As 1972 drew to a close, American soccer found itself at a crossroads. The North American Soccer League had expanded to eight teams, providing the largest pool of domestic talent in the sport's brief professional history. For the first time, the U.S. Soccer Football Association could field a truly professional national team, drawing primarily from NASL rosters rather than relying on amateur and semi-professional players scattered across ethnic leagues.
The federation had appointed Bob Kehoe, former captain of the 1965 World Cup qualifying team and recent coach of the St. Louis Stars, to lead the 1974 World Cup qualifying campaign. Kehoe brought both playing experience and professional coaching credentials, representing what the USSFA hoped would be a new era of competent preparation and execution.
Yet familiar patterns of dysfunction emerged almost immediately. Despite promises of extensive scouting and adequate preparation time, Kehoe found himself working with a hastily assembled squad. The team that traveled to Newfoundland for the opening qualifier bore little resemblance to the players who had attended the preparatory camp in the Adirondacks. Administrative chaos struck even before departure when the team discovered their hotel reservations in St. John's had mysteriously disappeared, forcing players to share makeshift accommodations.
On August 20, 1972, the Americans suffered a deflating 3-2 defeat to Canada in driving rain at St. John's Stadium. Despite goals from Willy Roy and Rudy Getzinger, the team fell behind 2-0 at halftime and was unable to recover from the early deficit. The loss left the United States in a precarious position in Group One, needing results against both Canada and Mexico to have any hope of advancing to the next round.
Nine days later, on August 29, the rematch in Baltimore provided an opportunity for redemption. Memorial Stadium, home to the Baltimore Bays of the NASL, would host the Americans' most crucial match since their 1970 World Cup qualifying campaign had ended in disappointment. The Bays' recent success, including a record crowd of nearly 18,000 for a game against Moscow Dynamo, had generated renewed interest in soccer throughout the city.
The match nearly didn't happen as scheduled. When the Salvadoran officials arrived that afternoon, they discovered Memorial Stadium's field measured only 100 yards in length, ten yards short of FIFA's minimum requirement for World Cup competition. In a frantic six-hour effort, groundskeepers dismantled the baseball diamond's pitching mound and extended the playing surface to the required 110 yards. A crowd of 3,723 paying spectators, supplemented by 3,000 underprivileged children admitted through a Baltimore Jaycees program, settled into the cavernous stadium as darkness fell over Baltimore. The sparse attendance, leaving more than 48,000 seats empty, served as a stark reminder of soccer's marginal status in American sports culture.
Canada struck first at the 36-minute mark when Jim Douglas sent a direct free kick toward the American goal. The ball deflected off a U.S. defender, and Ike Mackay collected the loose ball on the right flank before dribbling toward goal and firing a low shot through goalkeeper Orest Banach's legs from ten yards out. The Americans responded quickly. Six minutes later, Willie Roy capitalized on a moment of misfortune for Canadian goalkeeper Dick Howard, who slipped and fell while attempting to collect a cross. Roy pounced on the opportunity, converting a feed from Jorge Benitez to level the score at 1-1.
The match took a dramatic turn in the 35th minute when Banach injured his right knee during a scramble in front of the American goal. Mike Winter, the backup goalkeeper, entered the match with the United States trailing by a goal and their qualification hopes hanging by a thread. Roy, who had been outstanding throughout the evening, nearly put the Americans ahead when Douglas directed a header against the right post with 24 minutes remaining in the first half. But with 21 minutes left before the interval, Roy turned provider. The midfielder carried the ball down the right sideline, drawing Howard off his line before delivering a perfect cross to Gene Geimer, who buried the ball into the net for a 2-1 U.S. advantage.
Winter proved equal to the pressure, making several crucial saves to preserve the lead as the match entered its final stages. With the Americans appearing to have secured a vital victory, disaster struck in the 81st minute. John Douglas found space near the American goal and scored what Canadian coach Frank Pike later described as "an easy goal" to salvage a 2-2 draw for the visitors.
"I thought we had it wrapped up. And then that easy goal tied us," reflected a disappointed Kehoe after the match. The coach praised Winter's performance, noting that "losing our goalie didn't hurt us that much. Winter played very well for us in the goal."
Pike acknowledged his team's fortune in escaping Baltimore with a point. "The U.S. played very well," the Canadian coach admitted. "If we had lost, we would have been in trouble. We did a very good job in coming back and gaining the tie."
The draw kept American hopes mathematically alive but left them facing an almost impossible task. With Canada having defeated the United States 3-2 in Newfoundland and Mexico having beaten Canada 1-0 in Toronto, the Americans needed to sweep both matches against Mexico to have any chance of advancing from the group.
Those hopes would prove illusory. A month later, Mexico dominated the Americans 3-1 at Azteca Stadium in Mexico City, effectively ending U.S. qualification chances. The return match in Los Angeles became a meaningless exercise. However, it provided one of the most bizarre moments in American soccer history when Slobodan "Barney" Djordjevic was recruited from the stands just hours before kickoff to make his international debut.
The Baltimore draw ultimately represented both progress and persistent problems for American soccer. While the team showed improved organization and fighting spirit compared to previous qualifying campaigns, administrative incompetence continued to undermine on-field efforts. The sight of a nearly empty Memorial Stadium, despite the Bays' recent success in drawing large crowds, highlighted soccer's continued struggle for mainstream acceptance in the United States.
As American soccer looked toward future qualifying campaigns, the lessons from Baltimore were clear: talent and preparation could produce competitive performances, but sustainable success required the kind of systemic organization that had long eluded the sport in the United States. The draw with Canada offered a glimpse of what might be possible, even as it ultimately led nowhere.
