1992 U.S. Cup

The 1992 United States Cup (U.S. Cup) was a United States Soccer Federation (USSF) organized round robin tournament which took place in May and June 1992. This was the inaugural U.S. Cup, a tournament which ran until 2000, except for the World Cup years of 1994 and 1998.

In this first U.S. Cup, the U.S. hosted Italy, Ireland and Portugal in a round robin tournament. The team with the highest number of points at the end of the tournament took the title. The U.S. exceeded expectations and took the first U.S. Cup title.

May 30: USA vs Ireland

The U.S. defeated Ireland in the opening game of the 1991 U.S. Cup. A month earlier, Ireland had crushed the U.S. 4-1 in Ireland. The Irish expected a similar result, but the U.S. rose to the occasion in this home game. While the score of this game would suggest a U.S. dominance, the game was much closer than 3-1. Similar to the match in Ireland a month earlier, the game went into halftime scoreless. Also, like the game previous match, Ireland scored first when Mick McCarthy headed in a cross from Steve Staunton in the 51st minute. The U.S. answered only three minutes later when Marcelo Balboa scored off a set play. The game remained tied for the next thirteen minutes as both teams strove for the game winning goal. The U.S. took it off a Tab Ramos 20 yard blast from a Fernando Clavijo feed. Clavijo came on for Chris Henderson who went off injured after himself replacing Peter Vermes at half time. John Harkes finished the scoring in the 87th minute.

United States: Tony Meola, Marcelo Balboa, John Doyle, Thomas Dooley, Paul Caligiuri, Brian Quinn, John Harkes, Tab Ramos (Janusz Michallik 79’), Bruce Murray (Roy Wegerle 46’), Hugo Perez (Earnie Stewart 53’), Peter Vermes (Chris Henderson 46’, Fernando Clavijo 59’)

Ireland: Gerry Peyton, Chris Morris (Denis Irwin 78’), Kevin Moran, Mick McCarthy, Terry Phelan, Ray Houghton, Roy Keane (Alan McLoughlin 78’), Paul McGrath, Andy Townsend, Steve Staunton (Tommy Coyne 60’), Niall Quinn

May 31: Italy vs Portugal

In the second game, Italy and Portugal played to a scoreless tie. Both teams had players sent off, Roberto Donadoni (Italy) in the 84th minute and Leal (Portugal) in the 86th minute.

Italy: Walter Zenga, Mannini, Paolo Maldini, Fusi (Galia 78’), Franco Baresi, Alessandro Costacurta, Roberto Baggio (Casiraghi 71’), Bianchi (Giuseppe Signori 85’), Donadoni, Vialli, Di Chiara (Lombardo 35’)

Portugal: Vitor Baia, J. Couto (Samuel 39’), Paulo Madeira, Leal, Joao Pinto I, Luis Figo (Filipe 87’), Rui Filipe, Peixe (Domingos 85’), Vitor Paneira (Jaime Magalhaes 46’), Jorge Cadete (Semedo 86’), Joao Pinto II

June 3: USA vs Portugal

The U.S. followed up on their easy victory over Ireland four days earlier with a 1-0 victory over Portugal in front of only 10,402 fans at Chicago’s Soldier Field. In the 35th minute, Roy Wegerle, breaking down the middle, took a long, pin-point pass from Bruce Murray. The pass met Wegerle in full stride and he easily ran through the Portuguese defense to find himself one on one with the Portuguse keeper, Adelino Barros. Barros rushed out to cut the angle, but Wegerle shifted the ball to his left foot and shot into the empty net. The U.S. defense held and the U.S. took three more points from this game.

United States: Tony Meola, Marcelo Balboa, John Doyle, Thomas Dooley, Paul Caligiuri (Fernando Clavijo 61’), Brian Quinn, Tab Ramos, Bruce Murray (Chris Henderson 46’), John Harkes, (Janusz Michallik 78’), Hugo Perez (Earnie Stewart 68’), Roy Wegerle

Portugal: Adelino Barros, J. Couto, Torres (Filipe 34’), Paulo Madeira, Joao Pinto I, Semedo, Magalhaes (Cadete 46’), Luis Figo (Sousa 81’), Peixe, Joao Pinto II (Paneira 46’), Domingos (Jorge Cadete 77’)

June 4: Italy vs Ireland

Italy found the net in this game, putting the first one in from the run of play and the second from a penalty kick. Ireland had their goalkeeper, Bonner, sent off in the 64th minute.

Italy: Walter Zenga, Franco Baresi (Ferri 77’), Paolo Maldini, Alessandro Costacurta, Bianchi (Lombardo 73’),Galia, Fusi (Venturin 46’), Carboni (Mannini 51’), Giuseppe Signori, Mancini (Vialli 80’), Casiraghi

Ireland: Bonner, Steve Staunton, O.Leary, McCarthy (McLoughlin 46’),Irwin (Peyton 66’), Houghton, Townsend, McGrath, McGoldrick (Phelan 80’), Niall Quinn (Tommy Coyne 72’), Aldridge (Kelly 78’)

June 6: USA vs Italy

Coming into this game, either the U.S. or Italy could have won the title. While the U.S. had won both of its two games for a total of 6 points, Italy was within striking distance with 4. In the second minute, Roberto Baggio gave Italy the first goal and given Italy's reputation for holding 1-0 leads, what appeared to be the cup title. However, John Harkes scored his second goal of the tournament with a 13 yard shot in the 23d minute. Both teams pressed for the winning goal but the respective defenses frustrated them and the game ended 1-1, giving the U.S. its first U.S. Cup title.

United States: Tony Meola, Marcelo Balboa, Thomas Dooley, John Doyle, Paul Caligiuri, Brian Quinn, Tab Ramos (Janusz Michallik 86’), Bruce Murray (Fernando Clavijo 46’), John Harkes, Hugo Perez (Earnie Stewart 75’), Roy Wegerle

Italy: Luca Marchegiani, Franco Baresi, Paolo Maldini, Giuseppe Mannini, Roberto Galia (Alberto Di Chiara 65'), Alessandro Bianchi, Ricardo Ferri (Luca Fusi 46'), Roberto Donadoni, Giuseppe Signori, Pier Luigi Casiraghi, Roberto Baggio (Gianluca Vialli 74')

June 7: Ireland vs Portugal

Ireland: Peyton, Steve Staunton, McCarthy, O. Leary, Morris, Houghton,McLoughlin, McGrath, Phelan (McGoldrick 89’), Kelly (Tommy Coyne 58’), Niall Quinn (Aldridge 87’)

Portugal: Vitor Baia, Leal (Magalhaes 71’), J. Couto (Jorge Pinto II 46’), Samuel, Fernando Couto, Joao Pinto I, Semedo (Paulo Sousa 75’), Rui Filipe, Vitor Paneira (Filipe 46’), Luis Figo (Domingos 46’), Jorge Cadete

Champion

corers

Two Goals
*flagicon|USA John Harkes

One Goal
*flagicon|Italy Roberto Baggio
*flagicon|Italy Alessandro Costacurta
*flagicon|Italy Giuseppe Signori
*flagicon|USA Marcelo Balboa
*flagicon|USA Tab Ramos
*flagicon|USA Roy Wegerle
*flagicon|Ireland Tommy Coyne
*flagicon|Ireland Mick McCarthy
*flagicon|Ireland Steve Staunton

Final Rankings