However, the rules of the draw once again worked against the United States. Placed in the same pool as the generally weaker Asian and CONCACAF teams, the Americans wound up with a killer draw of Ghana, Portugal, and Germany. Yes, the same Ghana that had eliminated the Yanks in the past two World Cups.
Group of Death? This one was pretty lethal. It did not make Americans feel better that Mexico, which barely slipped into the last spot in the World Cup, emerged with a much softer schedule in its group.
“We hit the worst of the worst,” Klinsmann said. “It’s one of the most difficult groups in the whole draw.” The competitor in him emerged, and he added that this is the reality of the World Cup and he hoped to surprise people. However, progress from the first round seemed very difficult.
“If we’re not playing in the round of 16 in 2014, we’re not doing well,” Sunil Gulati had said early in 2013. But after the crushing draw at the end of the year, Gulati proactively extended Klinsmann’s contract through 2018 and added the role of technical director for U.S. soccer, which meant Klinsmann would have major input into the supply chain. This extension and new title were a sure sign to players and fans alike that Klinsmann had already made his impact on the national team and would be around no matter what happened in Brazil. When Michael Bradley returned to Major League Soccer in January 2014, for a stunning $36 million for six years, he made sure to explain the move to Klinsmann before it went public. The standard for 2014 was surely miles higher than it had been in 1990, after Caligiuri’s goal took the Americans to their first World Cup in forty years.
Bit by bit, the United States was raising its presence in the biggest sports event on the globe. The century was still young.
EPILOGUE: BACK TO THE ROOTS
QUEENS, NEW YORK, 2013
Jamaica High School has been phased out by the New York City Department of Education, in all its wisdom; four smaller schools now nest in the grand old building. But for varsity sports, the schools still come together as one team. The combined Jamaica team had a game one afternoon in the fall of 2013.
I called the captain.
“Aw, I can’t make it,” Bob Seel said in the high-pitched voice that used to scream instructions at me. “One of my grandkids has a game. You should see them. They’re better than I was.”
Nobody is better than Bob Seel, I thought. Better he should watch his grandkids. I would go alone.
Jamaica was playing Queens High School of Teaching, located adjacent to a municipal farm. A pungent odor of vegetables and animals wafted across the soccer field, which had almost no grass, no white lines. If the ball went wide or long, one of the players had to search for it in the brush.
The Jamaica road uniform was a very dark blue. I missed the ratty red long-sleeved jerseys of my time, and thought of our school song, to the tune of “Aura Lee” (also “Love Me Tender”): “Red and blue / Red and blue / School of red and blue…”
Before the game, two female coaches gave instructions to their teams. I thought of our little old coach, Mr. Harrington, opening up the ball bag and sending us out to play. Jamaica’s coach was Dana Silverstein, twenty-five years old, trim and energetic, a former player for the University of Rhode Island. “It’s like I have twenty kids of my own,” she had told me in a phone conversation. I said it was cool to see two women coaching boys, and Silverstein replied, “I’m sure they had never had a woman coach in their life. They tell me now, ‘We thought it was a joke.’” She added, “The respect level is high.”
Jamaica took control from the opening whistle. Down at the other end, the Jamaica keeper shouted “otro lado” (other side) and “corre, corre” (run, run). He got bored and squatted on his haunches. I thought: don’t do that, son.
Suddenly, a Queens defender thumped a long clearing shot that bounded downfield. The old terror came back—the autumn haze, the chill when the sun went behind a cloud, how safe the field seemed from my defender position, until hordes of Grover Cleveland attackers came marauding.
I have been watching World Cup games from the press tribune, as Sócrates and Baggio and Donovan moved forward like Pac-Men on electronic rampage, but down here on terra firma it happened fast.
A fleet Queens halfback gathered the long ball at full speed, got a step on the Jamaica defender and let fly—a few inches wide of the goal, rocketing into the underbrush.
Soon, Jamaica reasserted itself in shifting powerful triangles, with deft short passes, bing-bing-bing, advancing on the far goal. After decades of watching all those games, I could recognize the familiar clues, the potential of a goal. Jamaica took a 2–0 lead by halftime.
In the second half, the teams changed ends. Jamaica players swooped in to take corner kicks, a few feet from where I was standing, out of bounds. I still whack a ball around with a grandchild now and then, proud I can use either foot. I had the illusion of being in the game, felt my competitive side turn on.
The ball skittered across the dirt boundary, toward me. I saw a Jamaica player hustle over, eager to maintain pressure. I extended my right instep and tapped the ball to him. He scooped it up, planted his feet, and made a quick throw-in.
