The England team had some of the greatest players in the world, including Stanley Matthews, "the Wizard of Dribble." But Matthews was kept out of this game, and that may have made the difference. Among England stars who did play in this game were Matthews' Blackpool teammate Stan Mortenson, Jackie Milburn of Newcastle United, Billy Wright of Wolverhampton Wanderers, Laurie Hughes of Liverpool, Tom Finney of Preston North end, Wilf Mannion of Middlesbrough, and goalkeeper Ted Ditchburn of Tottenham Hotspur.
Counting Bill Nicholson of Tottenham, who was much more honored for his managing of that team than for his playing, 6 of the players -- the others being Wright, Milburn, Matthews, Finney and Mannion -- would have statues dedicated outside their teams' stadiums.
The U.S. team was taken from various clubs in the top league in the country at the time, the American Soccer League. There was nothing like a "first division" as in European or South American countries. And none of them was still in college, although they weren't over the hill: One player was 38, the rest were between the ages of 21 and 31, coming from ASL clubs, including Brookhattan in New York, Philadelphia Nationals, Ponta Delgada outside Boston, and Simpkins-Ford in St. Louis.
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The U.S. and England have played only 1 World Cup match since, a 1-1 draw in Bloemfontain, South Africa in 2010.
The U.S. team was taken from various clubs in the top league in the country at the time, the American Soccer League. There was nothing like a "first division" as in European or South American countries. And none of them was still in college, although they weren't over the hill: One player was 38, the rest were between the ages of 21 and 31, coming from ASL clubs, including Brookhattan in New York, Philadelphia Nationals, Ponta Delgada outside Boston, and Simpkins-Ford in St. Louis.
The U.S. got off to a good start in their 1st game, against Spain, scoring in the 17th. But the defense collapsed late, allowing 3 goals between the 81st and 89th minutes, and Spain won, 3-1. For the England game, Frank Borghi was in goal. In front of him were the fullbacks, Harry Keough on the right, Joe Maca on the left. In front of them were the halfbacks: Right to left, Ed McIlvenny, Charlie Colombo and Walter Bahr. Then the forwards: Right to left, Frank Wallace, Gino Pariani, Joe Gaetjens, John Souza and Ed Souza. Bahr was usually the Captain of this team, but, since he was British, McIlvenny was chosen as Captain for this game.
As a British citizen familiar with the English game, as well as that of the country he had adopted, U.S. manager William Jeffrey told the press, "We have no chance," and called his team "sheep ready to be slaughtered." One of the English national newspapers, the Daily Express, wrote, "It would be fair to give the U.S. three goals of a start." Indeed, England's 1st half attack was so fierce that, if even half of their attempts had gone in, they would have been up at least 4-0.
Then came the 37th minute. McIlvenny made a throw-in. Bahr took it, and shot from 25 yards out. Williams moved to his right to get it. But before he could, Gaetjens threw himself forward, and headed it in to Williams' left.
Joe Gaetjens
One-nil to the Stars and Stripes. Years, later Bahr said, "The overwhelming majority was Brazilians, but they rooted for us the entire time. We didn't realize why until after. They were hoping we would beat England and that Brazil would not have to play England in the final game." (In hindsight, this may have been counterproductive, as Brazil also suffered a tremendous upset, losing the Final to neighboring Uruguay.)
The Americans' confidence had been seriously boosted, and they came out for the 2nd half like a house afire. They had another scoring chance in the 54th, but couldn't do anything with it. In the 59th, Generoso Dattilo, the Italian referee, awarded England a direct free kick, but Borghi saved Mortensen's shot. England was dominant for a while, and it wasn't until the 74th minute that the U.S. could get another shot.
In the 82nd minute, soccer history hung in the balance. Mortensen drove toward the penalty area, and Charlie Colombo brought him down. The way Keough described it, it sounds like Colombo should have been sent off. (No red and yellow cards in those days, but a player could be sent off for an egregious foul.) But the film cameras didn't get the foul into the highlights, so there's no way to know for sure.
England pleaded for the awarding of a penalty, but Dattilo didn't buy it, saying the foul was outside the area. He awarded a free kick. Ramsey took it, and Mullen headed it toward the goal. Borghi tipped it away. Again, the England players appealed to Dattilo, saying the ball had gone in, but he ruled that it hadn't crossed the line.
In the 85th, Peewee Wallace managed to draw Williams out of position, giving himself an empty net. But Ramsey managed to get in and clear his shot off the line.
Without much stoppage time, Dattilo blew his whistle. Final score: America 1, England 0. Or, as would be said in soccer circles, England 0-1 USA. No "Man of the Match" was given. Clearly, it was Borghi, who kept it from being about 7-1 in England's favor.
No one could believe it. Contrary to what we would expect today, not only was the game not broadcast live to the U.K. on BBC television, it wasn't even broadcast around the world on BBC radio. When the BBC reporter delivered the final score that night (it would have been around 10:00 PM, London time), many people remembered hearing it, and thinking it was an error: That it must have been England that won 1-0.
And in America? It was barely reported at all. Since several players were from St. Louis, Dent McSkimming of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch wanted to cover it. He couldn't talk the paper into covering his expenses. So he applied for "vacation" time, paid his own way, and, when he got there, he discovered that he was the only American reporter at the game.
Soccer was so low on the totem pole of American sports at the time, the Post-Dispatch was one of the few papers to report the result at all. Not only had The New York Times refused to send a reporter, but, when they got the result from the Associated Press wire report, they refused to print it, figuring the report of the upset was a hoax.
The World Cup went on. On July 2, the Americans were knocked out of the tournament, losing 5-2 to Chile in Recife. And England fell to Spain 1-0 at the Estadio Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro. Spain thus won Group 2, and only the 4 Group winners advanced to a knockout round.
The 1-0 win over England has been nicknamed "The Miracle Match." In a nod to the U.S. hockey upset over the Soviet Union at the 1980 Winter Olympics, known as "The Miracle On Ice," this game has been called "The Miracle On Grass." Given how many shots Borghi had to stop, Belo Horizonte '50 was much closer to being a miracle than Lake Placid '80.
The U.S. and England have played only 1 World Cup match since, a 1-1 draw in Bloemfontain, South Africa in 2010.
The Miracle On Grass was hardly seen then, and it has hardly been seen since. But it might just be the greatest upset in American sports history. Not the most satisfying -- that remains the Miracle On Ice -- but the greatest.
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June 29, 1950 was a Thursday. It was the off-season for the NFL, the NBA and the NHL. There wasn't quite a full slate of Major League Baseball games played that day:
* The New York Yankees lost to the Washington Senators, 12-7 at the old Yankee Stadium. The Yanks jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the 1st inning, including a home run by Cliff Mapes. But the Senators scored 6 runs in the 4th, including a home run by Irv Noren, whom the Yankees would later acquire. Joe DiMaggio went 0-for-3 with a walk. Joe Ostrowski was the Yanks' starting pitcher, and didn't get out of the 2nd inning, while Tom Ferrick didn't make it out of the 4th.
* In what was then baseball's biggest rivalry, the New York Giants beat the Brooklyn Dodgers, 11-5 at Ebbets Field. Eddie Stanky hit a home run, and Hank Thompson got 3 hits. The Dodgers got 2 home runs from Jackie Robinson and 1 from Billy Cox, neither really a home run hitter. But the Giants scored 4 in the 8th and 3 in the 9th to take it.
* Boston played Philadelphia in each League. In the National League, the Boston Braves beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 3-2 at Braves Field in Boston.
* In the American League, a football score developed. The Boston Red Sox beat the Philadelphia Athletics 22-14 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. Here's the damage: It was 6-4 Sox after 1 inning, 14-7 after 2, 15-7 after 4, 16-8 after 5, 18-9 after 6, 20-12 after 7, 20-14 after 8 and 22-14 after 9. As you might guess, Ted Williams hit a home run for the Sox, going 2-for-6 with 6 RBIs. Matt Batts had 4 RBIs, and Bobby Doerr 3.
The A's didn't hit any home runs, but Bob Dillinger, their leadoff hitter and 3rd baseman went 5-for-6 with 3 RBIs. As far as I know, "Duke" was no relation to Depression-era gangster John Dillinger, but he was a thief: In each of the previous 3 seasons, he led the AL in stolen bases, and batted .306 over 6 major league seasons. Elmer Valo and Billy Hitchcock also had 3 RBIs for the A's.
* The Chicago White Sox beat the Detroit Tigers, 7-3 at Briggs Stadium (later renamed Tiger Stadium) in Detroit.
* In another arch-rivalry game, the Chicago Cubs beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 6-1 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.
* The Cleveland Indians beat the St. Louis Browns, 4-1 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis.
* And the Cincinnati Reds and the Pittsburgh Pirates were not scheduled for the day.