England v USA

[Irish Stu]

Just settling down with a beer or two to watch Fabio Capello's third game as the England football team's manager as we take on the USA on the hallowed Wembley turf. They just kicked off so I'll be reporting back later.

Simon

[♥ COVID-19♥]

Please let us know if anyone hits a homerun.

[Irish Stu]

May 28, 2008 13:17:57 GMT -6 ♥ COVID-19♥ said:

Please let us know if anyone hits a homerun

Well as you asked, John Terry just hit a homerun to make it England 1 - 0 USA.

Simon

[♥ COVID-19♥]

I'm confident the USA will take the lead as soon as their point guard drains one from outside the 3-point line.

[Ardbeg... innit]

May 28, 2008 13:47:54 GMT -6 Irish Stu said:

May 28, 2008 13:17:57 GMT -6 ♥ COVID-19♥ said:

Please let us know if anyone hits a homerun

Well as you asked, John Terry just hit a homerun to make it England 1 - 0 USA.

Simon

I thought it was called a 'six'

[Irish Stu]

Well Beckham was pulled off at half-time... this probably put a smile on his face as he would only have been expecting a bottle of Powerade like the rest of the team.

Simon

[Irish Stu]

And Stephen Gerrard just got a touchdown to make it England 2 - 0 USA.

Simon

[♥ COVID-19♥]

I blame home field advantage.

[Irish Stu]

In the 87th minute Freddy Adu nearly scored for the USA, but his effort ended up being much Adu about nothing.

Simon

[New Mama]

Simon, we have some serious balls to discuss, but it's not these kind that you kick around.

[♥ COVID-19♥]

That's what you think.

[Irish Stu]

Full time England 2 - 0 USA.

Neither team ever really looked like they wanted to set the world on fire, but team USA has proved in recent years that they are capable of so much better, yet tonight they never really got out of first gear against an England team that made light work of them. It's a shame, I was hoping for a more closely fought and competitive game. I always like watching the USA play as their style is similar to our own, albeit not on a par with what you'd expect in the Premier League, which I prefer to the European and South American style of play.

Simon

[♥ COVID-19♥]

We would've won if it had been played on a clay court.

[Harrybutt]

I think my kids were at that game

[Irish Stu]

Did you watch the match on TV HB? There was quite a strong USA contingent in the crowd, the commentator even said that 1300 or so had travelled over with tickets bought in the US alone. There were lots of replica jerseys visible, and USA scarves being waved.

Simon

[Harrybutt]

May 28, 2008 16:31:21 GMT -6 Irish Stu said:

Did you watch the match on TV HB? There was quite a strong USA contingent in the crowd, the commentator even said that 1300 or so had travelled over with tickets bought in the US alone. There were lots of replica jerseys visible, and USA scarves being waved.

Simon

No, couldn't watch it. Just read an e-mail from my daughter

oh my god the bus drivers here are amazing. they turn corners while talking to the people behind them as if it was nothing. even i thought that they were gonna hit something a few times.

yeah, joe and mom are pretty much getting on my nerves cause they keep bickering and joe likes to use his fake accent sometimes which also kinda makes me mad.

we visited the battle of hastings, which they just call Battle here, and i took a video of the field and the monastery (however you spell it) and a picture of joe and i. it was pretty cool.

anyway gotta go now. i'm glad to hear from everyone! i'm getting a little homesick now. we went to a kinda nice restaurant and they actually had ice in the drinks! usually they don't though but when they do that have a lot of ice. U.S. vs. England today so we're gonna go see that in like an hour. i'm kinda use to the timezone but it still kinda gets me so i'm not totally use to it.

[Irish Stu]

How long are they over here for? It's a shame we've had such horrible weather the past few days (we had two month's worth of rain over the holiday weekend), it can't be doing much to help them enjoy their trip. I hope they enjoyed the game tonight, I was at Wembley in October for the Dolphins v Giants NFL game, it's an amazing stadium and the atmosphere tonight must have been incredible.

Simon

[Harrybutt]

May 28, 2008 17:13:14 GMT -6 Irish Stu said:

How long are they over here for? It's a shame we've had such horrible weather the past few days (we had two month's worth of rain over the holiday weekend), it can't be doing much to help them enjoy their trip. I hope they enjoyed the game tonight, I was at Wembley in October for the Dolphins v Giants NFL game, it's an amazing stadium and the atmosphere tonight must have been incredible.

Simon

They are there til June 27th. part of which they will go to Scotland. Seem to be in Portmouth today or travelling from there. Yeah, they said the weather was sucky, but they expected that.

[Irish Stu]

May 28, 2008 17:24:14 GMT -6 Harrybutt said:

Seem to be in Portmouth today or travelling from there

Hopefully during their time in Portmouth they'll have seen the Mary Rose, the 15th century warship that sunk and was raised from the bottom of the ocean back in the 1980s. I found it so fascinating I almost had to be dragged out of there :

www.maryrose.org

Yeah, they said the weather was sucky, but they expected that

Some of it may be crap, but at least with our climate we get variety... we can have five different kinds of weather in one day

Simon

[Harrybutt]

I have no doubt, ya'll could continue to have the worst of weather and they'd still be tickled to be there. My daughter is waiting on her Holy Grail.......Old Trafford

[wareagle]

May 28, 2008 16:11:04 GMT -6 Irish Stu said:

Full time England 2 - 0 USA.

