Chapter One
1930
The first World Cup in Montev
ideo, Uruguay in 1930 was
bid for by Italy, Holland, Uruguay,
Sweden and Spain. Uruguay was cho
sen, in part, because they had won the
two preceding Olympic gold medals in
soccer and their country was celebrat
ing its 100th year of independence.
They had also promised to build a new
stadium and offered to pay all travel
and living expenses for the visiting
teams.
Thirteen countries participated:
Yugoslavia, Rumania, Mexico, Argen
tina, Chile, Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Para
guay, Belgium, France, the U.S. and
host nation, Uruguay. It is interesting
to note that, of the countries that lost
the bid to host the first World Cup,
none fielded a team.
The U.S. team was assembled from
three try outs. The 16-player team had
no opportunity to play together before
leaving American shores. Nine players
were from the Northeast, two from St.
Louis, one from Cleveland and one
from Detroit. The average age of the
team was 25; the youngest players
were 20 (Brown and Patenaude) and
the oldest, 32 (goalie Jimmy Douglas).
Both the U.S. and the Mexican Na
tional Teams set sail on Friday, the
13th of June, 1930 aboard the S.S.
Munargo from Hoboken, N.J., only to
harbor for the night off Staten Island
due to fog. The U.S. team began daily
training at 6 a.m. during their 14-day
journey. The crossing was very rough
and many members of the team suc
cumbed to seasickness.
They arrived in Montevideo on July
1st after short stops in Santos and Rio
World Cup History
30 USA National Team
