Based on a true story, this film tells the tale of the 1950 U.S. soccer team, who, against all odds, beat England 1 - 0 in the city of Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Although no U.S. team has ever ... Read allBased on a true story, this film tells the tale of the 1950 U.S. soccer team, who, against all odds, beat England 1 - 0 in the city of Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Although no U.S. team has ever won a World Cup title, this story is about the family traditions and passions which shaped... Read allBased on a true story, this film tells the tale of the 1950 U.S. soccer team, who, against all odds, beat England 1 - 0 in the city of Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Although no U.S. team has ever won a World Cup title, this story is about the family traditions and passions which shaped the lives of the players who made up this team of underdogs.
- Harry Keough
- (as Zachery Bryan)
- Bill Jeffrey
- (as John Rhys Davies)
- Joe Calcaterra
- (as Thomas C. Simmons)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaAccording to an interview he gave to the New York Times in 2010, this movie was made during the middle of Wes Bentley's decade-long, extremely serious addiction to cocaine and heroin. He said in that interview that he only accepted any movie roles during that time so that he would have money to buy enough drugs.
- GoofsWhen the team arrives in Brazil, the game against England is constantly referred to as the team's opening game. However, in the 1950 World Cup the United States' first game was against Spain on June 25th. The game against England was played on June 29th and was the second game for the Americans.
- ConnectionsReferenced in My Big Break (2009)
- SoundtracksMonkey Pad
Written by James O'Connell & Christopher S. Parker
Performed by 'Beakertronic'
Courtesy of Architune, LLC
The US team was a collection of first generation American soccer players drawn mainly from club teams on the east coast and included five St. Louisans, four of whom grew up in the "Hill" neighborhood of South St. Louis: goalie Frank Borghi, fullback Frank Colombo, forward Gino Pariani, and midfielder Frank "Pee Wee" Wallace, and also the long time St. Louis University soccer coach, halfback Harry Keough. The US had only one full time professional player on its roster, Hugh McIllvenny from Scotland. They had played together only two weeks when they departed for Brazil. They'd lost to Italy in a World Cup warm up by the score of 9-0, and had been defeated by Spain in the World Cup opener 3-1.
It was reported that the American players were so confident that victory was unlikely that several of them were out late the night before the game enjoying themselves and sported hangovers at the opening kickoff. Borghi was quoted afterwards as saying he was hoping to hold the English to five or six goals. The English team poured forward, firing shot after shot at goalie Borghi, but could not score. Six minutes before half time, U.S. center forward Joe Gaetgens, a Haitian born dishwasher living in New York, redirected with a lunging header a shot by half back Walter Bahr, who is himself, incidentally, the long time Penn State soccer coach and the father of NFL placekickers and former Penn State soccer players Chris and Matt Bahr. The misdirected shot beat England keeper Bert Williams, and the single goal stood up through a second half where the Americans withstood constant English pressure and numerous near misses, including three shots off the woodwork.
The Brazilian crowd thoroughly enjoyed the failures of the pretournament favorites and carried the US team off the field after the final whistle. The game was noteworthy for the complete lack of interest in the result by the American press and public. The only American reporter at the game, Dent McSkimming of the St. Louis Post Dispatch, used his vacation time and paid his own way to Brazil to cover the game.
Author Geoffrey Douglas' book advances the premise that the victory was not a fluke when one considers the character and promise of the winning American players, as evidenced by the upstanding and honorable men they came to be.
Trivia: the English national soccer team has never again worn blue shirts they wore against the US in that game.
The film was shot on location in St. Louis and Brazil, and features former US National Soccer Team Captain John Harkes as a consultant and soccer playing extra.
- peterdunne02
- May 16, 2004
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official site
- Languages
- Also known as
- The Miracle Match
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $20,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $375,750
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $175,336
- Apr 24, 2005
- Gross worldwide
- $388,998
- Runtime1 hour 41 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
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