World Cup History

Two things here. Studio 90 on US soccer is asking former players/coaches what their favorite World Cup memory is. So far three have said our WC defeat of Mexico in 2002 and one (Keller) has said the draw with Italy in 2006. Mine is the Italy draw also but then 2006 is the only WC I've seen since becoming a fan. Wondering what your favorite WC memory is.

Also, ESPN or some station is showing replays of previous WC matches. I saw the '94 Columbia vs USA match last night and thought the US was very impressive. Defense was rock solid, passing was great, goal keeping good as usual, and the athleticism was amazing. I didnt think they were any less than our current team. Tell me where I'm wrong because I must be.

 

I've been thinking about this History thing and I'm falling back into my 'Follower not a fanatic' schtick.

I dont give a damn what happened before 1994. I mean 1950 is a nice story and all. But '94 is the hallmark.

1998 is the low point and 2002 is the high that had SOME of us.. well, me.... thinking we could seriously contend in 2010.

- sigh-

 

Watched the US v Columbia match yesterday also MO. Always with a grain of salt since the own goal by Escobar led to his murder when Columbia went home. Quite a few of those guys could have made this team (Ramos, Harkes, Wynalda, etc). I won't rag on the "white sash" uniforms anymore (I did buy a white w/the invisible gray jersey), the '94 jerseys w/the stars and the iron-on names and numbers are the all-time worst.

My memories: Being in person at the Rose Bowl in '94 for the Romania-Argentina match, got me into the sport

US in 2002: 1) Portugal, waking up in the middle of the night out here on the left coast, but not soon enough, we were already up 3-0 (I've youtubed "US v Portugal World Cup 2002" this week). 2) the high of beating El Tri in the knockout, talking to my buddy on the phone and him being so sad I couldn't rub it in 3) the low of outplaying Germany and that freaking handball. ** just an aside, when we discuss the great US players one name we forget is Tony Sanneh, his play in '02 was tremendous.

 

I have a hard time choosing between the Portugal and Mexico wins in 2002.

 

Actually, my favorite memory is a USA loss.

July 4, 1994 1-0 to Brazil. I watched it in a pub in Peckham, just after Ireland had lost to the Dutch, so the place was in a sour mood. The play of the Americans slowly but surely turned most of the crowd that stuck around into rooting for the USA. I got a lot of pats on the back and free beers for that match.

Oh, and dinner that night was at an Italian restaurant run by Brazilians. We were met by the waitress who was doing the samba whilst drapped in the Brazilian flag. Needless to say, she knew we were coming, so it was all in good spirits.

Hey! I happened to LIKE those 1994 jerseys - both the stars and the stripes!! Much better than this year's sash/el Presidente look.

 

I agree with jmh, Portugal or Mexico. Either way, that was the World Cup (with an assist to about a dozen Croatian and Bosnian refugees) that started my conversion to soccer.

 

I completely agree... one of the worst things I've seen in the U.S. football community is people who started paying attention post-2002 and literally hate Claudio Reyna. I respect these guys about as much as I respect the Taliban.