WASHINGTON, Feb.7, 2012 - American defender Harry Keough, who was at the center of it all when soccer history was made, passed away on Tuesday at the age of 84. Mr. Keough died at his home in St. Louis.
History happened on June 29, 1950 in Belo Hoirzonte, Brazil. It was the World Cup and it was the most humiliating defeat in the history of the English game. The United States soccer team, 500-1 outsiders to win the World Cup, defeated favored England 1-0.
Keough, a tough defender from St. Louis, was one of the key players on that famous U.S. team.
"Harry was a true pioneer, representing the finest of a generation of men and women who built the foundations for soccer in the United States on which we stand today," said U.S. soccer president Sunil Gulati. "While his participation on the U.S. team that beat England in the 1950 FIFA World Cup remains a memory that fans around the world treasure, it is his lasting contribution to soccer in St. Louis and around the country as a player and a coach that will be his true legacy."
The National Soccer Hall of Famer played 19 times in the 1940s and 1950s for the U.S. team. The 1-0 victory over England, where he helped anchor a U.S. defense that kept a clean sheet against one of the tournament favorites, was the highlight of his career.
"The English team took it very well," said Keough when I interviewed him in 1993. "After the game they shook our hands and gave us credit and at the airport posed for pictures with us.
"What sticks in my mind is that it was supposed to be a neutral field, but actually we had the home field advantage because every time the American team got the ball the crowd went wild. Except for a couple of hundred English miners in the crowd, everyone cheered for us."
In America the game was almost ignored.
"Let's put it this way: I got no call from the president when I got home," Keough said.
The New York Times gave the game seven inches, and the Los Angeles Times gave the story 37 words. But outside the U.S. the story was headline news.
"England's football Dunkirk," London's Daily Mirror said.
In Brazil, one newspaper had the result "1-0" blazened in massive figures on its front page and "The King Dead" written underneath.
When news of the game reached England the press thought it was a typographical error on the teleprinter.
The English were considered one of the best teams in the world, and it would be three more years before any team was to beat them at home.
The American team was made up of part-timers who played in the American Soccer League and the St. Louis Professional League.
At the club level Keough played for St. Louis Kutis, which won the 1957 U.S. Open Cup and the National Amateur Cup six consecutive times between 1956 and 1961.
The St. Louis native made his U.S. team debut on Sept. 14, 1949, when the Americans Cuba to a 1-1 draw in a World Cup qualifying match. Keough also scored the U.S. team's lone goal during the team's 5-1 loss to Canada in World Cup qualifying on June 22, 1957, in Toronto.
Following his playing career, Keough took on coaching, and in 1967 became the head coach of the St. Louis University soccer team. He became a coaching legend, posting a 213-50-23 record, and guiding St. Louis to four outright titles before retiring in 1982.
Keough was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 1976. He leaves behind his wife Alma, and his children Ty, Colleen and Peggy."
This article is the copyrighted property of the writer and Communities @ WashingtonTimes.com. Written permission must be obtained before reprint in online or print media. REPRINTING TWTC CONTENT WITHOUT PERMISSION AND/OR PAYMENT IS THEFT AND PUNISHABLE BY LAW.
