The Australia-USA match was touted to be a very physical game, because both sides are known to play a tough brand of football.
The game did not disappoint although at the back of our heads, we probably knew the outcome.
The boys form Down Under are solid but in the face of the pace of the chaps from the Stars and Stripes, they appeared somewhat overwhelmed.
Yet they tried, going down 2-0.
USA started their World Cup campaign with a thumping 4-1 demolition of Paraguay – signalling the coming of age of ‘soccer’ in America.
Actually, those who still remain a but puzzled as to why the USA plays so well need to look back in time and go to the mid 70s, 1975 to be precise, to trace the sublime Brazilian touch which sparked the soccer sensation in the USA.
Blaxploitation and the arrival of Pele
Before we come to the present day clinical performance of the USA team at the World Cup, let’s take a journey back in time to the blaxploitation days of the 70s when celluloid was dominated by African American actors: Jim Kelly and Jim Brown, music lovers adored the Jackson Five, Tamara Dobson challenged the stereotype secret agent film template with her iconic Cleopatra Jones: undercover agent, using karate chops, driving a Corvette, Starsky and Hutch, the famed TV cop series had an African American as a police station head and, even James Bond decided to go with the flow and send 007 to New York and right at the heart of black power revolution.
This was the right time to trigger a soccer boom, US sports organisers thought and they brought none other than Pele, the Brazilian football ace, from his retirement as a key attraction for the North American Soccer League side New York Cosmos.
The Brazilian wizard was joined by German master Franz Beckenbauer.
Soon, Italian striker Giorgio Chinaglia came from Lazio followed by other European stars.
Pele reportedly got a staggering $ 2.8 million at that time!
Well, for that sum who wouldn’t want to revoke retirement?
So, if USA football stands where it is at the moment then the credit should go to Pele and the others who came at the height of a 70s social revolution that not only triggered a social justice movement but also laid the foundation for American soccer.
Fast forward to 1990
Fast forward to Italy 1990!
The USA team was in the same group as the hosts along side Austria and Czechoslovakia.
In a post-Cold War atmosphere of euphoria mixed with Italian boisterousness, most media sidelined the USA team.
Presence of football lovers near the USA team’s practice zones was sparse and, they lost the match against Czechoslovakia: 5-1.
Naturally, when the game against hosts Italy came, commentators were expecting a total annihilation.
In typica effusiveness, they screamed ‘Goal number one’, when Italy scored.
But then, the USA stood resolute with the match ending with a lone goal win for the Azzurri.
USA lost all three matches but the impact of the 1975 football league with sparkling names was evident.
Pele and the others came to popularise the sport and, as a result, the game developed, taking USA to the World Cup in 1990!
Seahorses in Bangladesh
I bet you’re wondering about the Seahorses, right?
Well, it’s an American football club which came to play in Bangladesh in 1989, the year before their national side went to the Italy World Cup.
This team, currently called Southern California Eagles, plays in the USL League two.
The Seahorses team was supposed to participate in the 1989 President Gold Cup tournament but withdrew to come at a later date to play exhibition matches.
This writer was at the Dhaka stadium to watch Seahorses, an American football team, take on Bangladesh Red.
As far as I recall, most people went to see the match out of sheer curiosity because, until then, very few had heard or seen the games of any US club.
The Seahorses did not disappoint at all!
If memory serves correctly, in a rain soaked muddy field, Bangladesh Red won the match 2-1.
That was possibly the first and the last time a team from the USA played here.
Let’s come back to 2026 and look at a US football team which has the potential to move beyond the second round and cause a major disruption in all calculations.
From what we’ve seen so far, the USA team is not here to just collect a few points but to assert the nation’s presence among the top names of football.
Pele was in the USA in 1994 when the country hosted the World Cup and, on that occasion, USA drew with Switzerland, beat Colombia 2-1 via that infamous Escobar own goal, losing to high flying Gheorge Haji inspired Romania by a solitary goal.
The signs of development were hard to miss – a team, slowly but inexorably moving forward.
USA in 2026 is a formidable side – pacy, menacing, accurate with tremendous firepower.
A fitting comparison would be with the F-22 Raptor!
To end, here’s one point from a commentator during the USA-Australia game, which should be taken into serious consideration: the USA team piles so much pressure on the opponent that often, the other side is forced to score an own goal!
That one line should be enough to give a headache to other teams, facing the Stars and the Stripes.
Towheed Feroze is a former journalist.
