United States men's national soccer team
| United States | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nickname(s) | Yanks, The Stars & Stripes, The Red, White & Blue |
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| Association | United States Soccer Federation |
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| Confederation | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Head coach |  Bob Bradley |
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| Asst coach |  Peter
Nowak |
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| Captain | Carlos Bocanegra | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Most caps | Cobi Jones (164) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Top scorer | Eric Wynalda (34) Landon Donovan (34) |
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| FIFA code | USA | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FIFA ranking | 18 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Highest FIFA ranking | 4 (April 2006) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lowest FIFA ranking | 35 (October 1997) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Elo ranking | 29 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Highest Elo ranking | 11 (July & September 2005) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lowest Elo ranking | 85 (October 1968) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| First international Unofficial:  USA 0 - 1
Canada  (Newark, NJ, Official:  Sweden 2 - 3 USA  (Stockholm, Sweden; August 20, 1916) |
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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) |
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Biggest defeat Norway 11 - 0 USA (Oslo, Norway; 11 August, 1948) |
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| World Cup | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Appearances | 8 (First in 1930) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Best result | Semi-finals 1930 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| CONCACAF Gold Cup | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Appearances | 9 (First in 1991) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Best result | Winners, 1991, 2002, 2005, 2007 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Confederations Cup | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Appearances | 3 (First in 1992) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Best result | 3rd, 1992, 1999 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The United States men's national soccer team is the national soccer (association football) team of the United States and is controlled by the United States Soccer Federation. They are currently ranked 18th in the FIFA World Rankings[1], and have qualified for five consecutive FIFA World Cups. The strength of the country's youth team was demonstrated when they won the U-19 Milk Cup in 2005.[2]
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.[3] 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 in Estadio Pocitos where France defeated Mexico. FIFA has commemorated the American victory as the first World Cup match on two occasions, in 1987 and 2005.[4]
First World Cup hat-trick
In the next fixture, USA again won 3-0, this time against Paraguay.
Some controversy had 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 had
generally maintained that Patenaude scored only two goals, the second of the three goals being credited to teammate
Tom Florie.[5], but his
teammates and the U.S. Soccer Federation among other sources credited Patenaude with notching three.[6][7] Other sources claimed that it was an own goal by Paraguayan Ramon Gonzales.[8][9]
However, FIFA announced on 10 November 2006 that it had
accepted evidence from "various historians and football fans" and received confirmation from the United States Soccer Federation that Patenaude scored all three goals, and was indeed
the first person to score a hat-trick in World Cup play, clearing up a 76-year-old error.[10][11]
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. 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. However, FIFA documents have listed the U.S. finish as 3rd place, a designation that was apparently retroactive. It remains unclear whether FIFA simply chose to list the U.S. above Yugoslavia for alphabetical reasons or because the U.S. had a superior goal difference to Yugoslavia over the course of the tournament. Some British soccer 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.[12]
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 football 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. A recent movie named The Miracle Match commemorates the upset. Like England, the U.S. failed to advance from group play after losing to Chile and Spain. It would be four decades before the USA would again make an equivalent impression at the highest international level.
1980s
After the growing enthusiasm caused by the rise of the North American Soccer League (NASL) in the 1970s, it seemed at times as if the U.S. national team would soon become powerful players in world soccer. Such hopes were not realized, and USA were not considered a strong side in this era. From 1981 to 1983, only two international matches were played.
Team America in the NASL
To provide a more stable national team program, and renew interest in the domestic league, the U.S. national team, playing as Team America, was added as a member of the NASL in the 1984 season. This side lacked the continuity and regularity of training of conventional club sides, and many players were unwilling to play for this team instead of their own clubs. Team America finished the season at the bottom of the league. Recognizing that it had not achieved their objectives, USSF cancelled this experiment and the national team was withdrawn from the NASL.
1984 Olympics
USSF targeted the 1984 Summer Olympics, held in Los Angeles, and the 1986 FIFA World Cup as means of building a national team fan base. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) provided what appeared to be a major boost to the U.S.'s chances of advancing beyond the group stage when it declared that Olympic teams from outside Europe and South America could field their full international teams, including professionals. USSF immediately rearranged its Olympic team roster, cutting many of the collegiate players, and replacing them with professionals. Despite this, the U.S. finished 1-1-1 and failed to make the second round.
