked his way through the sequence, starting with Frank McElvenny's throw-in from the *right* side -- not the left -- 35 yards out.
"I was playing left halfback," Bahr said. "I came in for McElvenny's throw-in. I dribbled the ball . . . maybe to here."
Bahr stood 25 yards from the goal.
"I took a shot," he said. "It was going to the far post. The goalkeeper had to move to his right to get the ball and somehow Joe Gaetjens came from that side and deflected it with his head."
(See http://www.bigapplesoccer.com/worldcup2010/article.php?article_id=24019.)
Note: no reference to a "looping" shot. In fact, the descriptions of Gaetjens taking a running dive, stretching flat-out to get his head on the ball, strongly suggest that Bahr struck a driven shot, with a relatively flat trajectory.
Notwithstanding these minor points, I'm always glad to see someone recall this game, and keep its memory alive.