1993 U.S. Cup

The 1993 U.S. Cup was a United States Soccer Federation organized round robin tournament held in June 1993. The U.S. hosted Brazil, England and Germany. All three of those countries were playing in their only U.S. Cup. The U.S. Cup began as a four-team invitational tournament in 1992 and would be played each year until 2000, except for the World Cup years of 1994 and 1998. The team with the best record at the end of the cup was crowned the cup champion. This year, Germany went on to win the title.

This year’s cup had two interesting features. First, the final game of the cup, between Germany and England, took place in the Pontiac Silverdome, an indoor stadium. This was the first soccer game played indoors on grass and it served as a test for the upcoming 1994 World Cup to be held in the U.S. In that World Cup, several venues, such as the Silverdome, had complete roofs and the World Cup organizers wanted to test the feasibility of using grass on an indoor field.^[1][2] Finally, the U.S. Cup organizers had difficulty setting the dates for the various stadia as they had to compete with that summer’s Paul McCartney concert tour.

6 June: USA vs Brazil

United States: Tony Meola, Desmond Armstrong, John Doyle, Mike Lapper, Fernando Clavijo, Jeff Agoos, John Harkes, Chris Henderson (Peter Woodring 69’), Bruce Murray (Cobi Jones 57’), Roy Wegerle, Jean Harbor (Earnie Stewart 46’)

Brazil: Cláudio Taffarel, Winck, Julio Cesar, Márcio Santos, Branco (Nonato 46’), Luisinho (Rai 68’), Dunga, Boiadeiro, Valdeir, Careca, Elivelton (Cafu 76’)

9 June: USA vs England

United States: Tony Meola, Desmond Armstrong, Mike Lapper, John Doyle, Jeff Agoos, Fernando Clavijo, Thomas Dooley (Alexi Lalas 69’), John Harkes, Tab Ramos (Cobi Jones 82’), Roy Wegerle, Eric Wynalda (Earnie Stewart 61’)

England: Chris Woods, Lee Dixon, Gary Pallister, Carlton Palmer (Des Walker 61’), Tony Dorigo, David Batty, Paul Ince, Nigel Clough, Lee Sharpe, Les Ferdinand (Ian Wright 35’), John Barnes

English newspaper The Sun reported this result under the headline "Yanks 2 Planks 0".^[3] Paul Ince becomes England's first black captain.

10 June: Brazil vs Germany

Brazil: Cláudio Taffarel, Jorginho, Julio Cesar, Márcio Santos, Branco (Nonato 82’), Dunga, Valdeir (Almir 64’), Raí, Luisinho, Careca, Elivelton (Cafu 70’)

Germany: Andreas Köpke, Stefan Effenberg, Thomas Helmer, Jürgen Kohler, Guido Buchwald, Andreas Möller, Michael Zorc (Thomas Strunz 58’), Lothar Matthäus, Matthias Sammer (Karlheinz Riedle 46’), Christian Ziege (Michael Schulz 74’), Jürgen Klinsmann

13 June: England vs Brazil

England: Flowers, Barrett, Des Walker, Pallister, Dorigo, Sinton, Batty (David Platt 46’), Clough (Merson 82’), Paul Ince (Palmer 67’), Sharpe, Wright

Brazil: Cláudio Taffarel, Jorginho, Valber, Márcio Roberto dos Santos, Nonato (Cafu 5’), Luisinho (Palhinha 57’), Careca, Elivelton, Dunga, Valdeir (Almir 67’), Rai

13 June: USA vs Germany

United States: Tony Meola, Desmond Armstrong, John Doyle, Mike Lapper, Fernando Clavijo, Jeff Agoos (Alexi Lalas 67’), Thomas Dooley, John Harkes, Tab Ramos (Cobi Jones 78’), Roy Wegerle, Eric Wynalda (Earnie Stewart 60’)

Germany: Andreas Köpke, Jürgen Kohler (Thomas Helmer 74’), Guido Buchwald, Michael Schulz, Stefan Effenberg (Andreas Möller 60’), Lothar Matthäus, Uwe Bein, Christian Ziege, Thomas Strunz, Karlheinz Riedle, Jürgen Klinsmann (Karlheinz Pflipsen 70’)

19 June: Germany vs England

Germany: Illgner, Stefan Effenberg (Zorc 76'), Helmer, Buchwald, Andreas Möller (Sammer 63’), Matthäus, Schulz, Ziege, Strunz, Karlheinz Riedle, Jürgen Klinsmann

England: Martyn, Barrett, Pallister (Keown 53'), Des Walker, David Platt, Paul Ince, Clough (Wright 70’), Sinton, Merson, John Barnes, Sharpe (Winterburn 46’)

Champion

1993 U.S. Cup Winner: Germany First title

Scorers

Four Goals

• Jürgen Klinsmann

Three Goals

• Karlheinz Riedle
• Thomas Dooley

Two Goals

• Careca
• David Platt

One Goal

• Stefan Effenberg
• Andreas Möller
• Alexi Lalas
• Earnie Stewart
• Luís Carlos Winck
• Luisinho
• Márcio Roberto dos Santos

Final Rankings

Team		GP	W	D	L	GF	GA	Dif	Pts
1	Germany	3	2	1	0	9	7	+2	7
2	Brazil	3	1	2	0	6	4	+2	5
3	United States	3	1	0	2	5	6	-1	3
4	England	3	0	1	2	2	5	-3	1

References

U.S. Cup 1992 1993 1995 1996 1997 1999 2000