Dam it. I'm crying at work. This is my generation. Soccer in the 80s was a different world in the US. I remember turning on the 90s WC game and seeing one a player who I played with in high school and against club soccer on the US team. Otherwise, you never say the USMNT on the TV, in the paper, etc. Ever. Great article. Thank you.
Here's a video of the save referenced by the article. Starts at about 1 minute in Warning: terrible music [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDRE8BDVRDo#t=1m02"]YouTube- US Soccer vs CONCACAF[/ame]
It sure was...I think pretty much any US eligible player at a collegiate level or above who could stand up, see lightning, and hear thunder was probably in the player pool at some point during the laste 70s and early 80s... (and as england66 can tell you, occasionaly some non-US eligible players as well...) Heck, I think I may have been in the pool and I seldom got off the bench during my playing days at the "Harvard of the West"...
I grew up in St. Louis, and attended a few qualifiers at St Louis Soccer Park... I recall sellouts being in the 5,000 range? Good read indeed. Thanks for posting.
Read Olympic Q's for 1988 and 1,500 ppl in attendance: There are now 28 mens collegiate programs that average 1,000 fans/game (27 D1, 1 D3). UCSB averages as many as fans as if not more than many USL teams; it had 2 games over 9,000 fans: 10,114 vs. Indiana and 9,824 for a Central Coast California derby w/ Cal Poly Pomona. Point is that many have we come a long, long way.
That's not the best example. Back in 1987, Fresno State drew 12,224 for a game w USF. Nowadays, soccer is a women-only sport there. The biggest change since those days is that pro soccer has moved from indoor to outdoor.
Yes, I recall the 1984 Olympics and how surprised folks were when 70,000+ attended US soccer matches... that really helped move soccer forward as we headed into qualifying after the 86 Mexico Cup. I think the attendance at the Olympics and the "Shot Heard Round the World" combined to get us the Cup in 1994.
I was in LA in 1989 and when Caligiuri's shot went in, I ran outside of my apartment screaming: "We're in, we're in!!!" Even after I explained everything, including what the World Cup in fact was, I was still met with stoney silence. No matter. I vowed to one day thank Caligiuri personally. Flash forward 10 years later. I'm in New York on business, trying to make the last flight back to LA on a Friday afternoon. No way. Next flight is Sunday. Not happy, but I can always watch the Galaxy/Metro Stars game the next day. Great game. LA wins and I'm at Newark, 6 am Sunday morning waiting to board. Like a mass bizarre dream, I see the Galaxy walking up the terminal towards the gate. They all wear sunglasses. They pass me by, reeking of booze. I see Cobi. Great game, how goes it? "Just trying to survive." I board the flight, take my seat. A Galaxy player sits down beside me, still wearing sunglasses. It's Paul. "Hey, I just always wanted to thank you...." Long live Uncle Dino, the first great American keeper, the first great American fan! You set the standard, Dave...you made it happen.
And USF had crowds in the 10,000+ in the early 50's. But the story is about the time of NO professional futbol in the US or the early 80's until the WC again. What guys did to make money so they could continue to play is another great untold story.... Here is a link to a good historical document; just change the year for the one you want. http://homepages.sover.net/~spectrum/year/1950.html