May 24, 1934, 90 years ago: The national soccer teams of the United States of America and the United Mexican States play each other for the 1st time -- not in either country, and not with the result most people would have expected then, or now.
It was in Rome, Italy, and it was for the 16th and last qualifying spot in the FIFA World Cup, which had only been contested once before, in 1930, with Uruguay winning on home soil, beating Argentina in the Final. In that tournament, the U.S. beat Belgium and Paraguay, before losing to Argentina in the Semifinal. It remains the U.S.' best World Cup performance ever.
For 1934, the U.S. squad consisted of the following, many of them immigrants, who nonetheless qualified for this team under the rules of that time:
* Goalkeepers: Julius Hjulian of Sweden and Chicago.
* Defenders: George Moorhouse of Liverpool and New York, Ed Czerkiewicz and Joe Martinelli of Rhode Island, Al Harker of Philadelphia, and Herman Rapp of Stuttgart and Philadelphia.
* Midfielders: Tom Amrhein of Baltimore, Bill Fiedler of Philadelphia, Jimmy Gallagher of Scotland and Cleveland, William Lehman of St. Louis, Tom Lynch of Brooklyn, Tom Florie of Harrison (New Jersey), Peter Pietras of Trenton (New Jersey), and Bill Gonsalves of Fall River (Massachusetts).
* Forwards: Aldo "Buff" Donelli of Pittsburgh, Walter Dick of Scotland and Niagara Falls, Willie McLean of Scotland and Chicago, Werner Nilsen of Norway and St. Louis, and Francis Ryan of Philadelphia.
Donelli also played gridiron football, and later coached in his hometown, both at Duquesne University and with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Moorhouse, Florie, Gallagher and Gonsalves had played for the U.S. team in 1930.
Since the British "Home Nations" of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland did not participate in the World Cup until 1950, due to a dispute with FIFA, Moorhouse was the 1st native of England to play in the World Cup. Probably because he was trained to play in England, then considered the world's soccer capital, he was named Captain of this team.
The game against Mexico was played at the Stadio Nazionale in Rome, which would also host the World Cup Final. Since 1931, it had been the home of soccer team S.S. Lazio. In 1940, it would become the home of Lazio's arch-rivals, A.S. Roma. The Americans won, 4-2, with Donelli scoring all 4 goals.
Aldo "Buff" Donelli
The state of American soccer in 1934 was such that it was operating on what would now be considered a minor-league level. There were plenty of teams in the Northeast, in the Midwest, and on the West Coast, many of them ethnically based: Irish, Scottish, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Polish, Hungarian, Ukrainian, Jewish.
Given that it was the Great Depression, there was room for the national team to become national heroes, if they could follow up a win over neighboring Mexico with a good performance at the World Cup. That year, the St. Louis Cardinals and the Detroit Tigers both electrified the nation with their play, culminating in an epic World Series that the Cardinals won in Game 7. The Chicago Bears had become heroes of professional football. The Boston Bruins, the New York Rangers and the Chicago Black Hawks had already gotten Americans to cheer hockey. And boxers galore had excited people. If the U.S. soccer team could do well at the World Cup...
They didn't. Their 1st Round game was against the hosts, and Italy beat them, 7-1. Donelli scored the only U.S. goal. Angelo Schiavio of Bologna F.C. scored 3 goals. The last Italy goal was scored by Giuseppe Meazza of Internazionale Milano, the greatest Italian player of his generation, a man so loved that the home ground of both "Inter" and their rivals A.C. Milan, the greatest sporting venue in the country, known for its neighborhood as the San Siro, is officially named Stadio Giuseppe Meazza.
So there would be no follow-up heroics for the U.S. team. They didn't even qualify for the 1938 World Cup in France. Their next game against Mexico didn't come until 1937, at Parque Asturias in Mexico City, and they lost, 7-2.
It would take until April 28, 1957 for the U.S. to play a home game against Mexico, a Qualifier for the 1958 World Cup, at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Long Beach, California, a 7-2 loss. The next U.S. win wouldn't happen until November 23, 1980, a Qualifier for the 1982 World Cup, at Lockhart Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, a 2-1 U.S. win. And the U.S. wouldn't beat Mexico in Mexico until August 15, 2012, a 1-0 win in a friendly at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.
In 1953, Roma and Lazio both moved into the Stadio Olimpico, which became the main stadium for the 1960 Olympics. After the move, the Stadio Nazionale, site of the 1934 U.S.-Mexico game, was demolished, and replaced with the Stadio Flaminio in 1959. It was used for the soccer games of the 1960 Olympics, and as the home of both Roma and Lazio in the 1989-90 season, while the Olimpico was demolished and rebuilt for the 1990 World Cup. The Flaminio is now home to Capitolina, a professional rugby team.
Stadio Flaminio
Buff Donelli died in 1994. The last survivor of the 1934 U.S. World Cup team was Al Harker, who lived until 2006.
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