Neither team ever really looked like they wanted to set the world on fire, but team USA has proved in recent years that they are capable of so much better, yet tonight they never really got out of first gear against an England team that made light work of them. It's a shame, I was hoping for a more closely fought and competitive game. I always like watching the USA play as their style is similar to our own, albeit not on a par with what you'd expect in the Premier League, which I prefer to the European and South American style of play.

Simon

If we were EVER able to beat England in football it'd be on the same scale as when we beat the Russians in hockey.

[Irish Stu]

May 29, 2008 13:42:13 GMT -6 wareagle said:

May 28, 2008 16:11:04 GMT -6 Irish Stu said:

Full time England 2 - 0 USA.

Neither team ever really looked like they wanted to set the world on fire, but team USA has proved in recent years that they are capable of so much better, yet tonight they never really got out of first gear against an England team that made light work of them. It's a shame, I was hoping for a more closely fought and competitive game. I always like watching the USA play as their style is similar to our own, albeit not on a par with what you'd expect in the Premier League, which I prefer to the European and South American style of play.

Simon

If we were EVER able to beat England in football it'd be on the same scale as when we beat the Russians in hockey

On June 29, 1950, at the 1950 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, the United States defeated the English team 1–0 in group play. The event is also known as the Miracle on Grass. The match was held in Belo Horizonte at Estádio Independência. The game and the U.S. team was profiled by author Geoffrey Douglas in his book The Game of Their Lives (ISBN 0-8050-3875-2), which was made into a movie in 2005.

Background

At the time, the English were considered 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, 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), 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. Drewry, at one time the Football League president, would become the Secretary of FIFA following the death of Jules Rimet.

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 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, Walter Bahr crossed the ball from approximately twenty-five yards out, but as Williams moved to intercept, Joe Gaetjens dove headlong and grazed the ball enough to put it past the reach of the English goalkeeper 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 ninth minute. In the 59th minute England were 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. England then lost their next match and failed to qualify for the knockout stage. The U.S. team was able to score two goals against Chile, but still lost that match 5–2 to end their World Cup run. They would not qualify for the World Cup again until 1990.

John Souza, the U.S. inside right forward, was selected to a World Cup All-Star team by the Brazilian sports newspaper Mundo Esportivo, and remained the only American player ever selected to a World Cup All-Star team until Claudio Reyna in 2002.

Aftermath

Around the world, newspaper headlines trumpeted the shocking upset, except, oddly enough, in the United States and England. In fact, only one American journalist was even at the World Cup (Dent McSkimming of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch who was there on vacation), and his report of the match was the only one to appear in any American newspaper. In England, the top story was the English cricket team's first ever defeat by the West Indies, which happened the same day. In some publications, it was presumed that the 1-0 scoreline was a typing error and in fact that England had won on a scoreline of 10-0.

Afterwards, a number of books and newspapers in England suggested that the U.S. team had arrived "through Ellis Island", meaning that the team was made up of imported players, but eight of the starting eleven were American-born. The other three, Gaetjens, Ed McIlvenny, and Joe Maca, were not U.S. citizens but had declared their intentions to gain citizenship and according to the rules of the United States Soccer Football Association at the time were allowed to play. The U.S. was cleared of any wrongdoing by FIFA in a hearing on December 2, 1950.

The Miracle on Grass

Simon

[wareagle]

I wasn't even born in 1950. It's been 58 years since we even won one game from you guys?

I'll bet the only reason the U.S. could even win a game back then was because the man power in England was depleted due to the WWII. And there was controversy with that one win.

[Irish Stu]

You'd been born by 1993 though?

2005 USA 1 - 2 England (played in Chicago)

1994 England 2 - 0 USA (played at Wembley, London)

1993 USA 2 - 0 England (played in Foxboro)

1985 USA 0 - 5 England (played in LA)

1964 USA 0 - 10 England (played in NY)

1953 USA 3 - 6 England (played in NY)

1950 England 0 - 1 USA (played in Brazil)

Click

Simon

[wareagle]

May 29, 2008 14:56:15 GMT -6 Irish Stu said:

You'd been born by 1993 though?

2005 USA 1 - 2 England (played in Chicago)

1994 England 2 - 0 USA (played at Wembley, London)

1993 USA 2 - 0 England (played in Foxboro)

1985 USA 0 - 5 England (played in LA)

1964 USA 0 - 10 England (played in NY)

1953 USA 3 - 6 England (played in NY)

1950 England 0 - 1 USA (played in Brazil)

Click

Simon

Sooooooooo...........................we ambushed you guys in 1993? Was that in Foxboro, Mass.? If so we may have slipped in some Pro football players.

[Ardbeg... innit]

... and some rustlers, cut throats, murderers, bounty hunters, desperados, mugs, pugs, thugs, nitwits, halfwits, dimwits, vipers, snipers, con men, Indian agents, Mexican bandits, muggers, buggerers, bushwhackers, hornswogglers, horse thieves, bull dykes, train robbers, bank robbers, ass-kickers, shit-kickers and Methodists.