WEBVTT - Tab Ramos and the Rebirth of U.S. Soccer 0:00:00.640 --> 0:00:05.400 In Uptown New York City, underdogs created a sound that 0:00:05.680 --> 0:00:11.119 changed music forever. We called it Saisa, and one label 0:00:11.200 --> 0:00:18.360 captured that sound like no other, Bania Records. I'm Rosy 0:00:18.440 --> 0:00:21.800 Pres and this is our thing. The Birth of SASA 0:00:21.920 --> 0:00:27.360 in Nueva York, an original podcast from Futuro Studios. Listen 0:00:27.440 --> 0:00:34.600 now wherever you get your podcasts. 0:00:40.720 --> 0:00:45.000 Hello, dear listener. On Friday, we brought you the first 0:00:45.080 --> 0:00:48.760 episode of a new show by Futuro Studios. It's called 0:00:48.840 --> 0:00:53.040 American Football. It's a podcast about soccer culture in the 0:00:53.200 --> 0:00:57.400 US and it's underdog roots. So as we gear up 0:00:57.480 --> 0:00:59.960 for the Men's World Cup in just a few weeks, 0:01:00.400 --> 0:01:05.119 American Football is airing short narrative episodes and deep dive 0:01:05.280 --> 0:01:08.880 interviews about the game we love and the people who 0:01:08.959 --> 0:01:12.240 love it. Here is the second episode. It's an interview 0:01:12.280 --> 0:01:13.800 with one of the players who was part of the 0:01:13.840 --> 0:01:17.520 rebirth of soccer in the US, hosted by Leo USA's 0:01:17.560 --> 0:01:19.720 managing editor, Fernanda Echavari. 0:01:27.920 --> 0:01:30.560 It was really difficult to leave Uruguay for me. 0:01:30.720 --> 0:01:33.640 I remember telling my father at the time that out 0:01:33.680 --> 0:01:35.479 of all the countries in the world that we can 0:01:35.600 --> 0:01:37.840 move to, why do we have to move to the 0:01:37.840 --> 0:01:41.959 one that doesn't have soccer. And my grandfather was the 0:01:42.000 --> 0:01:45.640 one who you know, he cleaned my soccer shoes. He's 0:01:45.680 --> 0:01:48.400 the one that took me to the practices with my team. 0:01:49.240 --> 0:01:52.240 I left Uruguay and I never saw my grandfather again. 0:01:53.200 --> 0:01:54.440 It was a very tough move. 0:01:55.400 --> 0:01:58.800 Could you have ever imagine how far you would go 0:01:59.160 --> 0:02:02.000 in the sport moving to the US, the country that 0:02:02.480 --> 0:02:04.880 cared about soccer the least I. 0:02:04.840 --> 0:02:05.960 Could have never imagined. 0:02:05.960 --> 0:02:08.040 I mean, I really thought when I moved to the US, 0:02:08.160 --> 0:02:11.840 basically that soccer was going to be a hobby for 0:02:11.960 --> 0:02:14.200 me and that I wouldn't be able to accomplish the 0:02:14.240 --> 0:02:17.360 goals that I had set out when I was growing 0:02:17.480 --> 0:02:20.040 up as a child in Uruguay and I was on 0:02:20.080 --> 0:02:22.520 my way to go in the pro route, and I 0:02:22.560 --> 0:02:24.800 felt like that got cut off and it was, you know, 0:02:25.320 --> 0:02:28.440 let's just call it an unconventional way of making it 0:02:28.480 --> 0:02:30.519 where I wanted to make it in the first place, 0:02:30.560 --> 0:02:31.040 but I did. 0:02:36.280 --> 0:02:41.119 From Futuro Studios, I'm Fernande Charvari and this is American Football, 0:02:41.600 --> 0:02:44.320 a show about soccer culture in the US and it's 0:02:44.440 --> 0:02:59.520 underdog roots. Tabarre Ramos or tab is widely regarded as 0:02:59.520 --> 0:03:03.120 one of the best US soccer players of the nineteen nineties. 