
<p>The United States finally has an opportunity to showcase its newest generation of soccer players to fans around the globe at the <a href="https:\/\/worldsoccertalk.com/category/world-cup-2022/">World Cup 2022</a>. To date, the pieces of an 11-man puzzle never quite gelled together. The World Cup dream continually falls short of reality. It seems difficult to convince the world that the beautiful game truly arrived within the 50 states.</p>



<p>The <a href="https:\/\/worldsoccertalk.com/nations/usmnt-tv-schedule/">United States men’s national team</a> consistently fails to make a deep run into any of the final stages of any World Cup. Fans of the American team may still wonder if things will ever change.</p>



<h2>Prior achievements</h2>



<p>In the past, the USA made a mark which still echoes to this day. The United States produced the most famous upset of all time in the <a href="https:\/\/worldsoccertalk.com/news/a-look-back-when-uruguay-shocked-brazil-in-the-1950-world-cup-20140513-CMS-100318.html">1950 World Cup</a> in Brazil. The American squad defeated the most feared and successful team on the planet, the English. England players convinced every bookie across the world that a victory was inevitable for an undeniable dominant talent hailing from England.</p>



<p>Perhaps, the sheer will of the underdog American players holding onto blue collar grit aided them in something supernatural. When the final whistle blew, the English side was down for the loss, 1-0. The hard-nosed scrappy players from the U.S. somehow pulled off the global shock heard around the world. The mind blowing upset in the face of the powerful English fortified American head coach Bill Jeffrey and the 1950 American team directly into immortal soccer legends.</p>



<p>Bill Jeffrey was born in Scotland. He worked his way out of an immigrant railroad camp that sat deep within the Pennsylvania Appalachian mountains. Eventually, he became the head coach of the Pennsylvania State University. This was well before his triumphs in Brazil in 1950.</p>



<p>To this day, Jeffrey has the most college championships as a coach. In his 27 seasons at the helm of Penn State, the Nittany Lions put together 13 unbeaten seasons. Plus, PSU had a winning streak lasting 65 games. Jeffrey was the old school without the schooling often reciting Scottish poetry. The official national champions before the start of the NCAA. Jeffrey’s Penn State teams won titles in 1926, 1929, 1933, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940 and 1949.</p>



<h2>Bill Jeffrey brings World Cup legacy full circle</h2>



<p>Jeffrey’s international roots and coaching legacy left an everlasting imprint with coaches that followed through his coaching lineage. Walter Bahr was Jeffrey’s star player on the 1950 World Cup team who then later became the PSU head coach; then Bahr’s assistant, Barry Gorman became the head coach and president of the United Soccer Coaches Organization. Gorman’s youth player, Fraser Kershaw <a href="https:\/\/altoona.psu.edu/story/35986/2021/01/26/fraser-kershaw-announced-penn-state-altoona-mens-soccer-coach" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">became the head coach at Penn State</a>, Altoona in 2021. All coaches have either passed on or retired, but Kershaw still remains, training a men’s squad in New York City.</p>



<p>Coach Kershaw can be seen jogging with a mob of college players at sunrise under the Statue of Liberty in Brooklyn, New York. Kershaw says, “Sometimes I glance up and there she is holding up a yellow card to me as a warning to ensure this next generation trains hard, focuses with hard working roots, which was taught to us.”</p>



<p>His father was born and raised in the Caribbean and later became a local landscaper and artist outside the confines of Penn State.</p>



<p>Kershaw says, “Blue collar and low pay to some driving by, but unlimited currency for his son, to this day the smell of fresh cut grass reminds me of his smile.”</p>



<h5>United States needs to embrace tradition at World Cup 2022</h5>



<p>Immigrants from around the world once made Ellis Island their first step into a new beginning. They entered the country to make their hopeful mark at a better life. Did the athletic skills, drive and dreams of this game get left behind? Some ask, where is the soccer talent today?</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><div><figure class="image"><img loading="lazy" width="1200" height="675" src="https:\/\/ds-images.bolavip.com/news/image?src=https:\/\/images.worldsoccertalk.com/webp/WST_20221028_WST_406112_United-States-World-Cup-2022-1-1200x675.webp&amp;width=1200&amp;height=675" alt="" class="wp-image-406149" srcset="https:\/\/worldsoccertalk.cms.futbolsitesnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2022/10/United-States-World-Cup-2022-1-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/worldsoccertalk.cms.futbolsitesnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2022/10/United-States-World-Cup-2022-1-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/worldsoccertalk.cms.futbolsitesnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2022/10/United-States-World-Cup-2022-1-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/worldsoccertalk.cms.futbolsitesnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2022/10/United-States-World-Cup-2022-1.jpg 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px"></figure></div></figure>



<p>Kershaw seems to have a theory, “Most of the young talent can’t afford these high priced American training methods; if a country is to be successful, I believe they need to find the root of the hardest working community; so find the eleven working class kids and give them the ball to lift their family out of poverty and let them reveal the American Dream for the whole world to see.</p>



<p>Kershaw and many others alike, seem to think the American game has been stunted by expensive club fees, travel dues, training fees and extensive traveling; which requires the family to be very well off to afford the opportunity to compete. Kershaw says, “If the feeling is not in the Spirit, it will never work, as it must pump inside the heart with the eyes open at 5am.”</p>



<p>New York City has every nation in the world calling it home. Surely it could be the perfect place for for the newest generation of footballers to arise. The pick-up soccer within the city has a reputation of being the very best in the world. This November would be the perfect time to join in on a pick-up game and follow the many players to the community pub for the 2022 World Cup to cheer for the 2022 American dream.</p>



<p>If all fails, America could revisit its history inside Brooklyn and find the local pastor or priest to give the ball a blessing.</p>



<p><em>PHOTO: IMAGO / ANP</em></p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><div><figure class="image"><img loading="lazy" width="1024" height="768" src="https:\/\/ds-images.bolavip.com/news/image?src=https:\/\/images.worldsoccertalk.com/webp/WST_20221028_WST_406112_bill-jeffrey-full-circle.webp&amp;width=1024&amp;height=768" alt="" class="wp-image-406213" srcset="https:\/\/worldsoccertalk.cms.futbolsitesnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2022/10/bill-jeffrey-full-circle.png 1024w, https:\/\/worldsoccertalk.cms.futbolsitesnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2022/10/bill-jeffrey-full-circle-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/worldsoccertalk.cms.futbolsitesnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2022/10/bill-jeffrey-full-circle-768x576.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px"></figure></div></figure>


The United States has a chance to make headlines at the World Cup in 2022. It just needs to embrace the values of the country.

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How the life of USA’s 1950 World Cup Coach Bill Jeffrey comes full circle