Last update 23 November, 2023 by Alberto Llopis
they called him ‘The miracle of Belo Horizonte‘ and the truth is that the story makes for a Disney movie. The United States gave the bell by beating England by 1-0 in it Brazil World Cup 1950. The American team was composed of players from all places in the world, who they did not know each other until a few days before the World Cup start. To give you an idea, the winning goal was the work of the haitian Come on, that later he would play in France.
The USA gave the surprise of the World Cup in Brazil 1950
The English who were known as ‘the inventors of soccer‘, They reached their first participation in a World Cup. Before they had refused to participate, considering themselves superior for having invented the game. The English brought Brazil with a generation of world soccer figures such as Sir Stanley Matthews and they were surprised by a team of semi-professionals and amateurs. The US goalkeeper, Franck Borghi, he was a hearse driver, the scorer of the goal, the Haitian who later met a tragic end in his home country, a dishwasher in a Brooklyn restaurant where he worked to pay for his studies.
The miracle of Belo Horizonte
Obviously the regulations and the means were not the same as today, thus facilitating these cases. The Americans, as if from the movie “Evasion or victory” will be treated, they were recruiting players. Like in the great movie where the team's goalie was Sylvester Stallone and the star Skin, the americans showed up to play with; an italian goalkeeper; a Belgian defender; a Briton and a Haitian among many others. Shortly after, FIFA even considered annulling that result when discovering France Football this whole situation.
That party was defined as the miracle of Belo Horizonte, by the place where the game was played, well in the usa, soccer was restricted to ghettos and universities. The North American team lost against Spain and the bets before playing against England were 500 -1. Hence the machado made by the US with a team formed from nothing. He lost his other game against Chile and left the World Cup with a single but resounding victory, very american movie style. After that, The USA did not play a World Cup again until 40 years later, in the case of Italia 1990.