What do you think?
Rate this book
Generation Zero: Founding Fathers, Hidden Histories & the Making of Soccer in America
The Modern Creation Story American Soccer Didn't Know It Had
By the late 1980s, U.S. soccer had solidified its reputation as a global laughingstock, a sporting oxymoron akin to Jamaican
• Starting in 1950, the richest, most powerful nation on Earth had gone 0 for 9 trying to qualify for the World Cup.
• Once the North American Soccer League petered out, U.S. sporting culture proved unable/unwilling to replace it.
• Soccer on TV? Post-1984, only the odd indoor match might be found there — late at night, on content-starved cable outlets, after competitive lumberjacking.
Today, the phenomenon of U.S. soccer development is almost taken for
• Live matches from Major League Soccer and a half-dozen foreign leagues are routinely beamed into American households, seven days a week.
• World Cup participation is routine, thanks to wildly popular men’s and women’s national teams. Americans don’t just compete in World Cups. We host them (the next one arrives in 2026).
• Nationwide, millions of Soccer Moms preside over the game’s grassroots, securing its growing place in the broader cultural tableau.
Generation Zero profiles this epic transformation by spotlighting the national team players and fans who made it happen. Conventional wisdom assigns American soccer progress largely to an event, World Cup ’94, but history shows the tipping point arrived five years earlier. With a single victory — against all odds, on a small Caribbean island, just as the Berlin Wall fell — soccer’s haphazard, indeterminate development in the U.S. instantly became inevitable, headlong growth. Raised on the game and tempered by hardship, Generation Zero produced both ends of the formative a national team good enough to break through and an audience that would care, the country’s first legitimate soccer fan base.
Featuring rare imagery from the 1989-90 U.S. Men’s National Team photographer and candid snaps from the players themselves, Generation Zero is must-read for anyone who appreciates the fulsome futbol culture we enjoy today but wonders, “How did we get here?”
By the late 1980s, U.S. soccer had solidified its reputation as a global laughingstock, a sporting oxymoron akin to Jamaican
• Starting in 1950, the richest, most powerful nation on Earth had gone 0 for 9 trying to qualify for the World Cup.
• Once the North American Soccer League petered out, U.S. sporting culture proved unable/unwilling to replace it.
• Soccer on TV? Post-1984, only the odd indoor match might be found there — late at night, on content-starved cable outlets, after competitive lumberjacking.
Today, the phenomenon of U.S. soccer development is almost taken for
• Live matches from Major League Soccer and a half-dozen foreign leagues are routinely beamed into American households, seven days a week.
• World Cup participation is routine, thanks to wildly popular men’s and women’s national teams. Americans don’t just compete in World Cups. We host them (the next one arrives in 2026).
• Nationwide, millions of Soccer Moms preside over the game’s grassroots, securing its growing place in the broader cultural tableau.
Generation Zero profiles this epic transformation by spotlighting the national team players and fans who made it happen. Conventional wisdom assigns American soccer progress largely to an event, World Cup ’94, but history shows the tipping point arrived five years earlier. With a single victory — against all odds, on a small Caribbean island, just as the Berlin Wall fell — soccer’s haphazard, indeterminate development in the U.S. instantly became inevitable, headlong growth. Raised on the game and tempered by hardship, Generation Zero produced both ends of the formative a national team good enough to break through and an audience that would care, the country’s first legitimate soccer fan base.
Featuring rare imagery from the 1989-90 U.S. Men’s National Team photographer and candid snaps from the players themselves, Generation Zero is must-read for anyone who appreciates the fulsome futbol culture we enjoy today but wonders, “How did we get here?”
464 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 10, 2022
10 people are currently reading
20 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 3, 2022
I wish he'd had an editor to do a little trimming and shaping, because even without that, it's a pretty great book. Phillips undertakes a big project, a history (and more) of the 1990 USMNT World Cup team. He sees a generational break and takes a look at the culture (both nationally and in hot spots) that helped soccer...well, not flourish, at least not yet, but get going more fully. The first part of the book reads like casual American Studies analysis and it's a nice argument.
The late '80s stuff through Italia '90 is a mix of reporting, research, and oral history, and it's a compelling read. It becomes the story of individuals as much as a team, and ultimately provides a valuable contribution to understanding the national/federation progression a little more. It's a full and rich look at the era and well worth the long read for anyone who's interested.
The late '80s stuff through Italia '90 is a mix of reporting, research, and oral history, and it's a compelling read. It becomes the story of individuals as much as a team, and ultimately provides a valuable contribution to understanding the national/federation progression a little more. It's a full and rich look at the era and well worth the long read for anyone who's interested.
September 5, 2024
This is definitely worth the read for any US soccer fan. I played soccer growing up, and remember seeing the “Hand of God” game in the ‘86 World Cup but not really understanding the concept of a World Cup as a 7 year old at the time. Fast forward to 4 years later and I was inthralled with Italia 90. But I never considered the historical ramifications of that USMNT until this book. It gives someone like myself a greater appreciation and understanding for the team and the accomplishment of just qualifying. It’s a great read (though sometimes the word choices seemed to be made by a thesaurus just for the sake of it), and I would definitely recommend it.
December 4, 2024
I thought was a very well done, thoroughly researched book. I knew some of the history but not as extensively as the author documents. I'd say it should be required reading for anyone wanting to learn about USMNT history.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews