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June 18, 2002
For old teammates Frank Borghi, Harry Keough and Walter Bahr, America's stunning advance to the quarterfinals brought back memories of another great victory 52 years ago.
Borghi was the goalie and Keough and Bahr were backs on the U.S. team that stunned England 1-0 in the 1950 World Cup. Each of them watched Monday as another U.S. team scored another upset, defeating Mexico 2-0.
"Ours was a bigger upset, but this is a bigger victory," Keough said.
Over a half-century ago, a team of amateurs and semi-pros being paid $100 a game was given little chance against an English team among the game's elite whose players viewed themselves as the Lords of Soccer.
England had defeated the U.S. 1-0 in an exhibition one week before the World Cup and Sir Stanley Rous, later president of FIFA, stood up at a postgame dinner and apologized for his team scoring just one goal. "You will meet the real England in Brazil," he proclaimed.
The Americans knew they faced a daunting task once they reached Brazil, site of the World Cup. In their first game, they lost to Spain 3-1. Next was England.
"We didn't feel we needed to beat them, but we felt if we could just play pretty good, it would be enough," Keough said. "In our minds, if we lost 2-0, we'd feel pretty good about ourselves."
Bahr would go on to be the longtime soccer coach at Penn State and produce two sons, Matt and Chris, who were NFL placekickers. On that day against England, he said, the Americans knew what they were up against.
"Realistically, we didn't think we could win," he said. "But from a competitive standpoint, any time you go on the field, something can happen and you can win. It starts 0-0."
And it stayed 0-0 until the 37th minute when Larry Gaetjens scored on an assist by Bahr.
"I don't think any of us thought that would be the only goal scored that day," Keough said. "I thought, "We woke them up. Shots will rain down on us now.' "
In goal, Borghi shared that sentiment.
"I thought the roof would cave in on us," he said. "I felt sure they would score."
Certainly, England came after Borghi. On each attack, he made saves, often catching the ball, a favorite tactic for the Italian-born goaltender. Keough remembers him as the star of the game.
"I had quite a bit of shots," Borghi said. "I caught a lot out of the air. I had confidence in my hands."
Borghi kept looking at the referee, wondering how much longer the game would last, how much longer he would have to protect the lead. When the end came, there was pandemonium. Borghi was carried off the field. It was a memory for a lifetime.
"I'll never forget it," he said. "But if we had played them again the next day, they'd probably beat us 10-0."
England, crestfallen by the defeat, then lost to Spain 1-0 and was eliminated from the tournament. The United States fell to Chile 5-2 and also went home, but in a much different frame of mind.