For a rare time at a Jamaica soccer match, I did not screw up.
The touch of ball on instep made me think: I love this game.
The whistle sounded on a 4–2 Jamaica victory, and the teams went through the handshake line. Afterward, Silverstein summoned the players for her critique. Then she introduced me as a former player.
“I was terrible,” I told them. “Now I’m writing a book about soccer.”
They crowded around, happy to have won a game to stay in contention. They reassured me that even with four smaller schools inhabiting the same building there is a sense of unity.
I remembered the polyglot Jamaica team of my years. Silverstein had told me she heard at least thirteen different languages in the building and said sometimes one player would translate for a teammate. I asked the young men to name their favorite squads, and they shouted “Barcelona,” “Arsenal,” “Chelsea,” “Juventus”—the powerhouse teams they see on television these days.
The players packed up and headed toward the city buses that would take them to all corners of Queens. I remembered our long treks back from the Metropolitan Oval and Brooklyn.
That night, I downloaded a few photos I had taken and transmitted them to five or six teammates I could locate.
“These guys are good,” I told them. “We won.”
APPENDIX: EIGHT WORLD CUPS
Details of all World Cups can be found at http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/index.html and http://www.fifa.com/womensworldcup/index.html.
The matches of the 2014 World Cup can be found at http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/matches/index.html.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
The chief source of this book is my own memory, backed up by the files of the New York Times. In many other cases, I called or e-mailed colleagues, whom I mention in context or in the acknowledgments.
In this wonderful new world of technology, when I want to re-create my impression of Zidane’s dancing feet in the 1998 final or the American goal that beat Algeria in 2010, there are amazing videos out there on the Web, at YouTube and elsewhere. I often marvel at working in an age where I can see plays that happened years ago.
BOOKS
Anderson, Chris, and David Sally. The Numbers Game: Why Everything You Know About Soccer Is Wrong. New York: Penguin, 2013.
Biss, Levon (photographer). One Love: Soccer for Life. Foreword by Steve Rushin. Tielt, Belgium: Lannoo Publishers, 2006.
Bondy, Filip. Chasing the Game: America and the Quest for the World Cup. Cambridge, Mass.: Da Capo Press, 2010.
Buford, Bill. Among the Thugs: The Experience, and the Seduction, of Crowd Violence. London: W. W. Norton, 1990.
Burns, Jimmy. Hand of God: The Life of Diego Maradona, Soccer’s Fallen Star. New York: Lyons & Burford, 1996.
Foer, Franklin. How Soccer Explains the World: An Unlikely Theory of Globalization.
New York: HarperCollins, 2004.
Galeano, Eduardo. Soccer in Sun and Shadow. London and New York: Verso, 1998.
Gardner, Paul. The Simplest Game: The Intelligent Fan’s Guide to the World of Soccer. New York: Macmillan, 1996.
Glanville, Brian. The Story of the World Cup. London: Faber and Faber, 1993.
Harkes, John, with Denise Kiernan. Captain for Life: And Other Temporary Assignments. Chelsea, Mich.: Sleeping Bear Press, 1999.
Hirshey, David, and Roger Bennett. The ESPN World Cup Companion: Everything You Need to Know About the Planet’s Biggest Sports Event. New York: Ballantine/ESPN Books, 2010.
Hornby, Nick. Fever Pitch. London: Penguin Books, 1992.
Jennings, Andrew. Foul! The Secret World of FIFA: Bribes, Vote Rigging and Ticket Scandals. London: HarperSport, 2006.
Kuper, Simon. Football Against the Enemy. London: Orion House, 2004.
Lange, Dave. Soccer Made in St. Louis: A History of the Game in America’s First Soccer Capital. St. Louis: Reedy Press, 2011.
Longman, Jeré. The Girls of Summer: The U.S. Women’s Soccer Team and How It Changed the World. New York: HarperCollins, 2000.
Mandela, Nelson. Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela. Boston: Little, Brown, 1994.
Markovits, Andrei S., and Steven L. Hellerman. Offside: Soccer and American Exceptionalism. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2001.
McGinniss, Joe. The Miracle of Castel Di Sangro. Boston: Little, Brown, 1999.
Oxenham, Gwendolyn. Finding the Game: Three Years, Twenty-five Countries and the Search for Pickup Soccer. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2012.
Schaap, Jeremy. Triumph: The Untold Story of Jesse Owens and Hitler’s Olympics. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2007.
Vecsey, George. A Year in the Sun: The Games, the Players, the Pleasure of Sports. New York: Times Books, 1989.
