This is the 277thepisode of my podcast,
'Soccernostalgia Talk Podcast’.
For this episode, I interview American Author, Journalist and
Journalism Professor Mr. Clemente A. Lisi as we discuss the USA National Team
during the years (2000 to 2010).
Mr. Lisi appeared previously on the
podcast discussing the 1986, 1990, 1994 and 1998 World Cups.
Mr. Lisi is a Journalism Professor at
The King’s College. He has been a Journalist for the likes of New York Post and
the New York Daily News. He has also worked as Senior Editor for ABCNews.com.
Mr. Lisi is also a contributor to Religion Unplugged.
Mr.
Lisi is the author of ‘The U.S.
Women's Soccer Team: An American Success Story (2010)’ and his new book ‘The
World Cup: A History of the Planet's Biggest Sporting Event, 2026 Edition’,
which is an update to his book in 2022, ‘The
FIFA World Cup: A History of the Planet's Biggest Sporting Event)’
Mr. Lisi also has a website ‘Planet Soccer’ on substack at https://planetsoccer.substack.com/
For any questions/comments,
you may contact us:
You may also contact me on
this blog, on twitter @sp1873 and on facebook under Soccernostalgia.
This is the 265thepisode of my podcast, 'Soccernostalgia Talk Podcast’.
For this
episode, I interview American Author Mr. Hal
Phillipsas we discuss his book, ‘Sibling Rivalry: How Mexico and the US Built the Most
Contentious, Co-Dependent Feud in World Soccer.’ (2026))
Mr. Hal Phillips is also the author of "Generation Zero:
Founding Fathers, Hidden Histories & The Making of Soccer in America”
(Dickinson-Moses Press, 2022).
For any
questions/comments, you may contact us:
You may also contact me
on this blog, on twitter @sp1873 and on facebook under Soccernostalgia.
As defending World Cup
Champions, Germany had automatically qualified for the 1994 World Cup in USA.
This meant that they were restricted to Friendly matches for almost two years.
The previous year, Germany
Manager Berti Vogts had taken the Tour of South America with mixed results.
Just six months after that,
the Team was back in North America to face North/South American opposition as
part of their preparations.
The team would face Argentina
in Miami, replay of the 1990 World Cup Final, the 1994 World Cup hosts United
States and Mexico.
The novelty with the Germans
was the new position of World Cup winning captain Lothar Matthäus. The former
midfield General was now the Libero of the Team.
He became the 25th player to
be tried in that position since Franz Beckenbauer’s retirement in 1977.
According to Vogts, this
change was necessary following the injury of Olaf Thon.
The goalkeeping position was
still a concern and Vogts still alternated between Bodo Illgner and Andreas Köpke.
Regulars such as Jürgen
Klinsmann, Thomas Häßler, Andreas Möller, Guido Buchwald, Jürgen Kohler, Stefan
Effenberg and Matthias Sammer still made up the core of the team.
Klinnsman’s regular partner
upfront, Karl-Heinz Riedle missed this Tour through injury.
The new players making a
claim for a World Cup spot included Christian Ziege, Thomas Strunz, Bernd Hobsch,
Dieter Eilts and Maurizio Gaudino.
The surprise inclusion was
that of veteran defender and 1990 World Cup hero Andreas Brehme.
He had retired from the
National Team following the 1992 Euros, but Vogts convinced him to make a comeback
on this Tour.
The first match on the Tour
was on December 15th, 1993, at Miami with Germany facing Argentina.
Argentina
included the likes of Oscar Alfredo
Ruggeri and Abel Eduardo Balbo, but missing Diego Maradona and Gabriel
Batistuta among others.
The Argentines
took the lead very quickly, as early as the 4th minute, when Hernan
Diaz unleashed a long-range shot past Köpke.
Germany tied the match just
minutes later, in the 8th minute, when Möller headed in Haessler’s
free kick from the right side.
Argentina would score the
winning goal in the second half, in the 64th minute, Balbo heading
in Medina Bello’s cross from the right side.
