Protagonist Podcasts Presents: America’s Greatest is a brand new podcast series co-hosted by Joshua Duder and several of Protagonist’s other writers, podcasters, and guests. We want to explore and share the rich narrative and pedigree of the sport in the United States - to tell the stories about our greatest games, moments, and iconic soccer characters.

We reach out to authors, historians, coaches, players and fellow podcasters to help uncover the narrative of soccer in our country and in episode four we discuss the 1999 Confederations Cup clash between The US Men’s National Team and The German National Team with author, historian, and podcaster Kartik Krishnaiyer of World Soccer Talk.

The Confederations Cup has its origins in Saudi Arabia; founded in 1992 as the King Fahd Cup but taken over by FIFA in 1997. The first three tournaments were held in Saudi Arabia (1992, 95, & 97) but in 1999, Mexico were awarded the rights to host the fourth iteration. It wasn’t until the 2001 campaign that the event was retooled as a prelude to the upcoming World Cup and hosted by that respective nation. the final Confederations Cup tournament was held in Russia, the year before they hosted the 2018 World Cup.

The United States qualified second-hand and not much was expected of them - Mexico was automatically entered as the host nation, but had also won the 1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup (played in February of the same year as the World Cup). The US, as runners-up in the Gold Cup, were invited to join the other winners of their respective continental competitions and the most previous World Cup champion. However, France withdrew and because Bolivia were the CONMEBOL champions, Brazil were invited as World Cup runners-up.

The US drew Brazil, Germany, and New Zealand in Group B, and were not favored to advance; however, a win over New Zealand and Germany losing heavily to Brazil meant that whoever won in the 3rd matchday of the Group Stage would advance alongside Ronaldinho, Ze Roberto, and the Brazilians. Germany, who had defeated the US 2-0 just a year earlier in the World Cup, must have thought they had it all wrapped up.

What happened next was glorious and refreshing - Bruce Arena gave a runnout to a few new faces and leaned on a few solid veterans to execute a game plan to perfection. With stunning goals from Benny Olson and Joe-Max Moore and solid defensive performances from none other than Gregg Berhalter and Marcelo Balboa, the Nats put on a memorable performance - one which might be considered one of “America’s Greatest.”

Join us here for the fourth episode of America’s Greatest where Josh Duder and Dan Creel chat with Kartik Krishnaiyer about how the match unfolded, who were the heroes, and how this tournament set a marker for a whole new generation of National Team players and future coaches. Perhaps kicking off one of the finest runs of form and most exciting play the USMNT has ever had.

We have a few more episodes already recorded and look forward to releasing them every second week. If there is a player, game, or moment you think we should consider, don’t hesitate to reach out and let us know!

by Joshua Duder