Thirty-two years ago, many fans in the global soccer community saw the United States planning to host its first FIFA World Cup in 1994 and asked one collective question:Â Why?Â
At the time, the United States men’s national team was a largely anonymous squad of unknown players wearing now-nostalgic denim uniforms.Â
In mainstream America, soccer did not have the same popularity as other sports like gridiron football or baseball. But then, the tournament kicked off.Â
To look back at the summer of 1994, members of that squad â Alexi Lalas, Cobi Jones, John Harkes, and Marcelo Balboa â reunited to take a trip down memory lane and recount the tournament that changed the sport stateside.
The architect behind the Americans’ 1994 transformation was Bora MilutinoviÄ. The enigmatic manager arrived with a storied World Cup pedigree, having already guided Costa Rica and Mexico to the round of 16 and quarterfinals, respectively.Â
MilutinoviÄ specialty was inspiring underdogs to play far above their weight class, but his methods frustrated a young Lalas.
“Bora, incredibly intelligent man… spoke five languages, not a single one of them well, and will go down for me as… the most frustrating coach I ever had in my life, but also the coach that gave me the opportunity that changed my life,” Lalas.
For the players, Bora was not the most popular person in the locker room, as his experience was initially met with resistance, until the team won its first-ever major international tournament title at the 1991 Gold Cup.
“I hated it, and I tell you why, because he made me the translator. Nothing like being on a team, and you’re the player translating the coach’s new message. That was awful,” Balboa said. “But as time grew on, I understood what Bora wanted, and I think we all believed it when we go to the ’91 Gold Cup, and all of a sudden we’re starting to win games, we beat Mexico, and we win the Gold Cup.
“I don’t think a lot of us were buying in until that tournament. Once we won that tournament, we were like, crap, here we go.“
By the time the tournament arrived, USA was still widely viewed as naive. But after earning a draw against Switzerland, the Americans faced tournament favorites Colombia in front of a raucous Rose Bowl crowd. What followed was a historic upset that became the U.S. soccer equivalent of the 1980 “Miracle on Ice.”
“Final whistle blows, all hell breaks loose in the most positive way… I remember in 1980 when the US hockey team, Jim Craig, with a flag around him, and I, I wanted that moment to celebrate my country,” Lalas said. “Everybody thought we would lose to Colombia, right?”
The 2-1 victory was made even more staggering by the roster’s humble realities. The United States didn’t even have a domestic professional league at the time.
“When you talk about⦠iconic wins,’ best win ever.’ You look at that team with six guys, didn’t have a club team, we trained every day,” Balboa said.Â
“Cobi and I, we never played at a club, and all of our experience was international,” Lalas added.
The dream run eventually collided with global powerhouse Brazil in the Round of 16 on the Fourth of July. The match reached a violent turning point when U.S. playmaker Tab Ramos was hospitalized following a brutal elbow from Brazil’s Leonardo. Though Leonardo was red-carded, losing Ramos gutted the American midfield.
“Just devastating, scared beyond belief, because the way he landed,” Harkes said. “I cared about Tab. I didn’t care about the game at that point.”
The loss of Ramos didn’t just hurt USA and its players emotionally, but tactically as well.
“We not only lost a player in Tab leaving the field, but we lost from a practical perspective the guy that could hold the ball for us,” Lalas said.
Even down to 10 men, the eventual world champions continued to produce scoring opportunities.Â
In the 72nd minute, Brazilian forward Bebeto fina
