"I am indeed most proud of their achievements and gentlemanly
behavior and their memory shall linger until time is no more."
By Lois Emanuelli
Museum Registrar/Curator
National Soccer Hall of Fame
de Janeiro, Brazil. The weather was
grim.It was the 18th day of a heavy
downpour and the 92nd consecutive
day of rain. This did not stop a large
and enthusiastic crowd from greeting
the ship. The Americans, not realizing
that it was winter below the equator,
had brought only light clothing.
Training resumed on July 3rd and it
was widely acknowledged that the US
had the best conditioned team.
Sunday, July 13, saw the official
opening of the World Cup. France and
the next week, gearing up for the semi
finals.
They had time to act as ambassa
dors also. The team was received by
the Archbishop of Montevideo and each
player was given prayer beads blessed
by the Pope. Of the 16 athletes, 12 were
Roman Catholic and 4 were Protes
tant.
On Saturday, July 26, the semifinal
match with Argentina took place. Much
has been written about this game and
it remains controversial. Of the four
switching players around: Auld to
inside right, Moorhouse to inside left.
Bart McGhee alternated between half
back and fullback. Alex Wood stuck
close to the injured U.S. goalie Douglas.
The Argentines continued their strong
attack, racking up 4 more goals. Andy
Auld passed to James Brown for the
lone U.S. tally. When the dust cleared,
the score was 6-1 and the U.S. was
eliminated.
After the first World Cup, the U.S.
embarked on a South American tour
Mexico were playing at Penarol field,
while the U.S. met Belgium at Central
Park, Home of the Nacional F.C. The
weather was unimproved - the field a
bed of wet, sticky clay. The Americans
marched into the stadium singing the
"Stein Song," the theme song of Rudy
Vallee, a popular entertainer of the
day.
The crowd of 20,000 included a
small but vocal group of expatriate
American businessmen who would be
present at all U.S. games. Surpris
ingly. there was a light pre-game snow
storm, the city's first in five years.
The game began on schedule at 3:00
p.m. The Americans were nervous and
play was spotty for the first half hour
until left wing Bart McGhee let go with
a shot, beating the goalie and scoring
the first goal in World Cup history.
After that, the U.S. team snapped into
action and the Belgians were out of the
game. Tom Florie and Bert Patenaude
scored goals.The final score was U.S.
3, Belgium 0.
The second U.S. game was with
Paraguay on Thursday, July 17. Para
guay was the "dark horse" of the tour
nament and the opponent to watch,
having beaten Argentina and Uruguay
in the 1929 South American champi
onship.
The U.S., singing the "Stein Song,"
made their entrance, revved up and
ready for action. Paraguay had a strong
team, but they could not get their
inside forward play going. Bert Pate
naude was the unquestionable hero of
the match scoring all three goals (the
first hat trick in World Cup history) as
the U.S. blanked Paraguay.
July 18th was a national holiday in
Uruguay and the U.S. squad marched
in a huge parade at Centenary Sta
dium, witnessed by 110,000 people.
The team continued light practices for
semifinalists. all but the U.S. had
played on the Centenary Stadium field.
The field itself was massive: 100 yards
wide by 138 yards long, which was 8
yards over the maximum length al
lowed according to the rules. The
atmosphere was tense. Players were
frisked for weapons as were the spec
tators. The newspapers reported a pro
liferation of knives and guns seized at
the gate. Players were taken under
police escort across a drawbridge (later
raised) onto the playing field which
was surrounded by a moat.
The game got off to a quick start. The
massive pitch took its toll as the usual
long kicks of the U.S. backs fell short
of their mark. The play was rough. At
4 minutes, goalie Jimmy Douglas' leg
was badly twisted. After 19 minutes,
Ralph Tracy's knee was broken.
Amazingly the break was not immedi
ately detected and he continued to
play. Billy Gonsalves moved to center
half and Tracy went to outside right.
Tracy missed two great chances to
score - his leg was gone. Jimmy Douglas
held on, practically one legged, and did
his best. After 28 minutes, a ball hit
the ground and failed to bounce on the
newly sodded turf. Argentina capital
ized on the situation to get their sec
ond goal. The half ended and Tracy
sought medical attention. The break in
his leg was still not detected!
The U.S. was in a do-or-die position
going into the second half. Goalie
Douglas could barely hobble. Andy
Auld took a boot in the face and played
the remainder of the game with a
handkerchief in his mouth to staunch
the flowing blood. Finally, the severely
injured Tracy had to be taken out of
the game. No substitutions were al
lowed and the Americans, with essen
tially eight healthy players, made a
valiant effort to save the game by
ending when they set sail for home
aboard the S.S. Southern Cross, which
arrived in Hoboken on September 2nd
after 81 days abroad.
The tour itself cost $2.000 more
than the $12.687.02 raised by the
United States Soccer Federation (USFA)
and the exhibition games. It is fasci
nating, by today's standards, that the
players received for the entire 81 -day
tour a total of $250 in salary, a set of
clothes and a new overcoat.
Manager Wilfred R. Cummings said
this in his official report to the USFA:
a finer, at-all-times more gentle
manly, bunch of soccer players could
not have been selected that would more
honorably uphold the traditions and
true sportsmanship of the good old
USA than the score of individuals our
party was privileged to include. It was
a work well done by the boys, for they
were good soldiers and not only the
association's, but also the country's,
highest sporting wreath of honor and
praise should be theirs for all time. I
am indeed most proud of their achieve
ments and gentlemanly behavior and
their memory shall linger until time is
no more."
The 1930 U.S. National Team estab
lished an admirable legacy for those
who follow. Despite its adversities, this
American team achieved the semifi
nals, took its place in World Cup his
tory as the team which scored the first
goal and the first hat trick and, through
it all, maintained the spirit of true
sportsmanship and good will.
