Team America's Win Over Haiti

On This Day in 1983, the Americans Won Their Only Full International During Its New Team Experiment

The United States national soccer program took an unprecedented turn in 1983 with an ambitious experiment called Team America. In a collaborative effort between the North American Soccer League, the United States Soccer Federation, the ASL, and the MISL, Team America was established as a full-fledged NASL franchise based in Washington, DC. The vision was revolutionary: the national team would compete as a club team, allowing American players to train and play together year-round rather than assembling just days before critical international matches.

"The United States can and will become a force in world soccer," declared NASL president Howard Samuels at the team's January launch, embracing the patriotic fervor that had swept the nation following Ronald Reagan's election and the "miracle on ice" Olympic hockey victory in 1980. The concept seemed logical - American players would finally have adequate training time together, developing cohesion that had been impossible when scattered across various professional clubs.

Alkis Panagoulias, a Greek-American who had previously led the New York Greek-Americans to three consecutive Challenge Cup championships, was named the national team's first full-time coach. "It's a coach's dream," Panagoulias initially declared, embracing the opportunity to build a consistent American squad.

However, the dream quickly encountered reality. Many of the nation's top players, including Ricky Davis, Jim McAllister, Winston DuBose, Dave Brcic, and Julie Veee, declined to join Team America, preferring to remain with their established NASL clubs. Davis, particularly, faced harsh criticism for his decision. "He was booed in Fort Lauderdale, where he played an exhibition game with the Cosmos against the Strikers. The fans called him, of all people, a 'traitor,'" reported Soccer America.

With the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics approaching and hopes of hosting the 1986 World Cup still alive, the national team nevertheless needed international competition. Panagoulias organized a four-game tour of Haiti and Colombia in April 1983, which became the only true international competition for the American national team that year. However, assembling the roster proved frustratingly familiar.

"They told me Peterson and Stock didn't want to come because they wanted to play in games against some colleges," Panagoulias told The New York Times, exasperated by Seattle's refusal to release players. "This is absolutely ridiculous. We're talking about the national team here. What the heck is going on in this country?"

Only three months into his tenure, Panagoulias confided in friends his disillusionment with the lack of cooperation and doubts about fielding the strongest possible U.S. national team. Nevertheless, he cobbled together a roster that included Arnie Mausser, Perry van der Beck, Boris Bandov, Jeff Durgan, and Hernan Chico Borja, among others.

The tour began promisingly when Team America, playing as the United States National Team, defeated the Port-au-Prince Selection 1-0 on April 6. Borja scored the game's only goal in the 79th minute, which Perry Van Der Beck assisted. Two days later, the highlight of the tour came: a convincing 2-0 victory over the Haitian National Team on April 8.

The Americans displayed impressive efficiency in Port-au-Prince. Team captain Durgan opened the scoring just 2:10 into the match, heading in a corner kick from Pedro DeBrito. Borja, continuing his strong form, doubled the lead in the 59th minute, again converting from a DeBrito setup, this time off a free kick. The victory brought the tour record to 2-0 before the team departed for Colombia.

Back in Washington, optimism briefly surged when Team America won its NASL debut on April 23, defeating the Seattle Sounders 1-0 in a shootout. Their first home match delivered similar excitement - a 1-0 victory over the Tulsa Roughnecks with Alan Green scoring before 15,000 rain-soaked fans chanting "U.S.A.! U.S.A.!"

"That's the first time since I have been playing in this country that I have heard that," remarked Jeff Durgan, suggesting the experiment might succeed after all.

However, the early promise faded quickly. Without many top American players, Panagoulias was forced to fill nearly half his roster with naturalized citizens, including Englishmen Paul Hammond Alan Merrick, and Green. This contradicted the fundamental purpose of Team America - to develop native American talent. Furthermore, the IOC's decision to maintain the ban on professional players in the Olympics and FIFA's preliminary recommendation to award the 1986 World Cup to Mexico rather than the United States further undermined the team's raison d'être.

The season deteriorated into disappointment. Team America stumbled to a 10-20 record, finishing last in the Eastern Division. One bright spot came on July 4th weekend when over 50,000 fans attended their match against Fort Lauderdale - though most were there primarily for the Beach Boys concert that followed. Just days earlier, a mere 8,200 had watched them host Tampa Bay.

By the end of the season, Panagoulias was questioning the entire endeavor: "Where are we going? What the hell are we doing? Why do these people keep paying me?" The experiment collapsed immediately after the 1983 season, with Team America disbanding without playing its planned international exhibition schedule.

The ambitious attempt to create a cohesive American soccer unit through full-time competition had failed, highlighting the continuing challenges facing U.S. soccer development. The team had managed just one official international match - the victory over Haiti - during its brief existence. Despite drawing respectable crowds averaging over 11,000 per game in Washington, the experiment had proven an embarrassing failure, one of several factors contributing to the NASL's continued decline. The league's membership fell to just nine teams in 1984, fewer than at any point since 1973, foreshadowing its eventual collapse.

Team America's brief history is a fascinating chapter in American soccer development. It was an innovative concept undermined by competing interests, insufficient cooperation, and a soccer infrastructure not yet ready to support a genuinely competitive national program.