USA 94

Matthew Evans

Description

A group of volunteers begged, borrowed and remortgaged a house on their way to convincing FIFA to hand them the keys to the 1994 World Cup. When they got the green light, the USA was tasked with presenting the greatest show on earth to a nation of non-believers, with a press corps just waiting for them to fail. Six years later, the country famed for its glitz, glamour and razzmatazz delivered a glorious summer of memorable kits and billowing goal nets, confounding the doubters as they shattered attendance records and drew fans in their millions. The full-throttle journey to the global phenomenon that football is today had begun. It was a tale of two missed penalties, a car chase, internal politics, triumph and tragedy in equal measure. Heroes were born, dreams were shattered and for many life would never be the same. If Italia 90 unlocked the door to the modern game, then USA 94 kicked it open and nailed it to the wall. The revolution was here, and it was televised.

Sujets

• USA
• United States of America
• World Cup
• États-Unis

Informations

• Publié par: Pitch Publishing Ltd
• Date de parution: 27 juin 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781801503266
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

First published by Pitch Publishing, 2022
Pitch Publishing
A2 Yeoman Gate
Yeoman Way
Durrington
BN13 3QZ
www.pitchpublishing.co.uk
Matthew Evans, 2022
Every effort has been made to trace the copyright.
Any oversight will be rectified in future editions at the earliest opportunity by the publisher.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the Publisher.
A CIP catalogue record is available for this book from the British Library
Print ISBN 9781801501675
eBook ISBN 9781801503266
---
eBook Conversion by www.eBookPartnership.com
Contents
Prologue
Introduction
1. How the West Won
2. A Leap of Faith
3. The Science of Grass
4. Arise America before It s Too Late
5. The Super Eagles Take Flight
6. From the Desert to DC
7. In the Heat of the Moment
8. The Word is Freedom
9. El Diego s Last Stand
10. The Best of Enemies
11. Life Does Not End Here
12. God is Bulgarian
13. The Class of 94
14. Divine Intervention
15. The Ugly Duckling
16. A Door in the Sky
17. Mission Accomplished
Group Results and Final Standings
Acknowledgements
Bibliography
Photos
For Lindsey, Noah, Flynn and Jude
Prologue
A HELICOPTER whirred overhead as a convoy of police cars scrambled to join the early-evening traffic on Interstate 5 in Santa Ana, California. Ahead, a white Ford Bronco cautiously straddled the middle lanes of the freeway. Driving was former NFL player Allen AC Cowlings who a day earlier celebrated his 47th birthday; in the back of the SUV was Orenthal James OJ Simpson, one of the USA s biggest sports stars, who was holding a gun to his own head.
The drama began to unfold a little over three hours earlier when Los Angeles Police Department Commander David Gascon addressed a waiting press throng. The Los Angeles Police Department right now is searching for Mr Simpson; he is a wanted murder suspect and we will go and find him.
Five days earlier, Nicole Brown Simpson, ex-wife of the fugitive, and her friend Ronald Goldman were found murdered outside her home in the Los Angeles suburb of Brentwood. Nicole s estranged husband was chief suspect and the LAPD were eager to discuss his whereabouts on the fateful night. The former NFL running-back had agreed to surrender himself to the police on the morning of 17 June but suddenly seemed to have other ideas. Now he was charged with their murder, a wanted man and a fugitive from the law.
The 17 June 1994 was already shaping up to be a memorable day in US sports history. Arnold Palmer was playing his final round at the US Open whilst the New York Rangers ice hockey team had enjoyed a ticker-tape Broadway parade that morning having won their first Stanley Cup title in over 50 years. At Madison Square Garden a fellow New York sports team, basketball s Knicks, were gearing up for a vital game in the NBA finals against the Houston Rockets.
Despite the multitude of sporting excellence on display in the Land of the Free, it was presumed that the eyes of the world would rest on events some 2,000 miles away from California: at Chicago s Soldier Field, where the 15th World Cup would be getting underway. It was the first time that world football s premier tournament would be held outside of Europe and South America.
The big guns were rolled out for the opening ceremony. Chat show host Oprah Winfrey was on emcee duties, welcoming an estimated 750 million viewers to the show before she promptly fell off the stage, twisting her ankle in the process. The consummate professional, Winfrey continued to host a show which included Daryl Hall perform his forgettable World Cup-inspired ditty Gloryland , and an on-pitch display from Motown legend Diana Ross, who took centre stage and performed an elaborate routine for the great and the good who were baking in Chicago s summer heat.
Six years in the making and all the former Supremes lead singer had to do was hit the target. She parted the crowd, lip-synching her 1980 hit I m Coming Out in a red trouser suit, as she approached a football placed before her. A mere six yards away a pretend goalkeeper stood in front of a hastily positioned goal. Ross played to the crowd and toyed with the kick, attempting to ramp up the tension as her disco classic tinnily blared out of the stadium s sound system.
