US Cup Victory Over England

On This Day in 1993, Dooley and Lalas Scored Goals in a Historic Win in Foxborough

In the summer of 1993, with less than a year remaining before America would host its first World Cup, the U.S. Men's National Team stood at a critical crossroads. As the U.S. Cup tournament approached in June, coach Bora Milutinovic found himself assembling a squad that embodied the scattered, developing nature of American soccer itself. The challenges facing Milutinovic were evident in his roster construction. On June 4, he named 22 players for the prestigious tournament featuring Brazil, England, and Germany – a group that reflected the growing but disconnected American soccer landscape. 

Eight players came from European clubs, including Roy Wegerle from England's Coventry City, John Harkes from Sheffield Wednesday, Thomas Dooley from Germany's Kaiserslautern, and Tab Ramos from Spain's Real Betis. The European contingent posed a logistical headache. Four key players – Dooley, Ramos, Frank Klopas, and Eric Wynalda – couldn't even join the team until after the opening match against Brazil due to club commitments. Meanwhile, fourteen players had been training together at the national team's camp in Mission Viejo, California, since January, creating a divided squad with limited time to integrate.

Alexi Lalas, the distinctive red-haired defender from Michigan, acknowledged the difficulty. The players in California had been working to build a unified tactical approach, but the European professionals arrived with different habits and experiences. Still, he recognized their quality would ultimately help the team, despite the adjustment period. Some notable absences raised eyebrows. Veterans Peter Vermes and Paul Caligiuri, both members of the 1990 World Cup squad, were left off the roster. In goal, Milutinovic committed to Tony Meola over English Premier League goalkeeper Kasey Keller from Millwall, signaling his preference for continuity in certain positions.

The tournament opened on June 8 at Yale Bowl before nearly 45,000 spectators, where Brazil offered the Americans a sobering lesson in soccer sophistication. Though the Brazilians were missing eleven players from their typical national team pool, they controlled the match with what their coach, Carlos Alberto Parreira, called "trap-and-touch soccer."

Brazil needed just five minutes to demonstrate their superiority. A free kick from Branco found Marcio Santos, who flicked the ball to Careca. The experienced striker fired past Meola with his left foot for his 29th international goal. Although the Americans attempted to respond quickly in the second half with substitutes Cobi Jones and Earnie Stewart, they generated only three shots on goal against goalkeeper Taffarel. Luiz Carlos Wink sealed Brazil's 2-0 victory in the 87th minute.

The performance revealed fundamental philosophical confusion within the American squad. Players seemed torn between Milutinovic's possession-oriented approach and the direct, long-ball style familiar to many American players. This tactical identity crisis had contributed to the team's goal drought, which now stretched to 346 minutes across more than three matches.

After the match, Parreira diplomatically addressed the Americans' strategic dilemma: "It's a question for them to find the right balance. They have to establish a pattern. Today, they tried to beat us with the long balls, and that is difficult to work."

Despite the defeat, Milutinovic found perspective in facing the five-time world champions: "When you lose to a great team like Brazil, it is difficult to be unhappy."

As the Americans prepared for their second match, they found themselves facing an opponent with perhaps even more to prove. England arrived at Foxboro Stadium under intense scrutiny, their World Cup qualification campaign faltering after a disappointing 2-0 loss to Norway and a struggle against Poland. Coach Graham Taylor faced mounting criticism from England's passionate and demanding soccer media. Their fans had openly mocked them with chants of "We're so bad, it's unbelievable" during recent matches. Making matters worse, England was missing key players – star midfielder Paul Gascoigne was absent due to European club commitments. At the same time, captain David Platt was sidelined with an injury from Italian league action.

Despite these troubles, England remained heavily favored against an American side that hadn't scored in nearly four games. Taylor acknowledged the pressure, stating the tournament had become crucial for improving both their attitude and play. Meanwhile, Milutinovic modestly suggested that even a draw would satisfy him, though he admitted beating England "would be special."

The Americans who took the field against England on June 9 looked dramatically different from the team that had faced Brazil earlier in the tournament. With their European-based players now available, Milutinovic revamped his lineup. Dooley, Ramos, and Wynalda all slotted into the starting eleven, bringing technical ability and international experience that had been sorely lacking in the opener.

This integration made a profound difference. Suddenly, the Americans possessed players familiar with high-level European competition, specifically English soccer. Wegerle and Harkes, both playing in England's top division, provided invaluable intelligence about their opponents. Their confidence was transmitted to teammates, with Wegerle boldly declaring before the match that the Americans didn't need to fear England's talent.

