The forgotten 1983 White House vow: When Ronald Reagan was promised a World Cup trophy
Reagan, the 40th president of the United States, was never a huge soccer fan but Team America’s visit to the White House was eventful.
Compared to the big three (American Football, basketball and baseball), soccer may not bring in huge audiences or the same amount of revenue as the traditional, popular sports in the US - nevertheless, it is the fastest-growing, at least among younger sports fans.
Last year, 11.2 million fans attended MLS games which drew average crowds of 21,988 per match. Soccer has come along way since the NASL days, when superstars such as Pelé and Franz Beckenbauer were enticed to the US league in an attempt to raise the game’s profile.
Soccer and the White House
Pelé was a regular guest at the White House during the 1970s and 1980s, accepting invitations to meet presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan. None of them were avid soccer fans - O Rei even had to explain the difference between soccer and American football to a confused Nixon during his first visit in 1973.
Pelé even enjoyed a casual kick-around with Ronald Reagan and [New York Cosmos forward] Steve Moyers out on the Rose Garden lawn during another visit to the White House in 1982.
The Brazilian was the most well-known ambassador invited to the White House to promote and expand the sport’s popularity in the US, but many other guests from the soccer world paid regular visits over the years.
During the spring of 1983, Ronald Reagan invited players from Team America to the White House. Team America was, in theory, the U.S. men’s national team - a team-in-training, with ambitions of being one of CONCACAF’s two representatives at the 1986 World Cup.
And just to add an extra dose of intrigue to the White House event, US Soccer had recently submitted a bid to FIFA to host the ’86 edition after Colombia withdrew at the last minute.
Team America mementos
Reagan, who had been briefed that his guests, all decked out in red, white and blue tracksuits, were soccer players and not NFL players. The meeting took place out on the South Lawn on May 4, 1983.
It had been arranged by businessman Robert Lifton, who presented the president with a Team America jersey, flag and a ball which had been personally signed by all the players, the coach and staff. “When we win the World Cup, we’d like to hold onto that,” Lifton told Reagan as gifts were exchanged.
“If will hold on to it,” the president replied, before quipping, “If I hold onto it, you won’t ask me to kick it!”
It was a bold statement to make, especially considering that the United States hadn’t even qualified for the previous eight editions of the World Cup (their last appearance was at Brazil 1950), and the national team had played just two games in three years, both friendlies.
The United States fail to qualify for Mexico 86
The United States breezed through the CONCACAF qualifiers, thrashing Netherlands Antilles 4-0 but defeat to Costa Rica at the 1985 championship and ended their dream of a place at the World Cup.
Whatever happened to the Team America signed ball is anyone’s guess. Reagan passed away in June 2004 - at least he got to see his country host the World Cup for the first time and the USMNT take part in four editions. But actually winning the trophy, as everyone knows, is much harder than it might seem.
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