On This Day in 1973, Trost's Winner Highlighted a Tough Year With Plenty of Friendly Defeats
The United States national soccer program entered 1973 with unprecedented ambition but familiar problems. For the first time in the federation's history, 18 international matches were scheduled across two continents - more games than the previous eight years combined. The grand experiment began in March under Max Wozniak, a former Polish first-division goalkeeper who had built his American reputation coaching Los Angeles Maccabi to Challenge Cup success.
The European tour launched in Bermuda with a scene that would become painfully familiar throughout the year. Wozniak gathered his players in a Hamilton hotel and began taking roll call. As each name was called, he asked the same questions: "Where do you play? What other positions can you play?" Many players were meeting each other for the first time, and in March, they were woefully out of shape with outdoor seasons yet to begin.
The tour proved catastrophic. After losing 4-0 to Bermuda, the Americans traveled to Poland, where they faced a formidable national team featuring Olympic champions like Kazimierz Deyna, Jerzy GorgoĊ, Grzegorz Lato and Robert Gadocha. "You felt like screaming for help," recalled Jorge Siega, the Brazilian-born Cosmos winger who had taken American citizenship to fulfill his dream of international play. "I don't think we ever went past our midfield line. They did whatever they wanted." The Poles showed mercy, using reserves in the second half of a 4-0 victory. The carnage continued across Europe: a 2-1 defeat to Poland's B team, a 5-1 defeat to Germany's reserves, a 6-0 drubbing to Belgium with four injured Americans on the field, and a 7-0 slaughter against Italy's Lazio. Only a 1-1 draw against third-division Massese prevented complete humiliation. In 20 days, the Americans had managed three goals while conceding 29.
By August, the federation had promoted Gene Chyzowych from assistant to head coach for a second series of matches against Poland. A high school coach with ASL experience, Chyzowych faced an impossible task: assembling a competitive squad with just days of preparation. At the same time, NASL clubs, locked in playoff battles, refused to release players. Only Dallas Tornado's Roy Turner was made available from the professional ranks. The first match in Chicago on August 3 offered unexpected hope. Despite fielding a makeshift team of amateurs and semi-professionals, goalkeeper Mike Ivanow delivered a spectacular performance that kept Poland scoreless until the 87th minute, when Kasperczak finally broke through on a free kick. The 1-0 defeat felt like a moral victory. "The best performance by an American team since they upset England," Chyzowych declared.
Four days later, against Canada in Windsor, the Americans secured their first victory on Canadian soil with a 2-0 win featuring goals from Fred Grgurev and Mark Liveric. However, Canada protested the result, pointing out that the US had fielded two non-Americans: Englishmen Paul Child and Mick Hoban from Atlanta. For the second Poland match in San Francisco, Chyzowych was instructed to bring only half his squad so California players could be included. Among the newcomers was Ilija Mitic, Dallas Tornado's high-scoring forward, graciously released by sympathetic coach Ron Newman. Once again, Chyzowych found himself meeting players the day before kickoff. Poland won easily, 4-0.
Two days later, on August 12, in New Britain, Connecticut, everything changed. With NASL seasons winding down, Chyzowych finally had access to established professionals: Bobby Smith from Philadelphia, Al Trost and Buzz Demling from St. Louis, and most notably, Kyle Rote Jr., the Dallas rookie who had become the first American-born NASL leading scorer. The son of New York Giants football star Kyle Rote had switched sports at 16 years old and emerged as a symbol of native American soccer talent. New Britain's narrow field played into Chyzowych's strategy. He instructed his players to maintain possession rather than clearing desperately, relying on disciplined defending and quick counterattacks. Only Grgurev and Child were stationed forward, as most of the team dropped deep.
The breakthrough came in the 37th minute through an unlikely source. "I'd never shot a ball like that in my life," Al Trost later recalled. "The ball came over from the left to Gene Geimer, who had his back to the Polish goal, and he nodded it down for me. I ran onto it, near the corner of the area, and hit it first time, on the half-volley. No placement whatever, I just hit it. But it took off, and I felt immediately that it had a chance, that the goalkeeper wasn't going to get it."
The twenty-yard strike flew high into the lower right corner, stunning both the Polish team and the predominantly pro-Poland crowd of 8,000. At halftime, with the Americans clinging to their lead, team preparations were interrupted by an extraordinary incident. A USSFA official entered the locker room, demanding that the players come out for photographs with Federation President James P. McGuire. Chyzowych refused, pointing out his team needed to prepare for the second half while protecting a precious lead. As he continued to address his players about ball possession and tight marking, his name was called over the stadium loudspeaker. Thinking it was an emergency, he rushed across the field only to be scolded by federation officials for refusing the photo opportunity.
The second half became a siege as Poland desperately sought an equalizer. Rote Jr. replaced Ely Ivic as the only American change, and the reshuffled defense held firm through wave after wave of attacks. When the final whistle sounded, the Americans had achieved their most credible result since the 1950 World Cup upset of England. "This is one of the happiest days of my life," Chyzowych exclaimed in a dressing room filled with tears of joy. "Give me a team like today and I can beat anybody."
Polish coach Kazimierz Gorski complained about the field's illegal narrowness, but the damage was done. The story circled the globe while being somewhat ignored by American media, still focused on late-season baseball and pre-season football. The victory proved to be one of only three American wins that year, with Trost's spectacular strike one of just eight goals scored across eighteen matches. A month later, they defeated Bermuda 1-0 in Hartford for their first back-to-back victories in four years, but Chyzowych's pleas for a full-time national coach fell on deaf ears.
The federation instead borrowed Gordon Bradley from the Cosmos for the year's final matches. Despite fielding players from the NASL champion Philadelphia Atoms and runner-up Cosmos, the Americans lost 2-0 to Mexico and dropped both matches to Haiti. A creditable 0-0 draw with Italy's Under-21 team in Florence, achieved despite seven players suffering from the flu, provided the only bright spot before defeats in Israel ended the campaign.
The year's record told a harsh story: eighteen games, three wins, two draws, thirteen losses, eight goals scored and 43 conceded. Yet buried within those statistics was proof that American soccer could compete when properly prepared. The Poland victory represented more than just a rare triumph - it demonstrated what native talent could achieve given adequate time and tactical preparation, even on a shoestring budget and borrowed time.