0:03:03.360 --> 0:03:06.000 Well that's what my mother used to say, so let's 0:03:06.080 --> 0:03:08.079 just agree with that. 0:03:08.080 --> 0:03:11.600 That might be underselling it a bit. He's a three 0:03:11.680 --> 0:03:14.840 time World Cup player and the first player to sign 0:03:14.880 --> 0:03:18.400 with Major League Soccer or MLS. He was named the 0:03:18.480 --> 0:03:21.600 nineteen ninety US Soccer Athlete of the Year after one 0:03:21.639 --> 0:03:24.120 of those World Cups, and he was inducted into the 0:03:24.200 --> 0:03:26.880 National Soccer Hall of Fame in two thousand and five. 0:03:27.760 --> 0:03:32.680 So yeah, it's definitely not just his mom. Soccer culture 0:03:32.680 --> 0:03:37.000 in the US is particularly unique and dramas represents a 0:03:37.120 --> 0:03:40.760 pivotal moment in time for US men's soccer. He's part 0:03:40.800 --> 0:03:44.400 of its renaissance, it's rebirth. He's someone who came to 0:03:44.480 --> 0:03:48.440 a practically soccer lesson nation and helped build a new 0:03:48.560 --> 0:03:54.080 generation of fans, energizing a national team that long seemed hopeless. 0:03:55.000 --> 0:03:58.480 And like so many great American things, he came from 0:03:58.560 --> 0:03:59.200 somewhere else. 0:03:59.560 --> 0:04:02.600 I started kicking a ball as soon as I could walk. 0:04:03.160 --> 0:04:06.560 Soccer football in Uruguay, it truly is a. 0:04:06.480 --> 0:04:07.400 Way of life. 0:04:07.520 --> 0:04:11.320 It's very much ingrained into the culture of the country 0:04:11.360 --> 0:04:14.680 and what child growing up doesn't want to be a 0:04:14.720 --> 0:04:18.280 soccer player. It's basically everyone wants to play football. So 0:04:18.520 --> 0:04:21.840 when I signed for my first club in Montevideo, I 0:04:21.920 --> 0:04:25.920 was six years old, and I remember that my uncle 0:04:26.240 --> 0:04:28.200 sort of forced me to go to the club because 0:04:28.200 --> 0:04:31.040 he felt like I was ready. And I remember thinking, 0:04:31.200 --> 0:04:33.480 oh my god, I don't think I'm ready, and he 0:04:33.520 --> 0:04:35.400 said to me, well, you've been playing on the street 0:04:35.400 --> 0:04:36.880 already for a couple of years. 0:04:37.160 --> 0:04:40.479 He was ready. But then when he was about eleven 0:04:40.560 --> 0:04:43.400 years old, his family made a tough decision to move 0:04:43.440 --> 0:04:44.040 to the US. 0:04:44.360 --> 0:04:47.200 In the late seventies, you know, the economy and Uruguay 0:04:47.320 --> 0:04:48.880 was not doing so well. 0:04:48.920 --> 0:04:50.880 So my father was in Uruguay. 0:04:50.920 --> 0:04:53.919 He had been an electrical engineer, so he came to 0:04:54.000 --> 0:04:56.920 the US to work. He thought we'd have a better 0:04:56.960 --> 0:04:57.520 life here. 0:04:58.080 --> 0:05:01.240 Moving as a kid is hard, all right, And moving 0:05:01.320 --> 0:05:03.920 to a place where the thing you love the most 0:05:04.080 --> 0:05:08.359 is not the star sport, that's tough. How did you 0:05:08.400 --> 0:05:10.559 sort of handle that when you got here? La basin 0:05:10.560 --> 0:05:13.119 glz no or did you learn it when you got here? 0:05:13.480 --> 0:05:16.719 I mean we knew things like how to say table 0:05:16.839 --> 0:05:20.520 or cat or random things. You know that really when 0:05:20.560 --> 0:05:23.320 you meet friends and when you're trying to be in 0:05:23.360 --> 0:05:26.039 a conversation doesn't really help a whole lot. 0:05:26.160 --> 0:05:28.640 So none of that applies. I was there at one. 0:05:28.520 --> 0:05:30.160 Point, so it was really difficult. 0:05:30.160 --> 0:05:30.320 You know. 0:05:30.360 --> 0:05:32.479 I wish to tell you that I adapted to the 0:05:32.480 --> 0:05:34.960 country quickly, but it really was hard. 0:05:35.400 --> 0:05:37.000 You know, I moved into New Jersey. 0:05:37.279 --> 0:05:39.160 It's not like there were a lot of Hispanics in 0:05:39.200 --> 0:05:41.800 the area I was in, and you know, it's hard 0:05:41.839 --> 0:05:46.040 to assimilate yourself into the culture and to become accustomed 0:05:46.080 --> 0:05:49.280 to what other people like. I was always very reserved 0:05:49.320 --> 0:05:53.800 and introverted, and for me it became difficult to make friends. 