Join Now  | 
Home About Contact Us Privacy & Security Advertise
Soccer America Daily Special Edition Around The Net Soccer Business Insider College Soccer Reporter Youth Soccer Reporter Soccer on TV Soccer America Classifieds
Paul Gardner: SoccerTalk Soccer America Confidential Youth Soccer Insider World Cup Watch
RSS Feeds Archives Manage Subscriptions Subscribe
Order Current Issue Subscribe Manage My Subscription Renew My Subscription Gift Subscription
My Account Join Now
Tournament Calendar Camps & Academies Soccer Glossary Classifieds
England keeper recalls 1950 U.S. loss
AP, February 25th, 2010 11:38PM
Subscribe to Section 2 Around the Net


MOST READ
TAGS:  england, men's national team, world cup


With the USA and England facing each other in their 2010 World Cup opener, recollections of their previous World Cup clash -- a shocking 1-0 U.S. win in 1950 -- continue to stream in. This time it's England goalkeeper Bert Williams, who is now 90 years old. "It's been 60 years," said Williams, who was beaten Joe Gaetjens. "It's taken a lot of forgetting as far as I am concerned."

''As soon as England played a good ball through, the whole American team retreated to the 18-yard line,'' said Williams. ''You could hardly see their goal. We hit the crossbar and the upright three times to my knowledge but we could not get the ball past this crowd of players.''

Williams, who played 24 times for England, said, ''We thought the score should have been 8-1, 10-1 even -- and I was virtually one of the spectators. ... I don't remember a great deal about the goal. I had the ball covered and it was a deflection off one of their players who was standing in front of me. I was going the right way. It just happened.''

England was eliminated after losing its next game to Spain, 1-0. ''I think what lost us the match against Spain was the utter dejection from losing 1-0 to the Americans," Williams said. "Our spirits were so low. I felt sorry for everyone who was on that tour."

Read the original story...


No comments yet.

Sign in to leave a comment. Don't have an account? Join Now


AUTHORS

ARCHIVES
FOLLOW SOCCERAMERICA

Recent Section 2 Around the Net
Confusion Reigns Over Neymar's Price     
According to reports in Spain, the going rate for Barcelona target Neymar has suddenly jumped: Marca ...
UCL Spots Up for Grabs This Weekend    
Arsenal and Tottenham aren't the only two teams fighting for the final UEFA Champions League berth ...
Ferguson: 'I Pressured Referees'    
Ahead of his final game in charge of Manchester United this weekend, Alex Ferguson admits that ...
Media Reacts to Beckham's Retirement    
Global media have spent the last 24 hours eulogizing (and in some cases, criticizing) David Beckham's ...
Kidd to Stay on Despite City Exodus    
Brian Kidd, Manchester City's caretaker manager for the remainder of the season, said that the firing ...
Falcao to Monaco '90 Percent Certain'    
Radamel Falcao, the sought-after Atletico Madrid striker who has long been at the top of Chelsea ...
Copa Lib: Riquelme Golazo Fires Boca to Quarterfinals    
A breathtaking goal from veteran Juan Roman Riquelme proved to be the difference as Boca Juniors ...
Benitez Gets His Trophy, Lampard Gets His Contract    
In the end, Chelsea interim coach Rafael Benitez finally received some recognition from the club's supporters, ...
Beckham Announces Retirement    
Former Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder David Beckham announced on Thursday that this season would be his ...
Malaga to Release City Target Pellegrini     
Malaga on Tuesday confirmed that Manuel Pellegrini is free to leave the Spanish club this summer. ...
>> Section 2 Around the Net Archives