United States men's national soccer team
| Shirt badge/Association crest | |||
| Nickname(s) | Yanks, The Stars & Stripes The Red, White and Blue | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Association | United States Soccer Federation | ||
| Head coach | File:20px-Flag of the United States.png Bruce Arena, 1998- | ||
| Most caps | Cobi Jones (164) | ||
| Top scorer | Eric Wynalda (34) | ||
| FIFA code | USA | ||
| |||
| First international | |||
Unofficial: Template:Country data United States 38 USA 0 - 1 Canada  (Newark, NJ, USA; November 28, 1885) Official:  Sweden 2 - 3 USA Template:Country data United States 48(Stockholm, Sweden; August 20, 1916) | |||
| Biggest win | |||
 USA 8 - 1 Cayman Islands  (Mission Viejo, CA, USA; November 14, 1993) USA 7 - 0 El Salvador  (Los Angeles, CA, USA; December 5, 1993) USA 7 - 0 Barbados  (Foxborough, MA, USA; August 20, 2000) | |||
| Biggest defeat | |||
USA 0 - 10 England  (New York, NY, USA; May 27, 1964) | |||
| World Cup | |||
| Appearances | 8 (first in 1930) | ||
| Best result | Semi-finals, 1930 | ||
| CONCACAF Gold Cup | |||
| Appearances | 8 (first in 1991) | ||
| Best result | Winners, 1991, 2002, 2005 | ||
The United States men's national soccer team is the national association football team of the United States and is controlled by the United States Soccer Federation.
During the past five years the team has been consistently ranked in the top fifteen of the FIFA World Rankings; its highest-ever rank was 4th, first obtained in April 2006. Going into the 2006 FIFA World Cup, the United States was ranked 5th (tied with Spain) in FIFA World Rankings and 14th in the World Football Elo Ratings. More members of the national team than ever now have successful careers in European leagues,[1] and the country's youth team is strong, as shown by the under-19s winning the 2005 Milk Cup. The U.S. has had more men reach 100 caps (international appearances) than any other country, with nine to date.
History
First international outside Britain
In 1885, the U.S. and Canada played the first unofficial international match held outside of Great Britain. The Canadians defeated the homestanding Americans 1-0 in Newark, New Jersey.[2] The American side had their revenge the following year, in 1886, when they beat the Canadians 3-2, also in Newark. These two matches were the only internationals played outside of the United Kingdom in the 19th century. Thirty years later, the Americans would play their first official international match by travelling to face Sweden in Stockholm, where the USA won 3-2.
1930: The first World Cup
First win ever
In the 1930 FIFA World Cup, the U.S. won the first match in World Cup history, defeating Belgium 3-0 at Estadio Gran Parque Central in Montevideo, Uruguay. The match occurred simultaneously with another "first game" across town where France defeated Mexico. FIFA has commemorated the American victory as the first World Cup match on two occasions, in 1987 and 2005.[3]
First hat-trick ever?
In the next fixture, USA again won 3-0, this time against Paraguay. Some controversy has ensued for seven decades over the scoring, as American Bert Patenaude may or may not have scored the first hat-trick in World Cup history. FIFA has generally maintained that Patenaude scored only two goals, the second of the three goals being credited to teammate Tom Florie[4], but his teammates and the U.S. Soccer Federation among other sources credited Patenaude with notching three.[5][6] Other sources claimed that it was an own goal by Paraguayan Ramon Gonzales.[7][8] In some instances, FIFA itself has referred to Patenaude as scoring the first World Cup hat-trick[9] but this information has not been confirmed and may be a misprint or mistake, as neither the official FIFA boxscore nor the FIFA list of World Cup hat-tricks has recognized Patenaude's 1930 game against Paraguay.
Semi-finalists
In that first World Cup, the American side lost a one-sided match to Argentina, 6-1, after advancing to the semi-finals (or "Final Four", in common U.S. English for other sports). This is still the all-time highest World Cup finish by the men's team. The 1930 tournament was unique in that no third place match was played and no third place trophy was awarded to either the United States or fellow semi-finalists Yugoslavia. Some British football historians have claimed that the U.S. team at that competition was loaded with non-native players from British professional leagues, but the facts do not support that assertion. There were six British-born players on the 1930 team, all of whom played in the team's three World Cup matches. At the time of the 1930 World Cup, the combined experience of those six players in British professional leagues was two games, both by a single player in the English Third Division (equivalent to today's Football League One). Four of the six had come to the United States as teenagers or younger. Three of the six never played professionally in Britain; their pro careers were entirely in North America. In the 1920s, there was a thriving professional league in the United States, and the league survived into the mid-1930s. Two of the six did have significant professional careers in Britain, but not until after 1930. All 16 members of the 1930 World Cup team were living in the United States by 1928.[10]
1950: Victory against England
The 1950 FIFA World Cup is memorable in the English-speaking world for the U.S. team pulling off one of the greatest upsets in soccer history, handing England a devastating result in its first ever World Cup loss, 1-0, after England had recently beaten the rest of Europe 6-1 in an exhibition match. Like England, the U.S. failed to advance from group play after losing to Spain. It would be four decades before the USA would again make a splash on the highest international level.
