Gene Grabowski is an American former

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

who earned a cap with the United States men's national soccer team in a

1958 FIFA World Cup qualification A total of 55 teams entered the 1958 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds, competing for a total of 16 spots in the final tournament. Sweden as the hosts and West Germany, as the defending champions, qualified automatically, leaving 14 spots open ...

game.

Club career

Grabowksi graduated from Kearny High School of Kearny, New Jersey in 1953. In 1999, he was named by '' The Star-Ledger'' as one of the top ten New Jersey high school soccer players of the 1940s-1960s. He spent at least one season with the Elizabeth Falcons of the American Soccer League (ASL) as he led the ASL in scoring with 19 goals during the 1955-1956 season. That season, the Falcons lost the championship game to Uhrik Truckers.

National team

Grabowski earned one caps with the U.S. national team on April 7, 1957. That game, a 7-0 loss to Mexico was a qualifier for the

1958 FIFA World Cup The 1958 FIFA World Cup was the sixth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Sweden from 8 to 29 June 1958. It was the first FIFA World Cup to be played in a Nordic country. Brazil be ...

.USA - Details of International Matches 1885-1969
Grabowski also scored one goal with the U.S. in its 7-2 victory over Haiti in the

1959 Pan American Games The 1959 Pan American Games were held in Chicago, Illinois, United States between August 28 and September 7, 1959. Host city selection One city initially submitted a bid to host the 1959 Pan American Games that was recognized by the Pan Ame ...

. The U.S. took the bronze medals at those games, which are not recognized internationals.

References

Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American Soccer League (1933–1983) players American soccer players Association football forwards Elizabeth Falcons players Footballers at the 1959 Pan American Games Kearny High School (New Jersey) alumni Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in football People from Kearny, New Jersey Soccer players from New Jersey Sportspeople from Hudson County, New Jersey United States men's international soccer players Medalists at the 1959 Pan American Games {{US-footy-forward-stub