Who ate all of these?
It’s a funny old world…you’ve heard that expression before…probably from a bloke at the pub who’s had a few too many pints and is a bit reflective. But it is. It is a funny old world. Especially if you’ve chosen soccer as your way of life. Your business.
It’s tax season and for the past 4 years my accountant has sat me down and said…and I quote…. “When are you going to be done with this soccer lark?” and I sort of laugh and my accountant reminds me how much easier life was when I was a banker and soccer was a just a hobby. Of course he’s right. I miss steady paychecks and buying rounds but I don’t think the folks I met in my previous life within the Fortune 5 world were as interesting or fun as pretty much everyone I’ve met full time in the soccer world.
I’ve met and interviewed some pretty interesting people and occasionally…if I’m lucky…after the interview is done….I’ve struck up a good friendship with them and continued to talk to them and exchanged ideas and generally been invited into circles I would not normally get invited to.
A few years ago….not sure how many now…I got it into my head that the real stories of American Soccer were from the players in the 60’s and 70’s (and maybe the 80’s) that perhaps weren’t in the spotlight today.
Now…My biggest goal was to interview Pele and ask him questions he had answered a million times before by a million different people about playing soccer in America. I thought to myself “what would I ask him?” and I really couldn’t come up with anything new or fresh to ask him that I hadn’t read about in the archives that are full of everything Pele. Seriously, if I ever have the chance to sit down with Pele and ask him a few questions I don’t think it would be anything to do with soccer.
“Tell me about your experiences in Studio 54 during the heyday of Disco”
“Was Henry Kissinger a giant bellend?”
“Tell me about your acting technique? ( I have Pele pegged as a student of the Meisner technique while others say he may be using Lee Strasberg’s Method…which is clear if you watch “Escape to Victory” but not so clear when you see Pele in a Brazilian soap opera being chased by Space aliens in gold la may…the same material he probably wore at Studio 54…but I digress!)
“When you go to Subway….do you order the footlong or the 6inch but add extra meat?”
So as you can tell…I probably…would not get many cool stories about playing on plastic pitches in America and playing against some of the best footballers in history who just happened to being playing in the NASL at that moment in time.
Anyway…the real stories of footballers comes from the guys who weren’t the biggest stars on the pitch and who probably walk into a pub right now and just happily sit there not being bothered by fanboys and graybeards. I want to talk to those guys.
Many years ago I happened to be talking to a few old timers about the NASL and I would ask them about Pele. My go to question was always “Was Pele that good?” and without a blink of an eye as if I had dragged horse muck over the most holy of grounds, the old timers I would be talking to would say “Yes” and “He truly was the best!”
Then I would say something like “Yeah but so what? The American players he played with on the Cosmos were crap. Just fill-ins.” and the same old timers would sit there and school me on the American players…the guys who you probably don’t know too much about…and they would always hail them as the best players some better than what US Soccer is producing right now. So…the one player that always came up in conversation when I was getting my “education” in American Soccer History was…Santiago Formoso.
It’s an easy name to remember. At the time I thought of perhaps a villain from a Miguel de Cervantes work or a biscuit named after a South American revolutionary. And everywhere I went..Santiago’s name came up. Now in passing, a man’s soccer career can be summed up very neat and tidy like if you go on wikipedia and glance through it. If you are a typical fan that deals in stats perhaps you would just brush it aside.
But Soccer is NOT stats…Soccer is HISTORY. That’s something most two-bit writers, armchair pundits, bloggists and fanboys never understand….and the biggest problem here in America is that…there is no history. I couldn’t find information on Formoso. None. I wanted to read up on him. Who was this guy that played with Pele then played with The Aztecs? American Media never covered soccer. The arseholes who were running the newspapers and sports segments on TV stood firm against soccer. Which is why soccer passed 1994 is a rare treat to discover.
One day. I decided to contact Santiago and see if he wanted to talk to me. He said yes. And I interviewed him for my podcast. If you go to www.SimonAllenSoccer.com and go to the archive you will find it. Or if you really feel like it…you can contact me and I can do another interview because this player has a lot to say.
I’d like to think I’m pretty damn good as this whole soccer lark. I am. I can’t hide the fact that this is my calling. I don’t pull any punches and I tell it like it is. Which is probably the reason why I like Santi. One of the first things I remember him telling me the first time we talked was “Listen…you’ve been bad mouthing Pele…saying he was garbage!…you’re wrong and stop that!” Then he proceeded to tell me stories of Pele in NY and how he played alongside him. Did I stop bad mouthing Pele after that? You’d better effing believe I stopped! Over the upcoming months…or maybe years… I dunno….I often talk to Santi about soccer and about what went on in the crazy 70’s and more often than not I keep these reflections of soccer history to myself. The stories need to be told but someone bigger than me needs to tell them.
Santiago Formoso in action
Flash forward to Champions League…mid week and I get a text from Mr Santiago Formoso. “I’m in Los Angeles” “where’s a good place to watch Champions League?” Or something of that nature. So I ask Santi to come down to Pasadena for lunch and hang out at Lucky Baldwins so we can watch some soccer and catch up. I realize that after so much time talking and being friends with the guy that I’ve never actually met Santi in person.
In my head he’s the long haired young cat #25 who played for the Cosmos. At the pub I almost expect to see that guy… wearing a Cosmos jersey…walking in. But time waits for no man…but luckily, to quote John B. Priestly “A good holiday is one spent among who’s notions of time are vaguer than yours!” So I’m expecting a good time and a jolly good conversation.
Santiago Formoso is a player that soccer fans in America should know about.
I continue. We finally meet each other face to face…but it’s like I’ve known the bloke all my life. We sit and the waitress asks us what we want to drink. Santiago replies “Shandy” and the waitress looks puzzled.
