New Kids in the World Cup

The Totally Late '80s and Early '90s Tale of the Team That Changed American Soccer Forever

By: Adam Elder

Narrated by: Tim Campbell

In 1990, though no one knew it then, a fearless group of players changed the sport of soccer in the United States forever.

Young, bronzed, and mulletted, they were America’s finest athletes in a sport that America loved to hate. Even sportswriters rooted against them. Yet this team defied massive odds and qualified for the World Cup, making possible America’s current obsession with the world’s most popular game.

In this era, a US Soccer Federation head coach had a better-paying day job as a black-tie restaurant waiter. Players earned $20 a day. The crowd at home games cheered for their opponent, and the fields were even mismarked.

In Latin America the US team bus had a machine gun turret mounted on the back, locals would sabotage their hotel, and in the stadiums spectators would rain coins, batteries, and plastic bags of urine down on the American players. The world considered the U.S. team to be total imposters—the Milli Vanilli of soccer. Yet on the biggest stage of all, in the 1990 World Cup, this undaunted American squad and their wise coach earned the adoration of Italy’s star players and their fans in a gladiator-like match in Rome’s deafening Stadio Olimpico.

From windswept soccer fields in the US heartland to the CIA-infested cauldron of Central America and the Caribbean, behind the recently toppled Iron Curtain and into the great European soccer cathedrals, New Kids in the World Cup is the origin story of modern American soccer in a time when power ballads were inescapable and mainstream America was discovering hip-hop

It’s the true adventure of America’s most important soccer team, which made possible everything that’s come since—including America finally falling in love with soccer.

©2022 by Adam Elder (P)2023 by Blackstone Publishing

Solid but not spectacular

An enjoyable book about a part of US Soccer history that deserves this attention. The lengthy descriptions of matches I could do without. Much more interesting were the off-field machinations of players, coaches, execs, and others in the orbit of the team at this time. The audiobook performance was solid, though it felt like the reader was recording in the middle of the night afraid to raise his voice too much above a whisper. I had really high hopes for this book, and I’m glad I read it, but it didn’t quite go the directions I’d hoped it would as often as I wanted. Your mileage may vary!

Fascinating Look into US Soccer History

US Soccer has come a long, long way. This book demonstrates that in detail, with great insights into the US game’s first steps onto the stage of world which thought it had left us far behind.

Outstanding Book

The story of where our soccer nation has come from is fascinating. The author telling this story does a wonderful job describing the games, the places, the coaches and the players. For those soccer fans that grew up in loving the beautiful game in the 80s, this is a must have book.