Failure to qualify for 1986 World Cup
The USSF had applied to host the 1986 World Cup, but Mexico eventually won the right to hold the tournament.
In the last game of the qualifying tournament, U.S. needed only a tie against Costa Rica, whom they had beaten 3-0 in the Olympics the year before, to reach the finals. The USSF, controversially, scheduled the game at El Camino College in Torrance, California, in an area with many Costa Rican expatriates, and allowed the game to be marketed almost exclusively to the Costa Rican community, even providing Costa Rican folk dances as half time entertainment.[1] A 35th minute goal by Evaristo Coronado won the match for Costa Rica, and eliminated the U.S. from the World Cup.[2]
National Team begins to revive
By the end of 1985, there was no domestic senior outdoor league[13], and many top U.S. players, such as John Kerr, Paul Caligiuri, Eric Eichmann and Bruce Murray moved overseas, primarily to Europe.
In 1988, USSF offered contracts to national team players, to build a team for international matches with something of a club ethos. The national team owned the players' contracts, then loaned these players out to their club teams. This brought several players back to the sport, and combined with an influx of talent from a burgeoning grass-roots level, the team qualified for the 1990 FIFA World Cup and won the 1991 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
1990s
1990 World Cup
In 1989, FIFA named the U.S. as host of the 1994 World Cup, but it was under significant international criticism for this decision because of the weakness of the national side and the lack of a top level professional league. This criticism was relieved somewhat when, by winning their first game on the road in nearly two years in a 1-0 victory over Trinidad and Tobago through a 35th minute goal by Paul Caligiuri, U.S.A. reached the 1990 World Cup in Italy, its first World Cup finals berth in 40 years.
For the World Cup, coach Bob Gansler selected many inexperienced recent college graduates ahead of seasoned professionals like Rick Davis and Hugo Perez. They were beaten 5-1 by Czechoslovakia in its opening game, Caligiuri scoring the consolation goal. A more defensive approach in the match against host team Italy resulted in a 1-0 defeat. In the U.S.’s last game, the team fell 2-1 to Austria, despite the dismissal of Austrian Peter Artner in the 34th minute. The U.S. were eliminated with a 0-3 record.
CONCACAF Cup Success
In March 1991, the U.S. national team won the North America Cup, tying Mexico 2-2 and beating Canada 2-0. This was followed in May by a 1-0 victory over Uruguay in the World Series of Soccer. The national team then went undefeated in the 1991 Gold Cup, beating Mexico 2-0 in the semifinals and Honduras 0-0 (4-3 on penalty kicks) in the final. In 1992, the U.S. continued its run of success, taking the U.S. Cup title with victories over Ireland and Portugal, followed by a tie with Italy.
1994 World Cup hosts
The controversy over the United States having been awarded the 1994 FIFA World Cup, despite soccer being relatively unpopular in the country had continued until the tournament started. Despite soccer's lowly position in the U.S. sports' hierarchy, the 1994 tournament still holds the World Cup record for attendance at nearly 70,000 per match[14]. The U.S. opened its tournament schedule with a 1-1 tie against Switzerland in the Pontiac Silverdome in Detroit, Michigan, the first World Cup game played indoors. In its second game, the U.S. faced Colombia, ranked fourth in the world, at the Rose Bowl. Aided by an own goal from Andrés Escobar, who was later murdered in his home country for this mistake, the U.S. won 2-1. Despite a 1-0 loss to Romania in its final group game, the U.S. made it to the knockout round for the first time in modern history, avoiding the ignominy of becoming the first host nation not to advance from the group stage.
In the second round, the U.S. lost to eventual champion Brazil, 1-0. Brazil played much of the match with only 10 players after a red card was given to Leonardo for "shattering Tab Ramos' skull with a brutally-delivered elbow".[15] Brazil were the superior team, but Leonardo ended the tournament for arguably the US' most talented midfielder.
Disappointment in France
In the 1998 World Cup, the team lost all three group matches, including a loss to Iran, and finished in last place in its group. In fact, the team finished in last place overall-- placing 32nd in the field of 32. 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.[16]
2000s
2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan
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. The knockout stage was reached through a 3-2 win over Portugal and a 1-1 tie with co-host and eventual fourth place finisher, South Korea.