0:05:53.839 --> 0:05:56.240 And you know, my first year in this country was 0:05:56.279 --> 0:05:56.799 really hard. 0:06:01.800 --> 0:06:04.120 Dramos was moving to what he envisioned to be a 0:06:04.240 --> 0:06:08.240 soccer less wasteland, but he serendipitously ended up in what 0:06:08.560 --> 0:06:11.359 just might have been one of the few places in 0:06:11.400 --> 0:06:16.120 the US that really went crazy for soccer, Carney, New 0:06:16.200 --> 0:06:21.280 Jersey in the late nineteenth century. The town's gigantic threadmills 0:06:21.360 --> 0:06:25.320 attracted immigrants to work there. Early on, Carney came to 0:06:25.360 --> 0:06:29.039 be known as the cradle of American soccer. It's the 0:06:29.080 --> 0:06:33.279 birthplace of a lot of really amazing players, and actually 0:06:33.400 --> 0:06:36.520 the team associated with the massive factory in town, the 0:06:36.600 --> 0:06:41.080 Clark Thread Company, won three American Football Association Cups in 0:06:41.120 --> 0:06:45.239 the late eighteen eighties. Other new Jerseys from neighboring towns 0:06:45.279 --> 0:06:49.240 like Jimmy Douglas and Thomas Florey played in the first 0:06:49.279 --> 0:06:54.440 ever World Cup coincidentally in Uruguay in nineteen thirty. And 0:06:54.520 --> 0:06:57.279 the descendants of this town are loud and proud of 0:06:57.320 --> 0:07:00.559 this history and continued a fierce love of the game. 0:07:01.279 --> 0:07:04.359 But in terms of the rest of the country, soccer 0:07:04.400 --> 0:07:06.240 didn't really have that same appeal. 0:07:07.800 --> 0:07:11.080 You went somewhere else, you realize that soccer didn't really exist, 0:07:11.560 --> 0:07:14.080 that soccer was sort of this hobby that some people 0:07:14.200 --> 0:07:17.720 had on the side. You know, you learn to become 0:07:17.760 --> 0:07:20.720 a salesman for the sport because you have no choice, 0:07:20.880 --> 0:07:24.640 because everywhere you go soccer is, Oh, you play that soccer. 0:07:24.920 --> 0:07:27.160 You know, it's not even soccer, it's that soccer. It's 0:07:27.200 --> 0:07:30.640 almost like that's poor out. Yeah, And so you learn 0:07:30.760 --> 0:07:33.880 to accept that, and you learned to say the right things. 0:07:34.080 --> 0:07:37.679 But Dramos and his team did develop a rowdy fan base, 0:07:38.040 --> 0:07:42.160 affectionately self described as the Carney Army. As you can 0:07:42.240 --> 0:07:51.480 hear in this clip from the documentary Soccer Town USAY. 0:07:56.680 --> 0:08:00.480 By nineteen eighty four, Dramos had graduated high school a call. 0:08:01.160 --> 0:08:04.880 It was the New York Cosmos, the very same team 0:08:05.000 --> 0:08:09.440 that the soccer legend Brazilian superstar Pila had played for, 0:08:10.120 --> 0:08:14.680 and they wanted to draft him. Ramos was thrilled. He 0:08:14.760 --> 0:08:16.640 trained with them for a little bit, but in the 0:08:16.760 --> 0:08:20.400 end he decided to go to college instead. It's a 0:08:20.440 --> 0:08:23.440 familiar crossroads that a lot of immigrants and first gents 0:08:23.480 --> 0:08:27.160 find themselves in. Their parents sacrificed a lot to give 0:08:27.200 --> 0:08:30.760 them better opportunities, so they have to weigh that against 0:08:30.760 --> 0:08:31.760 their true passions. 0:08:32.040 --> 0:08:34.400 My father always said that you know you can kick 0:08:34.400 --> 0:08:36.280 a ball for a little while, that you'll have your 0:08:36.400 --> 0:08:38.199 education for the rest of your life. 0:08:38.440 --> 0:08:40.160 That was really important to him. 0:08:40.600 --> 0:08:43.320 Fortunately, I was the best player in the country my 0:08:43.400 --> 0:08:44.680 senior year in high school. 