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This Team USA Soccer 1994 Upper Deck Photocard Limited Edition #15153/45000 is the exact item you will receive and has been certified Authentic by Upper Deck, Team USA and REM Fine Collectibles. On July 4, 1988, FIFA made the controversial decision to give the 1994 World Cup to the United States. The U.S. team had qualified for the 1988 Olympics, proving that the sport did have a pulse, however small, in the U.S. and FIFA wanted to help reinvigorate soccer in America. The U.S. beat out finalists Brazil and Morocco for the right to host the tournament and FIFA was widely criticized. One journalist even compared the decision to “holding a major skiing competition in an African country.” America only had a microscopic soccer culture at that point and even though it was one of the most popular sports to participate in among American youths, it still had not grabbed the attention of the populace. Professional soccer in America had died when the North American Soccer League folded in 1984 and few seemed to care. World Cup USA 1994 was the most successful event in FIFA history, demonstrating that the United States is without peer in staging major international events, and that Americans can embrace the world’s most popular sport. The cumulative attendance of 3,587,538 broke the previous record by more than 1 million, and the average attendance for the 52-game tournament of 68,991 also established a new mark. U.S. stadia were filled to approximately 96 percent capacity during the World Cup. The success of the U.S. team, which advanced to the round of 16 for the first time since 1930, helped boost already high U.S. television ratings. Approximately 11 million Americans were tuned in to the USA vs. Brazil round of 16 match on July 4, an all-time high for soccer in the United States. Thomas Dooley (born May 12, 1961) is an American former soccer player and coach. He played as a defender and defensive midfielder and was a long-time member and former captain of the United States national team. Dooley currently serves as the head coach of the Philippines national team. As US Soccer started to look abroad for players eligible to play for its national team in advance of its hosting the 1994 FIFA World Cup, Dooley was discovered. He made his first international appearance on May 30 against Ireland. Dooley became a regular for the US almost immediately, being named U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year in 1993 and then playing every minute at the 1994 World Cup, including the match against Colombia which the U.S. won 2–1. After John Harkes was dismissed from the U.S. national team, Dooley was named captain for the 1998 World Cup, and started every game for the U.S.On February 21, 1999, Dooley was given a send-off match by the United States in a friendly against Chile. He ended his international career with 81 caps and seven goals. John Andrew Harkes (born March 8, 1967) is an American soccer coach and former professional player who is the head coach of Greenville Triumph SC. A member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame, Harkes was the first American ever to play in the English Premier League with Sheffield Wednesday, the second American to score at Wembley Stadium, and the first American soccer player to appear in the final of a major English tournament, in the 1991 Football League Cup Final with Sheffield Wednesday. After moving to Major League Soccer in 1996, he won two MLS Cup titles with D.C. United. A mainstay in the U.S. national team midfield for most of the 1990s, Harkes appeared in two FIFA World Cup tournaments. He was named the team's "Captain for Life" by then-head coach Steve Sampson before having that title stripped from ahead of the 1998 World Cup. Harkes ended his national team career with 90 caps and 6 goals. Following his retirement, he served as a color commentator for ESPN's coverage of MLS and U.S. international matches, including the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Michael Steven Lapper (born August 28, 1970 in Redondo Beach, California) is an American retired soccer defender. During his fifteen-year playing career, most of it spent as a sweeper, he played in England, Germany and the United States. He earned 44 caps, scoring one goal, with the U.S. national soccer team between 1991 and 1995. He was part of the U.S. teams at both the 1992 Summer Olympics and the 1994 FIFA World Cup. Lapper made his debut for the United States on April 7, 1991 against South Korea. Lapper played for the U.S. 1991 Pan American Games gold medal soccer team, the 1992 Summer Olympics soccer team[1] and the 1995 Copa America team which placed fourth at that tournament. In 1993, he played every U.S. game as a sweeper. When Bora Milutinović moved to a flat-back four defensive scheme, Lapper found himself relegated to the bench in favor of Alexi Lalas. However, he did make the U.S. team which played as host in the 1994 FIFA World Cup. This team advanced to the second round where it lost to Brazil, but Lapper failed to enter any of the U.S. games. He played several more matches at the end of 1994 and into 1995, but on August 16, 1995, he earned his last cap in a losing match to Sweden. He ended his national team career with 44 and scored one goal. Hugo Ernesto Pérez Granados (born November 8, 1963) is a former professional footballer and current manager of the El Salvador national team. Born in El Salvador, he represented the United States national team. During his fourteen-year career, he played professionally in the United States, France, Sweden, Saudi Arabia and his native El Salvador. Although born in El Salvador, he gained his U.S. citizenship as a youth and earned 73 caps, scoring sixteen goals, with the U.S. national team between 1984 and 1994. He was a member of the U.S. team at both the 1984 Summer Olympics and the 1994 FIFA World Cup. He was the 1991 U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year and was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2008. In the 1994 final, after a scoreless regulation and overtime, Brazil defeated Italy on penalty kicks 3-2 to become the first country to win four World Cup titles. World Cup matches were played at nine venues — the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. (including the final); Foxboro (Mass.) Stadium; Soldier Field in Chicago; the Cotton Bowl in Dallas; the Pontiac (Mich.) Silverdome; Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.; the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Fla.; Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto, Calif.; and RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. World Cup USA 1994 also left behind a legacy for soccer in the U.S. A surplus of approximately $50 million — more than double original projections — was contributed to the U.S. Soccer Foundation, the U.S. Soccer organization created to administer the World Cup surplus. Improved training facilities and renovated stadiums in World Cup communities, upgraded to meet FIFA standards, will serve as a reminder of the success of World Cup USA 1994 for years to come.