Im wondering because I'm 17 years old and Im only old enough to know about Calguiri's strike.So can anyone fill me in on what happened between the world cup drought?Were they ever close?Did they ever pull off any upsets?Did we have any world class players?
They were close four years earlier. Going into the last match at home against Costa Rica, the U.S. only needed a draw to advance, but instead lost. I believe that was the last home loss in qualifying prior to the defeat against Honduras in the last cycle.
Which I just watched the tape of, believe it or not. It's amazing how much we improved from Sept '01 to June '02. I can't wait for WCQ to start.
Don't you think part of that summer of ill fortune was a result of severe injuries? It was certainly a nightmare, and it was the only time in my memory Arena made some seriously poor decisions (at least according to many experts), but it was always my feeling that the loss of Wolf, the loss of Mathis, the loss of McBride, the loss of Reyna, and Landon's fairly invisible status at the time, that contributed most to the problems, and that string of defeats (1-0 or was it 2-0 against Mexico? then 3-2 against Honduras, and then 2-0 against Costa Rica) really reflected the fact that we couldn't mount anything remotely resembling a serious attack. The attacking MF's and Forwards of the team had been gutted by injuries, and the youngsters that are now pushing their way into those roles (Donovan and Beaseley, and soon Convey as well and potentially Martino) were not really in the picture. This put added pressure on a rather unathletic backline, and killed us. As for the dark period, all I can tell a 17 year old fan, is that when I was growing up in the eighties, you couldn't see much of anything in terms of soccer on the television. You had to be deeply familiar w/spanish television to get anything remotely decent, and the US national team was never, ever in the news. The internet, and the cable explosion couldn't have come at a better time for the US Nats and MLS soccer, I wonder where we'd be w/o kids having had a chance to see the US Nats in '90 in Italy, or the US Nats in '94, the unfortunate '98 squad, the '02 breakthrough and the accompanying media blitz, as well as the birth of a league, that though fledgling, is onward into its eighth season (nearly three times as long as the USFL lasted), and showcases a path both to a career in soccer in America, and also as representative of a possible stepping stone for European Soccer. The eighties were dark times for American soccer, indeed, the saving grace being the continued growth of AYSO and youth leagues that played no small role in encouraging interest in many of todays MLS and US Nat stars. What of the seventies and sixties? Anyone have any thoughts on that era?
i remember watching some of the '90 qualifiers on tnt. they were delayed about 3 days and had commercials! usually, we played in front of crowds of about 3000. if you ever get to see one of those games, you'll realize just how far we have come since them. i have a whole stack of video tapes at my parents house. i bet if i looked through them, i would find at least one of those games.
I remember reading updates on the Team America concept in Soccer America. American soccer fanatics really were grasping at straws in the early 1980's. We have come a long way.
I just remember seeing them play in little venues in front of just a couple thousand people and only paying like 5 bucks for a ticket. Forget about seeing them on TV pre 90s. The guys played with a lot of heart and there were always a few with decent skill, but being mostly college players or indoor players they were generally tactically pretty bad, and couldn't compete across the board with the stronger countries, although their running and tackling usually kept things from being a blowout and helped 'em take games off some of the smaller countries.
Part of the problem is that for most of that time, the WC was 16 teams, and only one from the region. That probably hindered interest in spending money on a very difficult qualifying process.
Team America was supposed to be basically the US National team, competing in the NASL and based in DC. The problem was the few US players that were good enough to make them a decent team wouldn't leave their regular clubs to play for them, and the team ended up being crap. Folder after a year or two. Just another wacky idea from the twisted history of US soccer.
Some one mentioned the 1986 World Cup qualifying match where the USA only had to draw... it was against Costa Rica, and ESPN televised it LIVE... think of the Wales team which just played the USA... then you know what it was like.... 1990, Mexico got banned for using an overage player in a youth tourney, opening up a slot for USA to sneak in... Hugo Perez was the man during qualifying, got hurt in France, and was left OFF the World Cup team, in favor of the likes of Eric Eichmann... Andreas Cantor ripped USSF on Univision that day.. 1990 CZechs rip USA in Florence 5-1, as Waldo, 19 year old wonder boy, gets a red for retaliating against Kubik... next match, Rome Olympic Stadium...Italia contra USA...with many Italians thinking 10-0... schillaci misses PK, USA plays poseessed, go down a goal.... still fighting....italian keeper saves off the goal line with his rear end...italia survives 1-0 back to florence und austria, and an up and down match, down teams attacking, aussies win 3-1... names for the future who played... meola...ramos...wynalda...balboa... all college kids.
Here's a summary of the USA's WCQ efforts from 1954 to 1986: 1954: Mexico, USA, and Haiti were the only teams to enter qualifying. In double round robin, Mexico won all four games to qualify, while USA beat Haiti twice and lost to Mexico twice. 1958: 6 teams entered. Mexico, USA, and Canada played a North American group with the winner playing the winner of a Central American group to qualify. In the NA group, USA loses all 4 games. 1962: 7 teams entered. USA played Mexico home and away with winner going to three-team final group. It was a 3-3 draw in the US and a 3-0 loss in Mexico. 1966: 9 teams entered. 3 groups of 3 with group winners advancing to final group. USA grouped with Mexico and Honduras, finished second, winning and drawing against Honduras and losing and drawing against Mexico. 1970: 12 teams entered (plus Mexico WC hosts). 4 groups of 3 with winners advancing to 4-team knockout tournament. USA wins group against Canada and Bermuda, advances to home-and-away semifinal against Haiti, where they lose both games 2-0 and 1-0. 1974: 14 teams entered. 2 3-team groups and 4 2-team groups, with group winners advancing to hexagonal. USA finishes 3rd in group with Mexico and Canada, managing only one point from a home draw with Canada. 1978: 15 teams entered. 2 North American, 2 Central American, and 2 Caribbean teams advance to hexagonal. In NA group, Mexico, Canada, and USA all finish tied with 4 points. Mexico wins group on goal difference. Canada and USA are even on GD, so they play a one-game playoff in Haiti, which Canada wins 3-0. 1982: 15 teams entered. Again 2 from each zone qualify for hexagonal. USA finished 3rd in group despite beating Mexico at Lockhart Stadium. 1986: 17 teams entered (plus Mexico WC hosts). A home-and-away knockout round was held first to reduce field to 9 teams. USA beat Dutch Antilles 4-0 on aggregate. Final 9 teams divided into 3 groups, with winners advancing to final 3-team group. USA finises 2nd in the group behind Costa Rica, ahead of T&T, due to loss in Torrance mentioned in this thread. Winning that game would have placed them in a final group with Canada and Honduras.
Thank you Noah an enlightrning post. I remeber watching 82 Spain with an exchange student my family sponsored from Mexico City. I played little league soccer so when Raul begged us to watch the tape delayed games on ABC wide world of sports that was cool. I don't even remember who was playing but I was glued to the set. I had loved the Dips but at that time I had no clue a national team even existed. 21 Years ago we have made it a long way God I can only imagine what the next 21 may bring! True after I finished high school in the mid eighties and stopped playing soccer it was not till 90 I picked up following the game but 94 truly made it a life or death situation for me to not miss any Nats games at RFK or on TV.
