GINO PARIANIGino Pariani, who died on 9 May, 2007, was a professional footballer from the USA, whose most famous victory as a player came against England at the 1950 World Cup finals.On 29 June, 1950, Mr Pariani lined up to face a team of players considered “Kings of football”. Billy Wright, Alf Ramsey and Tom Finney all started for England, yet what happened next made its way into sporting history.Joe Gaetjens scored the only goal of the game as England fell to their most embarrassing defeat in international football.The timing of the victory could not have been better for Mr Pariani, who at 22 had tasted the biggest success any young American soccer player could hope to achieve - beating England.Gino Pariani was born on 21 February, 1928, in St Louis, Missouri. Growing up in an Italian district, he lived in the same neighbourhood as future world cup team-mates Frank Borghi and Frank ‘Pee Wee’ Wallace.His enthusiasm for playing sport saw him take a keen interest in baseball and as a youngster he also enjoyed kicking a football around with his friends. He had enough natural talent as a footballer that he ended up playing in an under 21 league by the time he was 13.Not overawed by the experience, he joined a more senior league when he was just 15 years old. Rafferty Sports Club was his local team and during the rest of his teenage years he would become a valuable and strong amateur player for them.St Louis Simpkins Ford was one of the best amateur football teams in the US during the 1940s. At 19 years old Mr Pariani switched his allegiance to play for the Simpkins in the hope of earning an international call up.Simpkins had built up a reputation for winning trophies and the US team drafted in several of their players, including Mr Pariani. He made his first appearances for his country at the London Olympic Games in 1948.Preparation for the World Cup finals was next on the agenda, although the US had a rather disastrous run of results which meant they entered the 1950 tournament on the back of seven straight defeats.Mr Pariani finally made his World Cup debut on 25 June, 1950, getting off to a personally brilliant start. In the opening game against Spain he scored his first and only goal for the US in the 17th minute of the match. A dogged performance eventually ended in defeat after Spain surged back with three second half goals to secure victory.The next match was against England. The US held out for a shock victory following a 38th minute goal by US player Joel Gaetjens. England complained that many of the US side were made up of immigrants and so the result couldn’t be classed as a ‘true’ US victory.To Mr Pariani and his team-mates, though, the complaints fell on deaf ears as they returned to the US as heroes.Mr Pariani’s final World Cup appearance came in a 5-2 defeat to Chile. After losing two of their three group games the US were eliminated from the tournament. Continuing to play football back in the US in his spare time, Mr Pariani also earned an income as a dock worker.He finally retired from the game in 1963 and was inducted into the US National Soccer Hall of Fame in 1976 for his services to football during his playing days when a national league had not yet been created.A film of the US team’s famous victory against England, entitled ‘The Game of Their Lives’ was released in 2005. Gino Pariani, who died of cancer in St Louis, Missouri, was one of the last surviving players of the team along with Frank Borghi, Harry Keogh, Walter Bahr and John Souza.
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