0:08:44.960 --> 0:08:47.240 I could pick pretty much any college. 0:08:46.920 --> 0:08:49.440 I could go to for free, and by the way, 0:08:49.880 --> 0:08:53.160 thank god, because my parents wouldn't be able to afford college, 0:08:53.200 --> 0:08:54.679 so it was good that. 0:08:54.679 --> 0:08:55.559 I could go for free. 0:08:55.600 --> 0:08:58.240 So I decided to go to North Carolina State, and 0:08:58.280 --> 0:09:01.640 I think part of that was really the decision from 0:09:01.640 --> 0:09:04.720 my parents. At North Carolina State, there was an Argentinian 0:09:04.760 --> 0:09:07.520 coach and his brother had played in the World Cup. 0:09:07.720 --> 0:09:09.920 So for my parents that was sort of the connection 0:09:10.480 --> 0:09:13.520 in allowing me to once again connect to world soccer, 0:09:13.800 --> 0:09:15.560 and so I chose North Carolina State. 0:09:16.160 --> 0:09:19.240 It turns out that was a smart decision because not 0:09:19.280 --> 0:09:22.320 long after he debated joining the Cosmos instead of going 0:09:22.320 --> 0:09:26.000 to college, the Cosmos and the entire North American Soccer 0:09:26.120 --> 0:09:29.480 League shuddered. But even though the league was no more, 0:09:30.000 --> 0:09:32.200 they were still great soccer to be played. 0:09:32.440 --> 0:09:34.079 And then we went to the Olympics in Seoul. 0:09:34.240 --> 0:09:37.440 On a bright and beautiful Saturday morning in Seoul, Koreans, 0:09:37.440 --> 0:09:40.040 by the hundreds of thousands, they have turned out to 0:09:40.120 --> 0:09:41.600 create a day they've long awaited. 0:09:43.920 --> 0:09:45.120 That's after the break. 0:09:48.160 --> 0:09:50.920 In the tradition of radio classics. Here in Tails of 0:09:50.960 --> 0:09:56.760 the Night are the stories, horrors, and legends that inhabit 0:09:56.800 --> 0:10:00.920 the streets of Mexico and liberto America. The darkness of 0:10:00.960 --> 0:10:05.200 the most successful and acclaimed horror podcast across all categories 0:10:05.200 --> 0:10:10.480 in Latin America looms over you now. In English Tales 0:10:10.520 --> 0:10:13.439 of the Night, You're in now, but be warned, because 0:10:13.440 --> 0:10:16.040 in the Silence of the Dog you might just become 0:10:16.080 --> 0:10:18.680 the next protagonist of Tales of the Night. Listen to 0:10:18.679 --> 0:10:21.160 Tales of the Night wherever you get podcasts. 0:10:27.600 --> 0:10:32.240 It's American football. I'm Fernande Chavalis. In the nineteen eighty 0:10:32.280 --> 0:10:36.120 eight Olympics, the US did pretty well. They tied with 0:10:36.160 --> 0:10:40.200 both Argentina and with South Korea, but ultimately lost to 0:10:40.280 --> 0:10:52.199 the USSR in a four to two game. It was 0:10:52.240 --> 0:10:55.840 a disappointing loss, but one that would soon be overshadowed 0:10:55.840 --> 0:11:00.600 by two incredible nineteen ninety World Cup qualifying games, one 0:11:00.640 --> 0:11:04.240 where the US would smash Costa Rica thanks to an 0:11:04.280 --> 0:11:17.559 incredible goal by none other than Tap Dramos. 0:11:12.600 --> 0:11:17.200 And then ESPN presents the World Cup qualifying game. 0:11:17.280 --> 0:11:19.240 One of these teams will advance to the World Cup. 0:11:19.240 --> 0:11:23.040 It's the national teams of the USA VERSUS Trinidad and Tobago. 0:11:23.760 --> 0:11:26.880 It's a hot sunny day in Port of Spain, Trinidad 0:11:26.880 --> 0:11:31.200 and Tobago. Hastley Crawford Stadium is packed with the sea 0:11:31.240 --> 0:11:34.720 of red, all for the home team. It seemed like 0:11:34.960 --> 0:11:37.240 there was a mandatory sign that said you must wear 0:11:37.280 --> 0:11:39.160 red or you would be allowed to enter the stadium. 