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May 12, 2007
Gino Pariani, who played for the United States on the 1950 team that produced one of the greatest upsets in World Cup history, died here on Wednesday. He was 79. His death, which came after he battled bone cancer for two years, was announced by his family. Pariani, the son of Italian immigrants, grew up playing soccer in St. Louis’s famed Italian neighborhood The Hill and was part of the mostly amateur team that jolted the soccer world with its 1-0 defeat of powerful England in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. A few days after he married, Pariani boarded a plane for Brazil with his St. Louis teammates. The Americans defeated England on a header by Joe Gaetjens in the 37th minute. The English team featured the likes of Alf Ramsey, who would go on to become England’s 1966 World Cup-winning coach, and Tom Finney. Both were eventually knighted for their soccer exploits. England was so deep in talent that the great Stanley Matthews did not play that day. Pariani had one goal in five games with the national team, scoring against Spain in the Americans’ 3-1 loss in their World Cup opener. The Americans never got out of the first round of that tournament, which was won by Uruguay. Pariani and four other players from St. Louis were part of the starting lineup. With his death, only four players from that team are still alive. The story of the 1950 squad was told in the 2005 film “The Game of Their Lives.” Pariani also played on the U.S. Olympic team in 1948. He and a fellow World Cup team member, Frank Borghi, now 82, grew up on Daggett Street, where a sidewalk plaque marks their celebrity. Pariani is survived by his wife, Janet, seven children, 10 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren._ |