Harry Keough of 1950 US World Cup team dead at 84

ST. LOUIS — Harry Keough, who played for the U.S. soccer team that famously upset England at the 1950 World Cup, died Tuesday at his home in St. Louis. He was 84.

U.S. Soccer Federation spokesman Michael Kammarman said his death was confirmed by son Ty Keough, who also played for the American national team.

A defender who had one goal in 19 appearances for the U.S. from 1949-57, Keough coached Saint Louis University to five NCAA soccer titles. He was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 1976.

“Harry was a true pioneer, representing the finest of a generation of men and women who built the foundations for soccer in the United States on which we stand today,” U.S. Soccer Federation President Sunil Gulati said. “While his participation on the U.S. team that beat England in the 1950 FIFA World Cup remains a memory that fans around the world treasure, it is his lasting contribution to soccer in St. Louis and around the country as a player and a coach that will be his true legacy.”

Keough started all three games for the Americans at the1950 World Cup and was captain when the U.S. played Spain in its opener. The 1-0 win over England in the Americans’ second game is regarded by many as the greatest upset in soccer history.

“We didn’t feel we needed to beat them, but we felt if we could just play pretty good, it would be enough,” Keough recalled in a 2002 interview with The Associated Press. “In our minds, if we lost 2-0, we’d feel pretty good about ourselves.”

Growing up in St. Louis when it was the nation’s soccer center, Keough was a youth player for the St. Louis Schumachers. While serving in the Navy after World War II, he joined the San Francisco Barbarians. After the military, he played in St. Louis for Paul Schulte Motors and was picked for the U.S. team at the 1949 North American Football Confederation Championship, which served as qualifying for the World Cup.

He was among five from the St. Louis area in the starting lineup against England, a group profiled in the 2005 movie “The Game of their Lives.”

On June 29, 1950, at Belo Horizonte, the U.S. faced a lineup that included Alf Ramsey, Tom Finney and Stanley Mortensen. Surprisingly, the Americans went ahead in the 37th minute when Walter Bahr collected a throw-in from Ed McIlvenny and took a shot from about 25 yards out that Joe Gaetjens deflected past goalkeeper Bert Williams with a diving header.

“They were outplaying us. We were chasing them most of the time,” Keough said during a 2005 interview with the AP. “My thought was ... `They’re really going to come down on us hard.”’

“For us to be ahead at the half was one thing,” he added. “For us to hold it was another.”

A right back, Keough remembered the England players starting to panic in the final minutes.

“They could see it slipping from them,” Keough said. “They didn’t ever dream we could beat them. Neither did we, for that matter.”

The U.S. held on for the victory, which was front-page news in England but was buried deep in most U.S. sports sections. The Americans fell behind Chile by two goals in their next game, came back to tie early in the second half but were eliminated with a 5-2 defeat.

Keough’s only goal for the U.S. national team was against Canada in a World Cup qualifier in 1957. He also played for the American teams at the 1952 and 1956 Olympics, both eliminated with opening losses by a combined score of 17-1. He played for St. Louis Kutis, who won the 1957 U.S. Open Cup and the National Amateur Cup from 1956-61.

An employee of the U.S. Postal Service while a player, Keough coached Florissant Valley Community College, then was hired by St. Louis. His first team was NCAA co-champion in 1967, and he went on to coach the Billikens to titles in 1969, 1970, 1972 and 1973. He retired after the 1982 season with a record of 213 wins, 50 losses and 22 ties.

His son Ty played eight games for the American national team in 1979-80 and later broadcast soccer for ABC, ESPN and TNT.

With Keough’s death, the USSF believes Bahr, Frank Borghi and John Souza are the last surviving members of the 1950 American World Cup team.

In addition to his son, Keough is survived by wife, Alma, and daughters Colleen and Peggy.