Weiland, Matt, and Sean Wilsey. The Thinking Fan’s Guide to the World Cup. New York: HarperCollins, 2006.
1. THE GOAL THAT CHANGES EVERYTHING
Longman, Jeré. “Desperate Hope, Dramatic Ending.” New York Times. June 24, 2010.
Vecsey, George. “A Foreign Game Looks Very American.” New York Times. June 24, 2010.
2. THE MAKING OF A FAN
Goal! The World Cup. Film documentary. Directed by Ross Devenish and Abidin Dino. Written by Brian Glanville. 1967.
Decker, Duane. “Off His Rocker About Soccer.” Sports Illustrated. January 10, 1955.
Vecsey, George. “Backtalk; A Soccer Shrine Is Captive to a Mushrooming Tax Bill.” New York Times. October 17, 1999.
Suarez, Ray, moderator. “America’s Interest in Soccer Perks This Year After the World Cup.” News Hour. Pbs.org. July 10, 2006.
Vecsey, George. “Soccer Is Welcome at Home of Sox.” New York Times. July 25, 2012.
3. THE BEST GROUP EVER
Gardner, Paul. The Simplest Game: The Intelligent Fan’s Guide to the World of Soccer. New York: Simon & Schuster Macmillan, 1976.
Vecsey, George. “Boniek Is the Whole Show for Poland.” New York Times. June 29, 1982.
______. “Equal/Opposite.” whatahowler.tumblr.com/post/24698119812/vecsey-equalandopposite. 2012.
Sampson, Paul. “82: The original and harshest Group of Death.” fourfourtwo.com/blogs/worldcupwonderland. May 13, 2010.
Vecsey, George. “Endless Dancing in the Streets.” New York Times. July 4, 1982.
______. “Kissinger’s New Mission: Bring World Cup to the U.S. by 2022.” New York Times. March 30, 2009.
“Cualquier Tiempo Pasado … Año 1982.” jesusmesloquehay.blogspot.com. October 17, 2012.
Nash, Nathaniel. “Edgy Outpost: Life in the Falklands; Unease Tempers Prosperity in Falklands’ Postwar Years.” New York Times. June 15, 1991.
http://www.i-azzurri.com/specials/articles/item/249-best-of-italy-germany-matches-in-history.
4. NOT READY FOR PRIME TIME
New York Times. “Team America Is Taking Shape.” February 23, 1983.
Vecsey, George. “Dodge City Time in Soccer.” New York Times. May 15, 1983.
______. “Strangers at Home.” New York Times. June 2, 1985.
Bell, Jack. “The Long, Hard Struggle to Mold an American Team.” New York Times. September 27, 2006.
______. “Team America.” Howler Magazine. Summer 2012.
5. THE KID COMES BACK
Burns, Jimmy. Hand of God: The Life of Diego Maradona, Soccer’s Fallen Star. New York: Lyons & Burford, 1996.
Hero: The Official Film of the 1986 World Cup. A Drummond Challis/Tony Maylam Film. 1987.
Chaudhary, Vivek. “Who’s the Fat Bloke in the Number Eight Shirt?” Guardian. February 17, 2004.
Raggio, Nora. “Pre-Columbian Sacrifices.” Sjsu.edu. San Jose State University. 2000.
Vecsey, George. “The Old and the New.” New York Times. May 30, 1986.
______. “Mexico Was Only a Winner.” New York Times. June 1, 1986.
______. “Iran: On the Road Again.” New York Times. June 3, 1986.
______. “It’s Happening in Monterrey.” New York Times. June 5, 1986.
______. “Italy and Argentina Play to a 1–1 Tie.” New York Times. June 6, 1986.
______. “Speaking for a Nation.” New York Times. June 30, 1986.
“Messi Is the Most Expensive Athlete in History.” Tierraunica.com. 2005.
“Maradona—Goal of the Century.” Wander-Argentina.com. 2013.
Vecsey, George. “It’s About the Air.” New York Times. June 8, 1986.
______. “Only Yank in the World.” New York Times. June 10, 1986.
______. “Denmark Beats W. Germany.” New York Times. June 14, 1986.
______. “World Cup; France Easily Dethrones Italy.” New York Times. June 18, 1986.
______. “The Real Number One.” New York Times. June 29, 1986.
Crooks, Eleanor. “Goal-Line Technology to Be Sanctioned: The Famous Goals That Never Were from Geoff Hurst to Frank Lampard.” Telegraph.co.uk. July 5, 2012.
