Douglas, Geoffrey. " The Game of Their Lives" (Book)

The Game of Their Lives
Part II
7 Pages
This Book is about the amazing story of the 1950 World Cup, where the American underdogs Stunned the world when they upset England 1-0.

Summary
This chapter is about the contrasting point of views of the soccer match. The English were favored to win the entire cup at odds of 3:1. The post-war record of the English team was 23-3-4 and they were considered unstoppable. Most fans in England were completely bypassing the first few rounds in the world cup, assuming a possible championship match-up with the Brazilian soccer team.
The Americans, on the other hand, had the odds of winning the entire world cup of 1:500. In the 1948 world cup, They suffered embarrassing losses to Italy, 9-0, to Norway, 11:0, to Northern Ireland, 5:0, and Scotland 4:0. Fans of the American team were divided into three groups. One, the passive followers. These fans are mainly college students who come from rich parents, and play soccer on well tended fields at their Prep-Schools. Two, the passionate fans. These are the poor sons of immigrants who play soccer on the street, and some play professionally on Immigrant Leagues and have a greater interest in the game. Three, the Non-fans. This is most every body in America at the time. Not many people care about team that will lose most games they play in.

Reactions
I like how Geoffrey Douglas described how America didn't have the resources, players, or fan support that the English team had, but still managed to pull the upset of the century against the best soccer team in the world. He explained the incredible odds our country had to overcome to beat the British.

Douglas, Geoffrey. The Game of Their Lives. New York: H. Holt and, 1996. Print.