0:11:39.160 --> 0:11:40.320 Because that's all you see here. 0:11:40.440 --> 0:11:44.920 It's just the sea of red. Trinidadian flags are everywhere, 0:11:45.080 --> 0:11:47.520 and there are signs as far as the eye can see. 0:11:48.080 --> 0:11:52.959 One sign reads no way USA. We're in minute thirty 0:11:53.000 --> 0:11:57.439 one of an already intense match. Dramos kicks the ball 0:11:57.559 --> 0:12:01.480 over to midfielder Paul Kellajerry and in an unlikely move, 0:12:01.920 --> 0:12:06.160 Calajeri launches the ball with his non dominant left foot and. 0:12:08.440 --> 0:12:10.920 What Clagians corle. 0:12:11.120 --> 0:12:15.560 Time read what It's a historic goal known as the 0:12:15.600 --> 0:12:19.280 shot heard around the world on a running goal. It's proud, 0:12:19.320 --> 0:12:21.600 after word, to cut up a little bit, which would 0:12:21.679 --> 0:12:24.640 lead to the US finally entering the World Cup again 0:12:24.800 --> 0:12:31.480 after a forty year dry spell forty years. Walk me 0:12:31.559 --> 0:12:34.200 through what it was like to go to Italy and 0:12:34.280 --> 0:12:37.000 represent the United States. What did that World Cup mean 0:12:37.040 --> 0:12:38.119 for you and your team? 0:12:38.600 --> 0:12:42.040 I think first is you know, thinking about how unlikely 0:12:42.080 --> 0:12:44.080 it was that we were going to qualify to that 0:12:44.160 --> 0:12:46.319 World Cup. You know, US had not been to a 0:12:46.320 --> 0:12:48.800 World Cup in forty years, and here we are a 0:12:48.800 --> 0:12:52.479 bunch of young guys that basically had only college experience 0:12:53.040 --> 0:12:55.719 and we end up qualifying to the World Cup and 0:12:56.080 --> 0:12:58.280 you have the whole world watching, you know, a billion 0:12:58.360 --> 0:13:02.680 plus people watching. I remember walking onto the field and thinking, 0:13:03.360 --> 0:13:06.480 how am I here? How am I in this place? 0:13:06.640 --> 0:13:09.120 That's exactly what I wish I could tell you that 0:13:09.160 --> 0:13:10.959 I was looking at it in a different way, but 0:13:11.200 --> 0:13:13.720 really that's what it was. It was almost like I 0:13:13.760 --> 0:13:16.360 had fought my whole life from you know, when I 0:13:16.400 --> 0:13:19.360 was four years old playing the game on the streets, 0:13:19.400 --> 0:13:22.160 to then signing at six years old, and here I 0:13:22.200 --> 0:13:24.160 am at the one place where. 0:13:23.920 --> 0:13:26.280 Like every player in the world. 0:13:26.120 --> 0:13:29.280 Would trade positions with me, and how lucky am I 0:13:29.320 --> 0:13:29.760 to be here? 0:13:29.800 --> 0:13:31.520 And I actually thought those things. 0:13:31.840 --> 0:13:35.360 It was truly incredible to be in those shoes that day. 0:13:35.679 --> 0:13:37.920 You know, I wish I could go back to that moment. 0:13:38.000 --> 0:13:38.480 I really do. 0:13:39.840 --> 0:13:42.920 Overall, what would you say was the US performance in 0:13:42.960 --> 0:13:43.640 that World Cup? 0:13:43.960 --> 0:13:45.680 You know, I wish I could tell you it went 0:13:45.720 --> 0:13:50.280 well for us, but it really didn't. We were really 0:13:50.800 --> 0:13:53.680 not much better than tourists participating against some of the 0:13:53.679 --> 0:13:56.080 best players in the world, and so it was a 0:13:56.120 --> 0:13:58.560 wake up call for us. But I think it was 0:13:58.600 --> 0:14:01.760 also a wake up call for the and I'm very 0:14:01.800 --> 0:14:05.000 fortunate to have been part of that generation of players 0:14:05.000 --> 0:14:07.440 that took the national team back to the World Cup. 0:14:07.480 --> 0:14:08.560 After four decades. 0:14:08.960 --> 0:14:11.160 I don't think I would personally call their performance in 0:14:11.240 --> 0:14:14.600 Rome as that of mere tourists. I mean, yes, of course, 0:14:15.000 --> 0:14:18.960 the lack of experience did hurt them. They immediately lost 0:14:19.040 --> 0:14:22.920 five to one to Czechoslovakia, and then, like fighting a 0:14:22.960 --> 0:14:25.760 lion in its own den, went up against Italy. 