Crouse, Lindsay. “Who Made That? Cleats.” New York Times Magazine. June 7, 2013.
6. THE SWEETEST FANS
Vecsey, George. “Where U.S. Pride Rests on One Game.” New York Times. November 19, 1989.
______. “U.S. Advances to World Cup.” New York Times. November 20, 1989.
Jennings, Andrew. Foul! The Secret World of FIFA: Bribes, Vote Rigging and Ticket Scandals. London: HarperSport, 2006.
Longman, Jeré, and Doreen Carvajal. “Power Broker Steps Down After Years of Whispers.” New York Times. June 21, 2011.
Lewis, Michael. “Forty-Year-Old Virgin.” Howler Magazine. Summer 2013.
7. MARKING MARADONA
Janofsky, Michael. “Tiny Village Welcomes U.S.” New York Times. May 27, 1990.
______. “For U.S. Coach, Budapest Hits Close to Home.” New York Times. March 19, 1990.
Vecsey, George. “Soccer’s Little Big Man.” New York Times. May 27, 1990.
______. “Reality Cannot Kill the Soccer ‘Passion.’” New York Times. June 11, 1990.
______. “The Meolas Come Home with a Son.” New York Times. June 14, 1990.
______. “A Defeat Revives a Dream.” New York Times. June 15, 1990.
Mellinger, Sam. “Soccer Always Special to Sporting KC’s Vermes.” Kansas City Star. November 3, 2012.
Covitz, Randy. “Stirring Day for Vermes.” Kansas City Star. October 12, 2013.
Vecsey, George. “Maradona Has Arm (Maybe) in Victory.” New York Times. June 14, 1990.
______. “The Old Man Waited for the Shadows.” New York Times. June 24, 1990.
______. “Last Look at Italy’s World Cup.” New York Times. July 8, 1990.
Janofsky, Michael. “Lion-Hearted Cup Team Gives Hope to Cameroon.” New York Times. June 18, 1990.
Vecsey, George. “And Maradona Was Waiting.” New York Times. June 25, 1990.
Lawton, James. “The Father of ‘Total Football’ Who Let His Players
Run Free.” The Independent. March 4, 2005.
8. MR. BLATTER COMES TO AMERICA
Vecsey, George. “Friendly Suggestion from the Home Office.” New York Times. August 19, 1990.
Dwyre, Bill. “Analysis: Forget World Cup: This Was ‘Circus of the Soccer Stars.’” Los Angeles Times. December 20, 1993.
Lewis, Michael. “The 1994 Bid: How the U.S. Got the World Cup—Part 1.” World Cup Soccer, 1994.
“U.S. Soccer Mourns Loss of Werner Fricker (1936–2001).” Ussoccer.com. June 1, 2001.
9. THE BIG EVENT
Cart, Julie. “Germany Wins, 2–1, in Tropical Silverdome.” Los Angeles Times. June 20, 1993.
Yannis, Alex. “There’s Something for (Almost) Everybody at World Cup.” New York Times. November 21, 1993.
Vecsey, George. “Soccer Junkie Files His World Cup Flight Plan.” New York Times. December 20, 1993.
Raver, Ann. “Grass Struggles Back (Thanks to Soccer).” New York Times. June 5, 1994.
Longman, Jeré. “U.S. Ties for First Cup Point Since 1950.” New York Times. June 19, 1994.
Rhoden, William C. “Simpson’s Sad Drama a Puzzle.” New York Times. June 18, 1994.
Vecsey, George. “Yank Recalls Old Victory over Brazil.” New York Times. July 4, 1994.
Hughes, Rob. “Crime and Punishment: FIFA Edits the Book.” New York Times. July 8, 1994.
Vecsey, George. “From Deep in His Serbian Heart.” New York Times. April 18, 1999.
______. “John Harkes Knows the Feeling of Having to Sit Out an Important Match.” New York Times. July 5, 2010.
Moran, Malcolm. “Baggio Brings a Last-Gasp Victory for the Italians.” New York Times. July 6, 1994.
Vecsey, George. “Roberto Baggio Stops Ugly Trip Back Home.” New York Times. July 6, 1994.
______. “No More Blasts from the Distant Past for Spain.” Georgevecsey.com. July 1, 2012.
Yannis, Alex. “Italy Soars Aboard the Baggio Express.” New York Times. July 10, 1994.
Fensom, Michael J. “Own Goal at 1994 World Cup Still Connects Slain Colombian Andres Escobar, Former U.S. Midfielder John Harkes.” Newark Star-Ledger. June 22, 2010.
Eight World Cups Page 28
