When American soccer fans think back to 1989, most everyone associates that year with Paul Caligiuri's "Goal Heard Around the World." That was the US National Team's victory over Trinidad & Tobago in Port of Spain in November, clinching a berth in the 1990 World Cup for Bob Gansler's young side.
Though Caligiuri's strike was arguably the most important goal scored in modern US history, it was not the only extraordinary accomplishment of that year. Despite not being very well-known and on the tips of the tongues of soccer fans in the US, the success of the Under-20 National Team in 1989 marked one of the proud and influential moments in US soccer history.
By finishing in fourth place at the 1989 FIFA World Youth Championships, it marked the best finish in this event's history by an American team -- something that still stands today even though the US has participated in nine U-20 championships since '89.
What might surprise many people if the fact that Gansler coached this team in February of 1989 before he ever coached a game for the full US National Team after being hired as Lothar Osiander's successor that January. His squad featured future US National Team standouts such as Kasey Keller, Mike Burns and Chris Henderson, as well as longtime MLS veteran Troy Dayak, current Kansas City Wizards head coach Curt Onalfo and player agent Lyle Yorks.
Led by Keller's dazzling goalkeeping, Gansler's side went 2-1-1 in their first four games of the tournament, which was played in Saudi Arabia. It included a 2-0 victory over East Germany and a 2-1 victory over Iraq. It setup a semifinal game against Nigeria on February 28, 1989, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Playing in front of 40,000 fans, the Americans lost a 2-1 heartbreaker that was decided in overtime. Steve Snow, who paced the US with three goals in six games, scored the team's lone goal in the loss.
While Portugal went on to defeat the Nigerians 2-0 to win the tournament, the US faced Brazil in the third-place game. Taking on a side that featured the event's Golden Ball winner in Brazil's Bismarck, who went on to play for the full Brazilian national team in the 1990 World Cup and became a star in Japan's J-League during the nineties, the US lost 2-0 in front of 65,000 fans in Riyadh.
Though he allowed nine goals in the tournament, Keller's play in the goal for the US stood out. At the end of the event, he was awarded the Silver Ball, which goes to the tournament's second-best player, as well as the Best Goalkeeper award. The US side also took home the FIFA Fair Play Award.
The 18-man US roster for this event was as follows:
Dario Brose
Mike Burns
Neil Covone Ben Crawley
Troy Dayak
Oscar Draguicevich
Chris Henderson
Timothy Horton
Kasey Keller
Gerard Lagos
Martin Munnelly
Curt Onalfo
Cameron Rast
Markus Roy
Steve Snow
Adam Tinkham
Bryan Thompson
Lyle Yorks
