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Joe Gaetjens, a Haitian
immigrant, scored the greatest goal in American soccer history. He
should have been a hero. Instead, Gaetjens was abducted and died in
a Haitian prison. "Outside the Lines" sheds light on his story.
England v United States (1950)
On
29 June 1950, at the 1950 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, the
United States defeated England 1–0
in a group match..In recent years[1] , the event has been
named the "Miracle on Grass", in reference to the Miracle on
Ice.[2] [3] The match was played in Belo Horizonte at
Estádio Independência. The game and the U.S. team were
profiled by author Geoffrey Douglas in his book
The Game of Their Lives
(ISBN 0-8050-3875-2), which was made into a film of the same
name (later renamed to
The Miracle Match).
Background
At
the time, the English considered themselves the "Kings of
Football", with a post-war record of 23 wins, 4 losses ,and
3 draws. Conversely, the Americans had lost their last seven
international matches (including the 1934 World Cup and 1948
Summer Olympics) by the combined score of 45–2.
The odds were 3–1
the English would win the Cup, and 500–1
for the U.S. England had Stanley Matthews available, whom
they considered the best player in the world at the time,
but he had not played with the English team in the three
international matches prior to the World Cup (in fact, he
had joined the team late, having been touring Canada as part
of another group of English internationals). As such, the
selection committee (consisting of one man, Arthur Drewry,
then president of the English/Wales Football League and
later the president of FIFA), opted to stay with the team
that had just defeated Chile. As there were no substitutes
allowed in those days, Matthews watched the game with the
other reserves. Meanwhile, the American team consisted of
semi-professional players, most of whom had other jobs to
support their families. Walter Bahr was a high school
teacher, and others worked as mail carriers or
dishwashers.[5] Not only that, but the team had been hastily
assembled, and had only been able to scrimmage all together
once, and that was the day before they left for Brazil,
which happened to be against the touring English team
featuring Matthews.[6] Three players, Joe Maca, Ed McIlvenny,
and Joe Gaetjens, were added to the roster just prior to
that game.[7] "We have no chance," recently-appointed coach
Bill Jeffrey told the press.[8] England and the U.S. were in
Group 2 of the first round robin, along with Spain and
Chile.
First half
England won the toss and elected to kick off. Within ninety
seconds, Stanley Mortensen sent a cross from the left wing
to Roy Bentley, who let off a shot that was barely pushed
aside by U.S. goalkeeper Frank Borghi. By the twelfth
minute, England had six clear shots on goal but could not
convert, with two shots hitting the post, one just going
over the top, and another brilliantly saved by Borghi. The
U.S. struggled to move to the offense, and finally managed a
shot on goal in the twenty-fifth minute, which was blocked
by English goalkeeper Bert Williams. The English
counterattacked with three successive clear shots at the
goal in minutes 30, 31, and 32, but failed to score.
Mortensen twice went over the crossbar, and Tom Finney's
header to the top corner was tipped away by Borghi. In the
thirty-seventh minute, Bahr took a long shot twenty-five
yards out, but as Williams moved to his right to intercept,
Gaetjens dived headlong and grazed the ball enough to put it
to the left of the English goalkeeper, whose momentum
prevented him from changing direction, and into the back of
the net. The crowd exploded as the U.S. improbably led 1–0.
As the half drew to a close, Finney had a chance to tie the
score, but the whistle blew before he could shoot.
Second half
With
renewed confidence, the U.S. played tougher as the second
half opened, creating another scoring opportunity in the
54th minute. In the 59th minute England was awarded a direct
free kick but Mortensen's shot was well saved by Borghi. But
England began threatening again, and it was fifteen minutes
before the Americans were able to get another shot. With
eight minutes left, Charlie Colombo brought down Mortensen
with an illegal tackle at the edge of the penalty area.
England pleaded for a penalty kick, but the referee ruled it
was outside the box. On the resulting free kick, Jimmy
Mullen headed the ball for what he thought was a goal,
failing to notice that Borghi had tipped it away at the last
second, denying the English on their chance to tie the game.
England had no more chances on goal and the game ended in
victory for the U.S. team.
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