Naturally, the team was
heavily criticized for this display.
They had to fly from East
coast of the United States to the West coast for their next match.
Photo From: World Soccer,
February 1994
(December 15, 1993,
Argentina 2-Germany 1)
Photo From: Chronik des
deutschen fussballs, 2005
(December 15, 1993,
Argentina 2-Germany 1)
The next match on the Tour
was vs. USA, three days later, on December 18th at Stanford Stadium.
Vogts made a few changes, Bodo
Illgner started in goal in place of Andreas Köpke.
Dieter Eilts replaced Thomas
Helmer in defense and Stefan Kuntz (earning his first cap) started in place of
Kirsten upfront.
Effenberg was also shifted in
a defensive position.
The sides had
already met, six months earlier in Chicago, in the US Cup (June 13th,
4-3 Germany win). The Germans had been criticized for giving away three goals
and were determined for a better defensive display.
The Americans
were missing their European-based contingent (Harkes, Ramos, Wegerle and
Wynalda).
Germany
controlled this match from the start with Andreas
Möller dictating the play.
Germany took the lead in the
16th minute and did not look back. Andreas Möller headed in Haessler’s
corner kick from the right side.
The American
tactics was based on the offside trap that worked in the first half, but in the
second half the Germans were wiser to it.
Germany scored
the second goal in the 79th minute in a manner similar to the first
one. International debutant, Stefan Kuntz
headed in Möller’s corner kick from the right side.
Just a minute before the end,
Thom knocked in Möller’s pass from the left side.
The Germans had
won comfortably without impressing.
Buchwald expressed that the
players were very tired following the match on the back of months of club
football.
The German Press criticized
the team for ‘only’ winning (3-0) against such an opposition.
After this, in a move opposed
by Berti Vogts, the German squad decided on a media boycott. According to Team
captain Lothar Matthäus, this was due to German Press’ continuous negative
campaigning.
Photo From: Onze-Mondial,
Issue 65, June 1994
(December 18, 1993, USA
0-Germany 3)
Photo From: Onze-Mondial, Issue
62, March 1994
(December 18, 1993, USA
0-Germany 3)
Photo From: Onze-Mondial, Issue
62, March 1994
(December 18, 1993, USA
0-Germany 3)
The third and final match on
the Tour was vs. Mexico, four days later, on December 22nd at the
Azteca.
There were more changes for
this match. Eilts, Brehme, Buchwald, Haessler and Kuntz were dropped/rested.
Michael Schulz, Matthias
Sammer, Maurizio Gaudino, Thomas Strunz and Christian Ziege started in their
places.
Berti Vogts experimented with
Matthias Sammer at the libero position.
This would be an uninspiring
goalless draw. The mere satisfaction was perhaps keeping a clean sheet.
Photo From: Onze-Mondial,
Hors Serie 16, May 1994
(December 22, 1993, Mexico
0-Germany 0)
Photo From: Onze-Mondial,
Issue 61, February 1994
(Germany squad, December
22, 1993, Mexico 0-Germany 0)
At the end this Tour, German
observers felt nothing of value was gained from this trip and the performances
were below par.
Vogts disagreed saying his
team became a much closer-knit group despite stressful conditions on the trip (the
traveling as well as the media boycott of the team).
This ban was lifted after
this trip, but the media questioned Lothar Matthäus’ position as Captain for
instigating this boycott.
Berti Vogts compared the
three matches in a week as comparable to the conditions in the upcoming World
Cup Group phase.
The players had to fly to
three different time-zones to acclimatize to World Cup conditions in June 1994.
In this 10-day trip, the
players faced long flying hours, thousands of miles, different altitudes and
temperatures.
In terms of performances on
the field, none of the players impressed most especially in defense.
Effenberg seemed unaccustomed
in defensive positions instead of his familiar midfield position.
The goalkeeping position was
still not resolved between Illgner and Köpke.
Matthäus was still coming to
terms in his new position and was no longer active in creating chances as a
result.