0:14:26.160 --> 0:14:28.640 We ended up, you know, fighting for that game, and 0:14:28.680 --> 0:14:36.920 we lost one zero. We almost hide it at the end, 0:14:37.000 --> 0:14:39.160 actually on a ball that almost went over the line. 0:14:39.320 --> 0:14:44.040 Very good safe rebound zinger at the double. Well, the 0:14:44.080 --> 0:14:46.600 best chance in the United States so far. 0:14:47.000 --> 0:14:50.200 We definitely showed ourselves, but I feel like the world 0:14:50.240 --> 0:14:51.520 really put us in our place. 0:14:52.320 --> 0:14:55.400 The United States teamers showed plenty of fight in the end. 0:14:55.440 --> 0:14:58.920 Here it's finished there. Italy won the United States of America. 0:14:59.000 --> 0:15:05.720 N Just to show you how historic this all was. 0:15:06.280 --> 0:15:09.200 Even though the US team did lose, it wasn't lost 0:15:09.240 --> 0:15:12.440 on anyone. How incredible of an accomplishment it was for 0:15:12.480 --> 0:15:14.640 them to go toe to toe with one of the 0:15:14.880 --> 0:15:18.680 best teams at the time and only loose by one point. 0:15:20.080 --> 0:15:22.720 At the end of the game, the Italian team swapped 0:15:22.760 --> 0:15:26.640 jerseys with the US team in a show of respect. Remember, 0:15:26.960 --> 0:15:29.720 the US had not even been able to qualify for 0:15:29.760 --> 0:15:33.120 a FIFA Men's World Cup for four decades. I mean, 0:15:33.160 --> 0:15:37.200 these guys had given audiences here a great show. And 0:15:37.240 --> 0:15:40.800 even though the team exited the tournament early, tab Ramos 0:15:40.880 --> 0:15:44.040 and the other two players from Carne New Jersey came 0:15:44.120 --> 0:15:52.400 home to a big parade in their honor. They were 0:15:52.440 --> 0:15:56.040 toted around in these fancy corvettes and even given a 0:15:56.160 --> 0:15:58.440 key to the city, as it was captured in the 0:15:58.440 --> 0:15:59.720 documentary Soccer Town. 0:16:00.440 --> 0:16:01.280 I'd like to thank the. 0:16:01.240 --> 0:16:04.800 Mayor and the whole town of Cornee, the people not 0:16:04.880 --> 0:16:05.680 only for being. 0:16:05.560 --> 0:16:07.720 The greatest people in this country, but the greatest people 0:16:07.720 --> 0:16:08.240 in the world. 0:16:08.560 --> 0:16:12.000 And I really mean that, and thanks very much for everything. 0:16:18.240 --> 0:16:21.880 Four years later, in nineteen ninety four, it was time 0:16:22.080 --> 0:16:25.920 for the World Cup again, and this time the United 0:16:25.960 --> 0:16:27.640 States was hosting. 0:16:28.240 --> 0:16:31.600 By the time nineteen ninety four rolled around, we had 0:16:31.640 --> 0:16:35.960 already beaten England, we had beaten Portugal, we had beaten Ireland, 0:16:36.400 --> 0:16:39.800 we had tied Italy. Like we already were getting results 0:16:39.840 --> 0:16:42.480 summer after summer, and our team was improving. 0:16:42.760 --> 0:16:44.240 We were now a competitive team. 0:16:44.880 --> 0:16:48.160 We had experience, we had good players on the team. 0:16:48.560 --> 0:16:50.200 You know, we beat Mexico. 0:16:49.840 --> 0:16:52.120 Right before That World Cup started at the Rose Bowl 0:16:52.120 --> 0:16:54.840 in front of one hundred thousand people. So we went 0:16:55.040 --> 0:16:58.800 into that World Cup with momentum and really feeling confident 0:16:58.840 --> 0:16:59.720 about who we were. 0:17:00.200 --> 0:17:03.160 Plus they had the Carney Army supporting them once again 0:17:03.560 --> 0:17:08.240 with Kegs signs and all of their rowdy hooligan energy. Again. 0:17:08.720 --> 0:17:10.120 Soccer Town USA one. 0:17:10.040 --> 0:17:11.359 Hundred and twenty was out there. 