This is the second part of a four-part series. Read Part I
To say that soccer wasn’t followed much in 1990 would be an understatement.
Yes, the game didn’t have the national attention that it does now, but in the United Soccer League of Pennsylvania where ethnic clubs battled for decades on clubhouse fields in and around Philadelphia, the local papers posted scores from Sunday games alongside the ASL, MISL, and colleges.
The period preceding World Cup 1990 produced regurgitated stories of soccer phobia, fan violence, U.S. National Team woes, and player features with clichés of so-and-so “getting their kicks” or “heading in the right direction,” but nonetheless, soccer coverage existed, even in the traditional hotbed of the Philadelphia.