Derek Evans (25), Chris Turner (G) Tony Crescitelli (13), Vasa Rutonjski (5)San Jose Earthquakes at Washington Diplomats
I found this online. I attended this game - Dynamo Minsk (USSR) at Golden Bay Earthquakes Date: May 15, 1983 Earthquakes tied 3-3..Attendance: 11,798 Goals-Earthquakes-Steve Zungul, Stan Terlecki, Godfrey Ingram Dynamo-Petr Vassilevsky, Igor Gurinovich, Prokopenko... If you look closely, you will see KGB agents posing as players warming up in the end zone in fear of players defecting....
As we mentioned elsewhere, it was Zungul's first outdoor game after he defected from the former Yugoslavia in 1978. He had only played indoors for those 5 years. Too bad for him really, as he was among the top 2 or 3 goal scorers in Europe when he stayed in America in 1978. He would have been a star in the NASL for those 5 years. The pitch seems so narrow, although it had been widened in the reconstruction (addition of the second deck, press box and luxury boxes on the west side) in 1980. It was widened again in 1999, just prior the the Women's World Cup.
Looking at the technical skills and speed of those players, I can't believe they couldn't play into today's MLS .
As was mentioned on Facebook, skills are skills and good players would likely be good players, regardless of what era. The difference might be conditioning, fitness, etc., but those are issues which the players, coaches, trainers, et all, can control.
Front and back covers of the NPSL Championship game program. This is from the second leg played in Oakland. The Clippers beat the Baltimore Bays 4-1 and took the championship with a 4-2 aggregate.
It was a different game in '78....a little blood didn't automatically send you off the pitch. You would go off if it interfered with your ability to play, but no one cared about getting on someone else.
Happy 6oth birthday to Steve Moyers! Pictured below with President Reagan at the White House circa 1983...
Former NY Cosmos and Brazilian national team player, Carlos Alberto Torres has passed away ... Very sad! He was one of the greatest defenders I've ever seen. Carlos Alberto, captain of Brazil's World Cup-winning team, dies at 72 Washington Post-