TOP 5 TEAM USA VICTORIES

by Brian P. Foley, The College Baseball Blog

Since we are celebrating the Fourth of July this weekend, I thought it would be a good time to look at the Top 5 victories by a United States squad during an International competition. I hope that I did not miss any major victories.

5. Ryder Cup 1999- USA 14.5, Europe 13.5

The United States trailed Europe 10-6 entering the final day but Ben Crenshaw who was captainign the US squad said in the Saturday press conference that he had a good feeling about the final day. Team USA went out and had a 8-3-1 record in the singles competition to give the USA team the Ryder Cup. The biggest shot of the day was when Justin Leonard hit a 45 foot putt on the 17th hole which ended up turning into the putt to give the United States the trophy because Jose Maria Olazabal would miss his putt.

4. Olympic Baseball 2000- USA 4, Cuba 0

Team USA picked up a 4-0 victory in the gold medal match against the reigning two time gold medal champion Cuba. Team USA was led by Tommy Lasorda in the dugout as a bunch of minor league baseball players were able to knock off the great Cuban team. Ben Sheets pitched a complete game shutout over a Cuban squad which included future MLB player Jose Contreras. Other future MLB talent on the squad included Brett Abernathy, Kurt Ainsworth, Sean Burroughs, Adam Everett, Ryan Franklin, Doug Mientkiewicz, Roy Oswalt, Sheets, Brad Wilkerson and former big-league catcher Pat Borders.

3. Women's World Cup 1998- USA 0, China 0 (USA won 5-4 on PKs)
This game was very dull but ranks in the third spot as it brought Women's soccer to the front of psyche of United States sports fans. Brandi Chastain scored the winning goal for the US squad and promptly ripped off her jersey to show her solid body.

2. Men's World Cup 1950- USA 1, England 0
This is still considered the greatest victory by a United States side in Men's soccer. England had a record of 23-4-3 since World War II entering the match with the United States side. The US picked up a goal in the 37th minute from Joe Gaetjens from Walter Bahr. The US was able to hold onto the 1-0 lead through the rest of the game with great saves from Frank Borghi. The victory was turned into a book entitled "The Game of Their Lives." The victory was only seen by one American reporter who ended up being on vacation in Brazil and when the scoreline made it back to the US and England they thought it was a typo instead of 1-0 that the score was 10-0 for England.

1. Olympic Men's Hockey 1980- USA 4, USSR 3
This is considered one of the greatest upsets in Olympic History as the United States team led by Herb Brooks and a bunch of amateur hockey players knocked off the USSR in the medal round of the Olympic hockey tournament.