History of soccer in the United States
Although American football began to take hold at eastern universities such as Harvard, Princeton, and Yale, "socker" became popular at Haverford, Columbia, Cornell, and Penn;[2]: 24 enthusiasts arranged for English teams to tour the United States to generate interest in the sport in 1905, 1907, and 1909.
The West Hudson, New Jersey towns of Kearny and Paterson had textile factories established and staffed by British companies, and residents founded the National Association Football League in 1895.
The AAFA reorganized as the United States Football Association (USFA) on April 5, 1913, and FIFA quickly granted it provisional membership; the National Challenge Cup was established that fall.
[11] ASL owners wanted to run their soccer clubs like major-league baseball teams (since many of them owned both), and saw FIFA rulings and the National Challenge Cup as restrictive.
[12] Unlike the National Challenge Cup, which was open to any USFA-affiliated team, the new tournament (or playoffs) would permanently cap the number of participating clubs.
Three teams (Bethlehem Steel, the New York Giants S.C. and the Newark Skeeters) rejected the proposal, played in the 1928 National Challenge Cup,[13] were suspended from the league and fined $1,000.
[14] Support for the USFA from other national federations and the ASL's financial disadvantage as an unsanctioned league eventually convinced the latter that it could not win the "soccer war", and the dispute was settled in early October 1929.
Several surviving clubs revived the ASL the following year, but the league could not field teams with the financial means or interest in attracting foreign players.
[18] Despite the decline in soccer's overall popularity, it was still played by ethnic groups and expatriates in several parts of the country (primarily New England and the heartland and the New York City and St. Louis metropolitan areas).
The most successful club in the league was the New York Cosmos, who attracted over 40,000 fans per game at their height with ageing superstars Pelé (Brazil) and Franz Beckenbauer (Germany).
The organization then targeted the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles and the 1986 World Cup to rebuild the national team and its fan base.
[25] Many top American players, including John Kerr, Paul Caligiuri, Eric Eichmann, and Bruce Murray, moved overseas (primarily to Europe).
In the last game of the qualifying tournament, the U.S. needed to draw against Costa Rica (whom it had defeated 3–0 in the Olympics the year before) to reach the final qualification group against Honduras and Canada.
[26] A 35th-minute goal by Evaristo Coronado won the match for Costa Rica and kept the United States from reaching its fourth World Cup finals.
U.S. Soccer tried to re-implement its national-team-as-club concept in 1988, offering contracts to national-team players to build an international team with a club ethos.
This brought many key veterans back to the team; the NASL's success a decade earlier had created an influx of talent from burgeoning grass-roots-level clubs and youth programs.
The team defeated Costa Rica 1–0 in a Denver match known as the Show Clasico before drawing against Mexico in Azteca for its second qualification point in that country.
In the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup, the United States fielded a younger team of players who were attempting to win their way onto the senior squad (including Landon Donovan, who was returning from a sabbatical).
The team lost to Costa Rica before defeating Mexico 2–0 in the Hex to qualify for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, and Klinsmann received a four-year contract extension.
The WUSA announced plans to play in eight cities in 2001: Atlanta, the Bay Area, Boston, New York, Orlando, Philadelphia, San Diego and Washington, D.C.
The Washington Freedom was the only WUSA team to continue operations after the league dissolved (although new versions of the Atlanta Beat and Boston Breakers formed in 2009), and became part of the W-League in 2006.
[38] In December 2006, WSII announced that it had reached an agreement with six owner-operators of teams based in Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, St. Louis, Washington, D.C., and a sixth city.
[39] In September 2007, the launch was postponed from spring 2008 to 2009 to avoid conflicting with the 2007 Women's World Cup and the 2008 Olympic Games and to ensure that all the teams were prepared for long-term operations.
[43] Internal organizational struggles, including an ongoing legal battle with magicJack owner Dan Borislow,[44] and lack of investment in the league lead to a suspension of the 2012 season which was announced in January of that year.
[48] In November 2012, it was announced that the league would have eight teams and would be funded by the USSF, the Canadian Soccer Association (CSA) and the Mexican Football Federation (FMF).
He was replaced after the Italy trip by Anson Dorrance, who had begun to build the most successful collegiate women's program in history at North Carolina.
The U.S. team included Joy Fawcett, Shannon Higgins, Kristine Lilly, Julie Foudy, Michelle Akers, Mia Hamm, April Heinrichs, Carla Overbeck and Carin Jennings.
During the Denmark match, goalkeeper Brianna Scurry received a red card for handling outside the penalty area and faced a two-game suspension.
The USSF wanted this World Cup to promote soccer in the United States, calling for arger stadiums across the country, and FIFA relented.
In overtime, U.S. defender Joy Fawcett tried to clear an incoming ball; it hit Norwegian player Dagny Mellgren in the arm, and she kicked it into the goal.
