Frank Borghi (April 9, 1925 – February 2, 2015) was an American soccer player who earned nine

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

. He played in the team's famous 1–0 victory against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in the

1950 FIFA World Cup The 1950 FIFA World Cup was the fourth edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams and held in Brazil from 24 June to 16 July 1950. The planned 1942 and 1946 World Cups were ...

Athletic career

Borghi started his sports career as a professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

player, but turned to soccer instead. He chose the position of goalkeeper because he felt he lacked the necessary ball skills to play any other position. In fact, when he was in goal, he never kicked the ball, even for

goal kick A goal kick is a method of restarting the play in a game of association football. Its procedure is dictated by Law 16 of the Laws of the Game. Award A goal kick is awarded to the defending team when the ball goes out of the field of play by cr ...

s (someone else took them); instead, thanks to his arm strength from playing baseball, he always threw the ball after he made a save. He played professionally for St. Louis Simpkins-Ford and helped them win the National Challenge Cup in 1948 and 1950. He was selected to the U.S. national team in 1949 and played in four World Cup qualifying matches as well as all three games in the 1950 World Cup. Notably, he made several key saves to secure the 1–0 victory over heavily favored England - still considered one of the greatest upsets in the history of the World Cup. He also appeared for the U.S. in 1954 World Cup qualifying against

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. Borghi was inducted into the United States National Soccer Hall of Fame in 1976 along with the rest of his 1950 teammates.

Personal life

Borghi was raised in The Hill neighborhood of

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

. Borghi served as a medic in World War II in a U.S. infantry unit that fought at the

Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, was the last major German offensive campaign on the Western Front during World War II. The battle lasted from 16 December 1944 to 28 January 1945, towards the end of the war in ...

and in the crossing of the

Ludendorff Bridge The Ludendorff Bridge (sometimes referred to as the Bridge at Remagen) was in early March 1945 a critical remaining bridge across the river Rhine in Germany when it was captured during the Battle of Remagen by United States Army forces durin ...

Remagen Remagen ( ) is a town in Germany in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, in the district of Ahrweiler. It is about a one-hour drive from Cologne, just south of Bonn, the former West German capital. It is situated on the left (western) bank of the ...

in March 1945. Borghi was awarded the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart. Borghi retired from soccer to become a director of a

funeral home A funeral home, funeral parlor or mortuary, is a business that provides burial and funeral services for the dead and their families. These services may include a prepared wake and funeral, and the provision of a chapel for the funeral. Services ...

in St. Louis until 2003. In January 2004, he and the four other living members of the 1950 World Cup Team (

Walter Bahr Walter may refer to: People * Walter (name), both a surname and a given name * Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–1968) * Gunther (wrestler), Austrian professional wrestler and trainer Walter Hahn (born 19 ...

, Harry Keough, Gino Pariani and

John Souza John Souza-Benavides (July 12, 1920 – March 11, 2012) known as John "Clarkie" Souza, was an American soccer player who earned 14 caps and scored 2 goals for the United States men's national soccer team, and played in the U.S. team's histor ...

) were recognized as Honorary All-Americans by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America at its annual convention in Charlotte, N.C. Borghi was portrayed by

Gerard Butler Gerard James Butler (born 13 November 1969) is a Scottish actor and film producer. After studying law, he turned to acting in the mid-1990s with small roles in productions such as '' Mrs Brown'' (1997), the James Bond film '' Tomorrow Never ...

in the film '' The Game of Their Lives''. Borghi died in St. Louis on February 2, 2015. He was 89. He is buried in

Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery is an American military cemetery located in St. Louis County, Missouri, just on the banks of the Mississippi River. The cemetery was established after the American Civil War in an attempt to put together a fo ...

Lemay, Missouri Lemay is a census-designated place (CDP) in south St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. The population was 16,645 at the 2010 census. History Lemay was named after Francois Lemai, who operated a ferry boat across the Meramec River in the e ...

Documentary

Borghi was featured in the 2009 soccer documentary '' A Time for Champions'' discussing the U.S. upset victory over England in the 1950 World Cup. He was also featured in the documentary Voices of the Veterans discussing his service as a medic in the United States Army during World War II.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Borghi, Frank 1925 births 2015 deaths United States Army personnel of World War II American soccer players Association football goalkeepers United States men's international soccer players National Soccer Hall of Fame members 1950 FIFA World Cup players St. Louis Simpkins-Ford players Soccer players from St. Louis United States Army soldiers Combat medics