Just like the 1992 South
American trip, Vogts still had a team to (re)build with many positions still up
for grabs.
18-
Jürgen Klinsmann (Association Sportive
de Monaco Football Club / France)
19-Andreas
Thom (Turn und Sportverein Bayer 04 Leverkusen e.V.)
Bernd
Hobsch (Sport Verein Werder Bremen von 1899 e.V.)
Coach: Hans-Hubert ‘Berti’ Vogts
Team Captain: Lothar Herbert Matthäus
Official Kit Supplier/Designer: Adidas
Note:
1-The original squad may have included Karl-Heinz Pflipsen (Borussia Verein für Leibesübungen 1900 e.V.
Mönchengladbach), it’s unclear whether he withdrew or did not get to play.
2-Bernd Hobsch and Karl-Heinz Pflipsen
(assuming he was on The Tour part) were probably either numbered 11 or 22.
(Argentina): Hernan Edgardo Diaz 4, Abel Eduardo Balbo
64
(Germany): Andreas Möller 8
Summary of
goals:
1:0 (4th
minute, Argentina): Hernan Diaz
scored with a long-range shot from outside of the box.
1:1 (8th
minute, Germany): Haessler’s free kick
from the right side was headed in by Moeller.
2:1 (64th
minute, Argentina): Medina Bello’s cross
from the right side was headed in by Balbo.
Lineups:
Argentina:
1-Sergio Javier Goycochea
(Club Atlético River Plate- Buenos
Aires)
2-Sergio Fabian Vázquez (Club
Deportivo Universidad Católica -Santiago / Chile) (15-Jorge Horacio Borelli
(Racing Club de Avellaneda-Avellaneda - Buenos Aires) 86)
4-Hernan
Edgardo Diaz (Club Atlético River Plate- Buenos Aires)
6- Oscar Alfredo Ruggeri (Club
Deportivo America-Mexico City / Mexico)
3-Carlos Javier Mac Allister (Club Atlético Boca Juniors -Buenos
Aires)
8-Hugo Leonardo Perez (Club
Atlético Independiente Avellaneda)
5-Alejandro Victor Mancuso (Club Atlético Boca Juniors -Buenos Aires)
10-Diego
Daniel Cagna (Club Atlético Independiente Avellaneda)
20-Leonardo Adrián Rodríguez
(Atalanta Bergamasca Calcio / Italy) (14-Roberto Carlos Monserrat (Club
Atlético San Lorenzo de Almagro- Buenos Aires) 88)
7-Ramon
Ismael Medina Bello (Club Atlético River
Plate- Buenos Aires) (17-Ariel Arnaldo Ortega (Club Atlético River
Plate- Buenos Aires) 89)
9-Abel
Eduardo Balbo (Associazione Sportiva Roma / Italy)
Coach: Alfio Ruben Basile
Booked:
Carlos Javier Mac Allister 37, Diego Daniel Cagna 53, Alejandro Victor Mancuso
68
Other
Substitutes:
Alberto
Federico Acosta (Club Atlético
Boca Juniors -Buenos Aires)
Nestor
Raul Gorosito (Club Atlético San Lorenzo de Almagro- Buenos Aires)
Jorge
Federico Reinoso (Racing Club de Avellaneda-Avellaneda - Buenos Aires)
Luis Alberto Islas (Club Atlético Independiente Avellaneda)
Team Captain: Oscar Alfredo Ruggeri
Official Kit Supplier/Designer: Adidas
Uniform Colors: Blue/White vertically striped Shirts, Black Shorts, White Socks
Germany:
12-Andreas Köpke (1.Fußball-Club Nürnberg - Verein für
Leibesübungen e.V. )
10- Lothar Herbert Matthäus
(Fußball-Club Bayern München e.V.)
5-Thomas Helmer (Fußball-Club
Bayern München e.V.)
4-
Jürgen Kohler (Juventus Football Club -Torino/ Italy)
6-
Guido Buchwald (Verein für Bewegungspiele Stuttgart 1893 e.V.)
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