May 31, 1976: The Bicentennial Cup

Left to right: Bobby Moore, Gerry Francis, Pelé

May 31, 1976, 50 years ago: The Bicentennial Cup concludes. Set up as one of the celebrations of the 200th Anniversary of American independence, it was not a good showcase for American soccer.

England and Italy were invited after they failed to qualify for Euro 76. Also invited was Brazil. The 4th team would be "Team America," made up of players in the North American Soccer League. That meant American players, who simply were not up to the task; and foreign players, who were mostly too old to play at a world class level anymore, such as Brazil's Pelé of the New York Cosmos and England's Bobby Moore of the San Antonio Thunder.

On May 23, Team America played Italy at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington. The crowd was decent: 33,445. The result was rather indecent: Italy won, 4-0. Fabio Capello scored in the 15th minute, and the U.S. was never really in it. A midfielder for Turin club Juventus, Capello would later win Serie A (Italian league) titles with A.C. Milan, A.S. Roma and Juventus; and La Liga titles with Real Madrid; total league titles, 9. He also led Milan to the UEFA Champions League title in 1994.

Also on May 23, Brazil beat England, 1-0 before 32,495 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Carlos Roberto de Oliveira, a forward for Rio de Janeiro club Vasco da Gama, known as "Roberto Dinamite," won the game with a goal in the 89th minute.

On May 28, England beat Italy, 3-2 at Yankee Stadium; and Team America lost to Brazil, 2-0 at the new Kingdome in Seattle. Only 20,245 paid to get into the big gray toadstool in Seattle's Lower Downtown. For England vs. Italy in The Bronx, the attendance was 40,650. I would have expected more, given how many Italians live in and around New York City. But the vast majority of Italian-Americans are descended from people who left Italy before the country embraced soccer. For Italian New Yorkers of the 1970s, their sports were baseball, football and boxing.

At any rate, Francesco Graziani of the other Turin club, Torino F.C., scored 2 goals within 5 minutes early in the 1st half. But Mick Channon of Hampshire team Southampton scored 2 within 7 minutes early in the 2nd half, and Phil Thompson of Liverpool scored between those Channon goals.

On May 31, England beat Team America, 3-1 before 16,239 at John F. Kennedy Stadium, leaving over 87,000 empty seats at the big South Philadelphia horseshoe. Kevin Keegan of Liverpool scored twice within 6 minutes in the 1st half, and Trevor Francis of Birmingham City scored early in the 2nd half. Stuart Scullion, a Scottish winger playing for the Tampa Bay Rowdies, got a consolation goal for Team America in the 87th minute.

Later, 36,096 went into the Yale Bowl in New Haven, Connecticut, to see a copy of the 1970 World Cup Final: Brazil beat Italy, 4-1. Capello scored in the 2nd minute, but Gil (Gilberto Alves) of Rio club Fluminense, who had scored 2 against Team America, did it again against Italy.