“It’s Bass ale with ginger ale” I shout. This is (one of) my local pubs so I’m slightly embarrassed about that. We watch the match which just happens to be a Spanish team and Santiago tells me. “I read your comment on Facebook about LaLiga being weak”
“It is weak Santi…two teams don’t make a league…you know.” I replied
“You’re wrong…but I didn’t want to say anything on Facebook…But you’re wrong!”
Then Mr Formoso continued with a right proper education on why I was wrong. Of course, I listened. And learned.
During our lunch I ask questions about things I think I would like to know. About the old NASL…some of the players…I don’t want to tell you what was said in full…because quite frankly…this was lunch and it was like lunch with old friends. Santi and I talked about cars and he told me about his Corvette he had when he was playing for The Aztecs. The stories were what I had come to listen to because I think they’re important. It was American Soccer history told unabridged by a player that lived it. I asked him about managers and coaching and why he never got into coaching. I heard stories of mischief and tomfoolery and accounts of matches that I thought I’d never hear about.
“Simon! Has anyone honored the Aztec players?” Santi asked me.
“If the Aztec players showed up here….now…wearing their jerseys….No one here would know who they are.” I replied.
“That’s a shame!”
“Santi…they never got the coverage they deserved when they were playing. It’s not surprising that no one honors them…or even talks to them now!”
“Simon, have you interviewed any Aztec player? Santi asked
“Yes!”
“Cruyff?”
“No…I like to talk to players who’s stories aren’t heard too often or ever”
“Why do you do that?”
“Santi…I genuinely like hearing people’s stories. And I like people!”
After that bit…Santiago told me about his time with the Aztecs…thinking he might be able to play with his hero…Cruyff….He jumped at the chance to come to LA..but unknown to him…Cruyff was sent to Washington. The lunch is great and I am enjoying my time with the Cosmos legend.
Santi tells me a story of a really famous soccer player that was brought into the team to play…only at AWAY matches. The reason? The Superstar that usually had the spot was scared of flying and would fake an injury to avoid traveling with the team. The player that took over his spot never played in front of his own fans. He also tells me about the US National team manager that didn’t quite have what it took to win matches. It was all about brute force. And Santi was a “finesse” player. Not quite what American Soccer was used to back then.
Later Santiago told me about a British player that told him never to Pass to him. Santi looks at me and says with a huge smile on his face.
“I hate you Brits”
“Except for me! Right?” I replied
“All Brits”
“Really? Why?”
“The Armada!”
“The Armada? What are you talking about?…that was like in 1588?”
“Yeah…but you guys claimed it a victory and we say it was the weather.”
Santiago and I were sitting there cracking up talking about English and Spanish History. The man from Vigo, Spain who played for the US National team and the Dalai Lama of Soccer were talking like two school boys arguing about who had the hardest conkers in the playground.
More football and the topic turns to me. Santiago asked me when I came to America and I told him that I showed up here at the worst time. He responded with a heartfelt “we lost a whole generation of soccer players because there was no soccer in America after the NASL. I feel bad about that.” The conversation turns again to the time FIFA may have given 1986 to the US but instead awarded the World Cup to Mexico. We talked about the possibilities of the US National team and how maybe the fortunes of the team could have been a lot different today if the US had hosted in 86 rather than 94.
In a blink of an eye…The match had ended. PK’s and the Spanish team won. Santi didn’t care for the performance but that was that and a win is a win. Santiago asked me about my next interview and I told him that I wanted to interview the goalkeeper from Glendale, California who played a total of 4 matches for NASL. Two for The Surf and two for The Sockers. Santi asked why that guy and not a more famous player… and I said…something like…I just want to hear his story…No one else did back when he was playing so I’m just trying to get it out there before the bloke is gone.
We say our goodbyes and my friend Santiago Formoso headed off into the LA traffic. Can’t say I remember any of the match were watching but I do remember word for word what we talked about. I want to see this player (and all the players from America’s past) honored in some way. I haven’t see too many people in America acknowledge these players contributions to the beautiful game. I’m hearing that a TV series about the Cosmos is in the works. That’s a good start. Of course I blame the media in the 70’s and 80’s for not doing their job and covering soccer in America.
Today. A true legend passed away. A hero to lots of players like Santiago Formoso.
I choose NOT to talk about Johan Cruyff in his passing instead I want to talk about the players who are still around and have some stories to tell.
The reason I want to talk about players like Santiago Formosa and David D’Errico and Jerry Kazarian is because the Media back then FAILED to talk about them. Flash forward to today….
I love how NOBODY covered soccer in America when Cruyff played here…yet all these phony US Media guys/sites now are all talking about him as if they even know who he was!
What they should be posting is a Mea Culpa for being assholes for decades and not covering the beautiful game! Hypocrites!
I’d like to offer my help to those media types….
To ALL the hypocrites who NEVER covered soccer when Cruyff was playing his beautiful style of soccer in America. Here is how you write your articles.
After 3 decades of writing ‘SOCCER IS FOR PUSSIES’
WE never covered soccer then because we were ASSHOLES. We had an AGENDA to not allow this sport to go forward.
We LOST.
We lost BECAUSE in a rare case the general public OVER-RODE our objections and critiques … we NOW must acknowledge this sport IN SPITE of our attempts to BLOCK its progress.
In case you don’t know, GIVEN WE DIDN’T COVER THE SPORT BACK THEN…
This is CRUYFF…
Then they can write about the legend.
Until then.I want to recognize all the players from America’s past.
Pele: Bobby Moore was the best marker but I wish Johan Cruyff had been Brazilian!