1990s
"Shot Heard Round The World"
USA qualified for the 1990 World Cup on a dramatic 1-0 road win over Trinidad and Tobago on a goal from Paul Caligiuri, termed the "Shot Heard Round The World" in some circles as it qualified the United States side for the first time in 40 years. However, they were eliminated from Italy without earning a point before the side rebounded to win the first ever CONCACAF Gold Cup in 1991.
1994 World Cup hosts
The United States was awarded the 1994 FIFA World Cup, despite soccer being relatively unpopular in the country compared to its more established sports such as American football, basketball, and baseball. The U.S.-hosted 1994 tournament still holds the World Cup record for attendance at nearly 70,000 per match[11] and has been considered among the most successful World Cups in history.[12] This set the backdrop for the home team to play to a tie with Switzerland and accomplish a 2-1 upset of Colombia (with an own goal by Andrés Escobar, who was later murdered in his home country for this mistake). The USA made it to the knockout round for the first time since 1930, but there they lost 1-0 to the eventual champions, Brazil.
Disappointment in France
In the 1998 World Cup, the team lost all three group matches, including a disappointing loss to Iran, and a last-place finish. Head coach Steve Sampson received much of the blame for the performance, after abruptly cutting team captain John Harkes and several other players who were significant to the qualifying effort.[13]
2000s
Korea and Japan darkhorse
The team won the 2002 Gold Cup to set up the team's best performance since 1930 in the 2002 World Cup, when the US team reached the quarterfinals. They were one of the major stories in Korea and Japan, surprising Luís Figo's "Golden Generation" of highly favored Portugal 3-2 and tying eventual fourth place finisher South Korea 1-1 to advance from group play.
This set the stage for an exciting Round 2 face-off with familiar continental rivals Mexico. The Americans put together perhaps their best game of the tournament against the Mexicans[14] and emerged victorious in the first World Cup showdown between the two old adversaries, 2-0. This sparked the hopes and imaginations of USA soccer fans for the first time in generations, before the team narrowly lost 1-0 to eventual runners-up Germany in the quarterfinals.
USA won its second Gold Cup of the last three with the 2005 Gold Cup.
2006 FIFA World Cup
- Additional information: 2006 FIFA World Cup - Group E
On September 3, 2005, US men's national soccer team qualified for its 8th World Cup, by beating Mexico 2-0 in Columbus, Ohio. The United States was drawn for Group E in the 2006 FIFA World Cup, which, partly because of the highest FIFA rankings of any group (particularly among the top three, meaning at least one would face certain elimination), was frequently called a group of death, along with Group C in the lead-up to the Cup. In addition to the Top 5 FIFA rankings of the Czech Republic (#2) and USA (#5), Italy (#13) earned a Top 8 seed, while Ghana (#48) had allowed only 4 goals in 12 World Cup qualification matches.
The USA opened with a 3-0 loss to Czech Republic.[15] The team then drew 1-1 against Italy, due to an Italian own-goal, in a game in which some calls by referee Jorge Larrionda and his linesmen were controversial. Red cards given to Pablo Mastroeni and Eddie Pope within a two-minute period for reckless tackles forced the US team to play nearly all of the second half with nine players to Italy's ten. The USA were knocked out in their final group match against Ghana, who defeated the Americans 2-1, after another controversial decision that resulted in a game-winning penalty kick for the African squad.[16]
Unlike Group C, the Group E group of death lived up to its billing, as two teams ranked in the Top 5 of the FIFA World Rankings (Czech Republic and USA) were eliminated in the group stages, while Italy and Ghana advanced to the next round, each winning their final matches. After going winless in Italy 1934, Italy 1990, France 1998, and Germany 2006, the U.S. is left still searching for its first victory in a World Cup held on European soil. The tie against Italy was USA's first point earned in a European World Cup.