Ross eventually swung her right leg at the ball, sending it spiralling past the post whilst the goal elaborately snapped in half in a pre-planned way that hadn t considered she would miss the target altogether. Ever the professional, the Motown diva continued with the show, dancing between the dismantled goal hoping nobody had noticed what had just occurred.
The World Cup was open for business and whilst the sporting scribes prepared to detail the unfortunate mishaps on display in Chicago, the world s slowest car chase was reaching its crescendo. The 24-hour news channels had followed the parade into Los Angeles with the general public now eager to play their part in the unfolding events, some holding Go OJ signs visible for the TV cameras to see.
As the white Bronco entered the 405 freeway, TV networks interrupted their scheduled programming to show the pursuit. Much to the World Cup organisers relief, it was the NBA finals that would lose airtime and not either of the opening games. Finally, Simpson arrived at his estate grounds where he surrendered himself to a much-relieved LAPD as 24-hour news and reality television collided.
The next day Simpson stole the front and back pages of the US newspapers with some FIFA members disgruntled to see the World Cup shifted from being the major talking point. The Simpson episode had helped take some of the column inches away from Winfrey s tumble and Ross s miserable penalty attempt.
As with all news, the story moved on. Simpson prepared for the trial of the decade whilst some European football writers were still left wondering Who s OJ? The 1994 World Cup may have had its opening-day thunder stolen from under it, but as the tournament progressed it would have many more talking points of its own.
Introduction
THE SUMMER of 1994 saw all eyes focused on the USA for the 15th FIFA World Cup. It was sacrilege to some. Many detractors hoped it would fail, others simply sat back and expected it to. When the dust settled after four weeks of action, world football would never be the same again. USA 94 showed there was an alternative way of hosting the crown jewel of world football.
There is a common feeling amongst football fans that no World Cup holds a place in your heart quite like your first. Well, USA 94 was my third and ultimately my favourite; to me it was football in technicolour. The internet age was around the corner and USA 94 was the final World Cup where the only place you had seen some of the players before was in your sticker album.
The 1994 World Cup had it all. It was the tournament of the Golden Generation with half a dozen nations boasting arguably their greatest side. It played host to the greatest collection of football s number tens, with Roberto Baggio, Gheorghe Hagi, Hristo Stoichkov, Carlos Valderrama and Diego Maradona all battling it out. There were underdogs, giant killings, a final tragedy befitting Tosca , whilst news of the murder of a much-loved player sent shockwaves throughout the tournament.
The misty-eyed reminiscing of Italia 90 (mainly from the English perspective) disguises the fact that the football played on the Apennine Peninsula was for the most part dull. A scarcity of goals, little action and time-wasting of epic proportions culminated in a subdued final which didn t have Los Angeles s afternoon temperatures to hide behind. FIFA had seen enough, there was too much at stake if they were serious about conquering one of football s final frontiers.
Four years is a long time in football. Italia 90 and Gazza s tears changed the perception of the game in many people s eyes. There was hope for a sport scarred by the horrendous stadium disasters and hooliganism of the 1980s as the dawn of a new decade ushered in a rebirth for the beautiful game. FIFA was already one step ahead, having awarded the USA its prized possession in 1988. Now was the time to take football to the next level, foot down, full throttle. The fate of the game s globalisation rested on the shoulders of the 1994 World Cup.
Whilst the European football press speculated on the introduction of wild and wondrous rule changes that would desecrate the game, FIFA had other ideas. There would be no splitting the game into four quarters, no ad breaks instead of action, no cheerleaders or bigger goals. Instead, minor tweaks were made which would promote attacking football. For a country where winning is everything and whose native sports generally deal in high scores, goals would be the order of the day, and plenty of them.
By offering three points for a win, it was hoped that teams would avoid playing it safe, whilst an adjustment to the offside law put the advantage with the attacker. The negative play that marred the 1990 World Cup brought about the biggest change with the back-pass rule, commonplace now but then making its World Cup debut. Aesthetically, players names would adorn the backs of shirts allowing fans to follow suit as the replica jersey market provided another lucrative revenue stream for clubs and nations alike. Even the referees got involved in the fashion stakes with a variety of different coloured garments at their disposal. The more discerning and nostalgi