0:17:11.560 --> 0:17:13.679 Every one of us had American strips and we had 0:17:13.720 --> 0:17:15.400 girls and American bikinis. 0:17:15.760 --> 0:17:17.879 We were there for a party. We knew the party 0:17:17.960 --> 0:17:20.919 was there and we took control. We knew the Carnee 0:17:20.960 --> 0:17:23.399 guys were there. We didn't even know how. 0:17:23.240 --> 0:17:26.280 They got to California, but they got there. And there 0:17:26.359 --> 0:17:28.919 was a neat thing about Carneye which was, you know, 0:17:29.080 --> 0:17:33.560 we were the underdog town sort of everywhere we went, 0:17:33.960 --> 0:17:35.639 and that was the attitude of the fans. 0:17:46.240 --> 0:17:49.040 After the break, we wrap up our story with a 0:17:49.080 --> 0:18:11.120 fractured skull and an unbroken spirit. This is American football, 0:18:11.600 --> 0:18:15.160 am Fernande Charvari. So we're in the World Cup here 0:18:15.280 --> 0:18:18.080 in the US and it's time for the home team 0:18:18.320 --> 0:18:21.560 to play its first game. They go up against Switzerland. 0:18:21.840 --> 0:18:27.399 They tie one to one. It's clear from the start 0:18:27.640 --> 0:18:30.359 that this is not the US national team of the past. 0:18:31.119 --> 0:18:34.240 Just look at their second game they earn a massive 0:18:34.440 --> 0:18:36.720 two to one victory against Colombia. 0:18:36.760 --> 0:18:41.720 For so long, the United States of America have been 0:18:41.760 --> 0:18:45.919 on the outside looking in when the faith of World 0:18:45.960 --> 0:18:51.480 Cup is at the center of the world's attention. But 0:18:51.680 --> 0:18:55.000 now they are right at the heart of it, and 0:18:55.160 --> 0:18:56.879 they are the story here today. 0:18:57.480 --> 0:19:00.960 They've now made it past the group stage, something that 0:19:01.119 --> 0:19:05.920 just four years prior seemed impossible. I mean, they're literally 0:19:06.040 --> 0:19:09.160 keeping up with one of the best teams in the world. 0:19:09.960 --> 0:19:12.880 In their game with Brazil, they are neck and neck. 0:19:13.080 --> 0:19:15.879 The back heel from Ramos, that's nicely done by the 0:19:16.000 --> 0:19:16.679 United States. 0:19:16.680 --> 0:19:21.800 But get into growing confidence here until Ramos and Leonardo tangling. 0:19:21.880 --> 0:19:25.720 Goodness me, oh, elbow, elbow by Leonardo. 0:19:25.280 --> 0:19:27.480 Tab Ramos in some distress. 0:19:28.200 --> 0:19:31.119 We were tied zero zero with Brazil in the second 0:19:31.240 --> 0:19:34.160 round and I took an elbow to my head which 0:19:34.200 --> 0:19:37.119 cracked my skull. 0:19:35.320 --> 0:19:39.800 Okay, there's tab Ramos doing well, shooting the. 0:19:39.720 --> 0:19:42.439 Ball getting away almost tolds Leonardo's shirt, But. 0:19:42.480 --> 0:19:45.439 Then that is an elbow to the side of his face. 0:19:45.720 --> 0:19:47.600 Obviously at that point I had to get taken out 0:19:47.640 --> 0:19:50.200 of the game. I know that the coach waited until 0:19:50.240 --> 0:19:52.560 halftime to see if I could go back in, But 0:19:52.680 --> 0:19:55.000 obviously I went from there right to the hospital, and 0:19:55.040 --> 0:19:57.440 so I didn't even see the second half. Matter of fact, 0:19:57.600 --> 0:20:00.000 I didn't even find out that we lost the game 0:20:00.160 --> 0:20:03.760 one zero until later that night, many hours after the 0:20:03.800 --> 0:20:06.120 game ended, watching. 