The Last Time The United States Beat England
U.S. Press Coverage
The Last Time The United States Beat England
I just finished watching the incredible 2-0 United States friendly win over England in 1993.
This game is probably better known in England than here in the United States. It’s been overshadowed stateside by the excitement of hosting the 1994 World Cup. Meanwhile, in England it is the perfect symbol of the frustration of the Graham Taylor era.
The ITV broadcasters in the recording I watched were speculating about how the U.S. press would cover the match. They thought it might be front page news. Not quite — but it did reach the front page in at least one American sports section:
A blurb on the very bottom of the front page of the sports section of The Boston Globe isn’t exactly a huge headline. In fact, most American papers only featured coverage on the second page:
The Miami Herald traditionally had pretty good soccer coverage in the days before Major League soccer. Still, the fact that this was relegated to page 2 is a symbol of just how seriously American audiences took the sport at the time.
However, most American papers relegated the news to the back of the sports section — the part that most of us would routinely skip over:
Now, in defense of the sports editors, there were a lot of other sports news stories on June 10, 1993:
Michael Jordan, who was under suspicion for gambling ties, led the Chicago Bulls to a 100-92 victory over the Phoenix Suns in game 1 of the NBA Finals
The Montreal Canadiens beat the Los Angeles Kings and Wayne Gretzky 4-1 to win the Stanley Cup
However, this result fell far behind regular season baseball in terms of importance.
I wonder if things are different now. What do you think?