|
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, the event has been named the "Miracle on Grass", in reference to the Miracle on Ice. 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. 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. Three players, Joe Maca, Ed McIlvenny, and Joe Gaetjens, were added to the roster just prior to that game. "We have no chance," recently-appointed coach Bill Jeffrey told the press. 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.
|
Subscribe to Text Message