0:20:05.880 --> 0:20:08.000 The video of you getting hit. I mean hearing you 0:20:08.040 --> 0:20:10.080 say right now, I took an elbow to the head 0:20:10.960 --> 0:20:14.280 a really down place, sort of how violent this was. 0:20:15.080 --> 0:20:19.040 I just I wonder if at any point you, your family, anybody, 0:20:19.560 --> 0:20:21.919 if you said you know what this might be, it like, 0:20:22.000 --> 0:20:25.680 this is a really serious injury. Do I retire now? 0:20:26.160 --> 0:20:30.399 Or were you super determined to get back and play. 0:20:30.840 --> 0:20:32.840 I love that you asked me this question, because this 0:20:32.960 --> 0:20:34.960 goes back to the beginning when we talked about me 0:20:35.040 --> 0:20:37.360 being four years old and how important. 0:20:37.320 --> 0:20:38.240 Soccer was for me. 0:20:38.840 --> 0:20:42.440 As part of my recovery, I visited the Olympic boxing 0:20:42.480 --> 0:20:45.400 doctor just to sort of assess my injury and see 0:20:45.400 --> 0:20:48.520 what the possibilities of coming back, and the Olympic boxing 0:20:48.600 --> 0:20:50.800 doctor said to me, well, I can tell you if 0:20:50.840 --> 0:20:52.960 you were a boxer, I would never let you box 0:20:53.000 --> 0:20:56.000 again if you get hit in the head with a 0:20:56.040 --> 0:20:59.720 ball hard enough, you could have some real serious consequences. 0:20:59.760 --> 0:20:59.960 Wow. 0:21:00.000 --> 0:21:00.160 Wow. 0:21:00.800 --> 0:21:03.800 Had the elbow been half an inch lower, I likely 0:21:03.840 --> 0:21:05.160 would have died on the field. 0:21:05.359 --> 0:21:06.280 That's terrifying. 0:21:06.840 --> 0:21:10.040 Yes, And yet having said all that, I couldn't picture 0:21:10.080 --> 0:21:11.600 my life without soccer. 0:21:11.880 --> 0:21:13.120 I couldn't picture it. 0:21:13.200 --> 0:21:13.399 You know. 0:21:13.480 --> 0:21:15.760 It was a really difficult moment for me because it 0:21:15.840 --> 0:21:18.920 was a big decision to make. But in the end, 0:21:18.960 --> 0:21:21.200 I think I did the right thing by continuing to play. 0:21:23.720 --> 0:21:25.879 The US team would end up losing that game to 0:21:25.880 --> 0:21:29.360 Brazil when Ramos got hurt, then they lost again to Austria. 0:21:30.480 --> 0:21:35.360 Brazil ended up winning the entire thing, but Ramos had 0:21:35.440 --> 0:21:39.280 led the US to its best World Cup performance since 0:21:39.280 --> 0:21:46.160 that first ever World Cup game in nineteen thirty Dramos 0:21:46.160 --> 0:21:49.080 recovers from his injury and starts to think about what's next. 0:21:49.840 --> 0:21:51.960 He ends up playing for the Real Betis in Spain 0:21:52.119 --> 0:21:54.520 and becomes one of the first US players to make 0:21:54.520 --> 0:21:57.880 a name for himself in Europe. In nineteen ninety five, 0:21:58.000 --> 0:22:01.040 he signed US the very first player in Major League Soccer, 0:22:01.280 --> 0:22:04.639 or MLS, and three years later he plays his last 0:22:04.680 --> 0:22:07.639 World Cup. He's gone on to coach for teams like 0:22:07.680 --> 0:22:11.000 the Houston Dynamo and Hartford Athletic. He was an assistant 0:22:11.040 --> 0:22:13.840 coach for the World Cup in twenty fourteen. He's also 0:22:13.880 --> 0:22:17.240 coached the US under twenty men's national team for eight years, 0:22:17.520 --> 0:22:20.520 establishing a record of success for the team. He's also 0:22:20.520 --> 0:22:24.840 been a commentator for Telemundo in previous World Cups. Do 0:22:24.880 --> 0:22:26.600 you still speak Spanish or not much? 0:22:27.119 --> 0:22:34.600 See Siembre Mundiales Los tra gon Telemundo is al Mundalo 0:22:35.200 --> 0:22:40.320 de liciocho in Russia con Telemundo, El Cadar and Elminios. 0:22:41.119 --> 0:22:43.520 So looking back at what soccer was when you moved 0:22:43.520 --> 0:22:46.879 to the US in the seventies and what it is 0:22:46.920 --> 0:22:52.760 today when it comes to popularity, buy in, fandom, skill, 0:22:53.720 --> 0:22:56.760 how has it evolved? Where are we now? I'm just 0:22:56.800 --> 0:23:00.479 trying to understand from your perspective you have I've seen it, 0:23:00.720 --> 0:23:03.800