Contributed by Steven Torres
Soccer Long Island Magazine continues its weekly feature as it looks back at some historical events/games, both on and off the field, from the region of North, Central America and Caribbean.
In this week’s edition you have: El Salvador wins playoff qualifier against Honduras in 1969; Pelé first NASL goal in 1975; and U.S. shocking victory over England at 1950 World Cup.
June 25, 2008: Canada and United States qualified for the FIFA Women's U-20 World Cup in Chile after posting victories over host Mexico and Costa Rica, respectively, during the Concacaf qualifying tournament semifinals held in Puebla's Cuauhtémoc Stadium. Goals by Jonelle Filigno and Jodi-Ann Robinson gave the Maple Leafs a 2:1 victory against El Tri, while Meghan Klingenberg, Kelly O'Hara, Jessica McDonald and Ingrid Wells all scored for the Stars & Stripes in a 4:0 shutout against the Ticas. Three days later, Mexico also qualified for FIFA event by topping Costa Rica on penalties (3:2) after a 2:2 draw in the third-place match. Canada would then defeat the U.S., 1:0, in the final.
June 26, 1969: Jose Antonio Quintanilla (101st) scored the game-winning goal in overtime that gave El Salvador a 3:2 victory over Honduras in the semifinal playoff match of World Cup Qualifying at Azteca Stadium in Mexico City. A third match took place after each team had won its respective home-leg encounters in Tegucigalpa (Honduras) and San Salvador (El Salvador) earlier in the month. El Salvador went advanced to final round later in the year and defeated Haiti, also in a playoff match, to qualify for the first time to a World Cup (Mexico 1970).
June 27, 1975: Pelé, who led Brazil to three World Cup titles, scored his first NASL (North American Soccer League) goal with New York Cosmos as it defeated hosts Rochester Lancers, 3:0, before crowd of 14,562 at Holleder Memorial Stadium. U.S. international forwards Joe Fink and Jorge Siega each added a tally for Cosmos for the win.
June 28, 1991: Honduras' Eduardo Bennett scored first goal (28th) at the inaugural Concacaf Gold Cup, via a penalty kick, in the Group A encounter against Canada, before a crowd of 13,374, at L.A. Memorial Coliseum. Juan Carlos Espinoza, Luis Enrique Calix and Eugenio Dolmo Flores added to the Catrachos’ scoring in the 4:2 victory.
June 29, 1950: After losing a 3:1 encounter to Spain four days earlier, the U.S. rebounded with a 1:0 World Cup triumph against England at the Independência Stadium in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, in Group 2 encounter. Off an assist from Walter Bahr, Joe Gaetjens (38th) scored the game's only goal, as the Stars & Stripes produced a shocking victory over the Three Lions. It was the first time a North American nation defeated a European side at the World Cup.
June 30, 1970: Octavio Muciño scored with six minutes remaining to give CD SC Cruz Azul of Mexico a 1:0 win over hosts New York Greek-American AA, before 1,300 fans at Gaelic Park, during the first-leg of Concacaf Champions’ Cup opening round. CD SC Cruz Azul won the second-leg, 5:0, the following month at the Estadio 10 de Diciembre in Ciudad Cooperativa Cruz Azul to progress to the Final Round.
July 1, 2007: Despite opening the FIFA U-20 World Cup with a 3:0 loss to Chile at Toronto's National Soccer Stadium (now BMO Field), Canada became the first North American nation to host both World Youth Championships (U-17, U-20). The 52-game tournament held across six venues in Canada, drew 1,195,239 total spectators. The record attendances topped 1983 U-20 World Cup in Mexico of 1,155,160.
Written by Steven Torres