For a nation whose soccer development had been stunted by decades of international isolation, this insider knowledge represented a new advantage. Defender Jeff Agoos noted that the English mystique had faded – the Americans now understood what they would face and how individual players would perform under pressure.

The match began with England controlling possession, threatening the American goal multiple times and forcing Meola into several impressive saves. The goalkeeper engaged in a running verbal battle with England's Ian Wright throughout the first half, later joking that the English forward "belongs in the NBA" for his theatrical style.

Despite England's pressure, the Americans found their breakthrough shortly before halftime through a combination of precision passing and opportunistic positioning. A sequence initiated by Agoos sent the ball deep to the right side of the penalty area, where Ramos salvaged a seemingly lost cause at the end line. His quick thinking and technical skill allowed him to redirect the ball back toward the goalmouth, where Dooley arrived with perfect timing to head it past Chris Woods. The goal ended the Americans' long scoring drought and stunned the English, who had expected to dominate their less heralded opponents. The second half saw England pushing desperately for an equalizer, only to be repeatedly thwarted by Meola's goalkeeping.

With eighteen minutes remaining, the Americans delivered the crushing blow. Ramos, instrumental again, swung in a corner kick that found substitute defender Lalas. The ball glanced off the back of his head and nestled into the net, doubling the American advantage. Lalas, the colorful former Rutgers standout, later downplayed his technique, suggesting it was more a fortunate accident than skill that allowed his header to find the target.

The 2-0 victory sent shockwaves through the soccer world, evoking memories of the Americans' famous upset of England in the 1950 World Cup in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Ramos acknowledged the team's own surprise at the result, predicting it would become "headline news in Europe." For England, the defeat intensified the scrutiny on coach Taylor, whose job security was already tenuous.

The jubilation from defeating England carried into the Americans' final U.S. Cup match against reigning world champions Germany at Chicago's Soldier Field. Before more than 53,000 spectators, the two teams produced a spectacular offensive showcase that highlighted America's growing competitive legitimacy.

The Germans struck first through Jurgen Klinsmann, who was celebrating his 50th international appearance. His 14th-minute goal came off a corner kick from Lothar Matthaus, who was marking his 100th cap for Germany. The Americans responded quickly, with Dooley continuing his tournament heroics by finishing a sequence that involved Ramos and Wegerle in the 25th minute.

Germany's superior finishing ability then took over, as Karlheinz Riedle scored twice in six minutes, exploiting defensive lapses from American defender John Doyle. When Riedle completed his hat trick in the 59th minute, giving Germany a commanding 4-1 lead, the match appeared decided.

Yet the Americans refused to concede. Stewart, showcasing the speed that made him dangerous in the Dutch league, outran defender Jurgen Kohler to reach Mike Lapper's long pass and skillfully finished past goalkeeper Andreas Kopke. With ten minutes remaining, Dooley added his second goal of the match – and third of the tournament – heading Harkes' cross just over the goal line to bring the Americans within one.

Though they couldn't find the equalizer, the 4-3 final score represented a remarkable achievement against the world champions. German coach Berti Vogts offered backhanded praise, suggesting his team had played well for 70 minutes before remembering "that it would be a guest here, and it started to give up gifts."

For Milutinovic, the offensive explosion represented a critical moment for American soccer's growth: "Three goals against Germany is very exciting. I'm so happy people all over America saw seven goals."

As the U.S. Cup '93 concluded, Brazil claimed the tournament title with four points, followed by Germany with three, and England with just one. The United States, despite its historic victory over England, finished with two losses. Yet for American soccer, the results transcended the standings. The team had ended a six-match winless streak and scored its first goals in nearly 400 minutes of play. More importantly, they had proven capable of not just competing with but defeating some of the world's elite teams when their full roster was available.

For Milutinovic and U.S. Soccer officials, the performance validated their approach while raising new questions about how best to prepare for the 1994 World Cup. The stark difference between the team that faced Brazil and the one that upset England suggested that future success might depend on finding ways to gather their scattered players more consistently.

Most significantly, as the soccer world turned its attention toward the upcoming World Cup on American soil, the U.S. Cup had provided something invaluable: credibility. No longer could the Americans be dismissed as mere participants in the global game. They had earned respect, both from opponents who had previously regarded them with indifference and from domestic fans discovering newfound pride in their national team.

The road to the 1994 World Cup remained challenging, but for the first time in generations, it was paved with genuine hope rather than futile aspiration. Just as they had shocked England in 1950 and again in 1993, perhaps the Americans could author another chapter of soccer history when the world gathered on their home soil the following summer.