World Cup record
| Year | Finish | Wins | Losses | Draws | Goals Scored | Goals Against |
| 1930 | Semi-finals | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 6 |
| 1934 | Round 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
| 1938 | Withdrew | |||||
| 1950 | Round 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 8 |
| 1954 to 1986 | Did not qualify | |||||
| 1990 | Round 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 8 |
| 1994 | Round of 16 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 1998 | Round 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| 2002 | Quarterfinals | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 7 |
| 2006 | Round 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| Total | 6 | 16 | 3 | 27 | 51 |
After failing to appear in nine straight tournaments beginning in 1954, the team has now appeared in five consecutive FIFA World Cup finals since 1990, an active string that is surpassed only by Brazil, Germany, Italy, Argentina, Spain, and South Korea.[17]
Gold Cup record
- 1991 - Champions
- 1993 - Second place
- 1996 - Third place
- 1998 - Second place
- 2000 - Quarterfinals
- 2002 - Champions
- 2003 - Third place
- 2005 - Champions
Copa América record
Starting from 1993, CONMEBOL has invited teams from other confederations to participate in their confederation championship, Copa América. USA has been invited every time since, but due to MLS scheduling conflicts, has taken part only twice, in 1993 and 1995.
- 1993 - Round 1
- 1995 - Fourth place
- 1997 to 2004 - Was invited but turned down due to MLS season schedule conflict
Head coaches
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2006 World Cup roster
Head coach: Bruce Arena
Chris Albright was announced on 4 May as a replacement for Frankie Hejduk, who suffered a torn ACL in his right knee. [18]
Gregg Berhalter, who will join German club 1860 Munich next season, was announced on 25 May as a replacement for Cory Gibbs, who re-injured his right knee.
Famous past players
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Notes
- ^ http://www.usatoday.com/sports/soccer/world/2004-01-22-howard_x.htm#list
- ^ As the US-Canada match was unofficial, the first official match outside Britain was held in 1901 between Argentina and Uruguay.
- ^ http://www.rsssf.com/tables/30full.html
- ^ "FIFA: USA - Paraguay match report". FIFA. Retrieved 2006-06-09.
- ^ "CNN/Sports Illustrated - Bert Patenaude". CNN. Retrieved 2006-06-09.
- ^ "Planet World Cup - World Cup Trivia". PlanetWorldCup.com. Retrieved 2006-06-09.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ "The Football Association 20 World Cup Facts". The FA. Retrieved 2006-06-09.
- ^ "RSSSF - THE FIRST WORLD CUP HAT TRICK". RSSSF. Retrieved 2006-06-09.
- ^ "FIFA/Yahoo! Official Site discusses 1930 World Cup". 2006 FIFA World Cup Official Site. Retrieved 2006-06-09.
- ^ For more details on this issue, see Allaway, Roger, and Colin Jose, The myth of British pros on the 1930 U.S. team.
- ^ http://www.planetworldcup.com/CUPS/1994/wc94story.html
- ^ http://www.ussoccer.com/history/host/fwc94.jsp.html
- ^ "Sampson destroyed US unity with late changes to lineup". SoccerTimes.com. Retrieved June 8.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/soccer/specials/world_cup/2006/06/14/rongen.notebook/index.html
- ^ FIFA match report, accessed on June 16, 2006
- ^ "Ghana 2-1 USA". BBC. Retrieved 2006-06-23.
- ^ World Cup Qualifying is done by confederation, each of which has a fixed number of spots alloted. This means that weaker teams could make the tournament from one region, while stronger teams from other regions could fail to qualify. A ranking based on this record has thus a meaning only within national teams from the same confederation.
- ^ "Albright Replaces Injured Hejduk on U.S. FIFA World Cup Roster". ussoccer.com. Retrieved May 6.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help)
External links
- Official Website
- Archive of U.S. national team results 1885-1979
- Archive of U.S. national team results 1980-
- Pronunciation Guide for Names of Players on 2006 U.S. National Team
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International association football | ||
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| World (FIFA) |  | |
| Asia (AFC) | ||
| Africa (CAF) | ||
| North America (CONCACAF) | ||
| South America (CONMEBOL) | ||
| Oceania (OFC) | ||
| Europe (UEFA) | ||
| Inter-Continental |
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| Non-FIFA | ||
2006 FIFA World Cup finalists | |
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| Champions | |
| Runners-up | |
| Third place | |
| Fourth place | |
| Quarter-finals | |
| Round of 16 | |
| Group stage | |