This set the stage for a Round 2 face-off with familiar continental rivals Mexico. The U.S. emerged victorious in the first World Cup showdown between the two old adversaries, 2-0. The team 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 in Germany
- Additional information: 2006 FIFA World Cup - Group E
- Additional information: 2006 FIFA World Cup seeding
Although it finished at the top of its qualifying group, the United States was unseeded (only top 8 teams received seeds). After changes were made to the seeding process from past processes, more weight was given to a team's/nation's previous World Cup success. The United States was drawn in Group E for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, along with Czech Republic, Italy and Ghana. With three of the top 10 sides in the FIFA rankings in the group, it was considered a Group of Death.
The USA opened with a 3-0 loss to Czech Republic.[17] The team then drew 1-1 against Italy, helped by an Italian own goal: red cards were shown to Pablo Mastroeni and Eddie Pope just before and immediately following the halftime break for reckless tackles, forcing the US team to play nearly all of the second half with nine players to Italy's ten. The USA was knocked out in its final group match against Ghana, who defeated the Americans 2-1.[18]
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 World Cup on European soil; the Cristian Zaccardo own goal was also the only goal conceded by Italy until France scored in the final on a penalty kick.
Recent history
After the tournament, Arena's contract was not renewed. After a five-month search that ended with favorite Jürgen Klinsmann declining the position, Chivas USA coach Bob Bradley was hired on an interim and later fulltime basis. He will also lead the Under-23 squad, which will play in the 2008 Summer Olympics. The 2007 season began with a January training camp under Bradley, followed by a 3-1 win over Denmark[19], a 2-0 win over archrivals Mexico, a 3-1 win over Ecuador, a 0-0 draw with Guatemala and a 4-1 win over China.
The team started their 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup campaign on June 7, 2007, with a 1-0 victory over Guatemala at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California. They defeated Trinidad & Tobago 2-0 on June 9, 2007 also at the Home Depot Center. They then completed group play with a 4-0 win over El Salvador on June 12, 2007 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts and clinched a place in the quarterfinals as winner of Group B.
On June 16, 2007, with a 2-1 win over Panama in the quarterfinals, they advanced to face Canada on June 21, 2007. USA beat Canada with a score of 2-1. Landon Donovan scored on a penalty kick while Frankie Hejduk scored with an assist from Donovan. Kasey Keller made his 100th appearance for the U.S. National Team. In the final match, the USA came from behind to beat their eternal rivals Mexico 2-1 in the tournament's final at Chicago's Soldier Field[20]. The match saw Landon Donovan equal Eric Wynalda's all time goal tally of 34 goals for the national side before Benny Feilhaber's 77th minute strike sent the Americans to their fourth CONCACAF Gold Cup victory, thus coming in second with four wins after rival Mexico, who has won seven.
On June 28, 2007, the National Team started their Copa America 2007 campaign with a 1-4 loss against Argentina, continued it with a 1-3 setback to Paraguay on 2 July, and concluded it on 5 July with a 0-1 loss to Colombia. The decision by the USSF to field what many considered a second tier team was questioned[21] as the U.S. National Team finished last in the tournament.
Schedule and recent results
1 - United States score always listed first
- 2 - Denmark and FIFA do not recognize this as a full international. See discussion page for details.
- Key
- F = Friendly
- GCF = Gold Cup Finals
- CAF = Copa America Finals
Current squad
Friendly v. Switzerland
The following players were named to the team camp for the October 17 friendly v. Switzerland. Not all 23 were named to the matchday squad.
Caps and goals as of October 18, 2007, following the international friendly v. Switzerland.
Recent call-ups
The following players have been called up to the national team in the last six months, but were not named to the 23-man camp facing Switzerland.
- Goalkeepers
| Player | Date of birth | Club | Caps (goals) | Most Recent Call up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kasey Keller | 11/29/1969 |  Fulham |
102 (0) | Copa America 2007 |
| Tim Howard | 6/3/1979 | Everton |
25 (0) | v Brazil, September 9, 2007 |
- Defenders
| Player | Date of birth | Club | Caps (goals) | Most Recent Call up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frankie Hejduk | 8/5/1974 |
Columbus Crew |
75 (6) | 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup |