Friday,
May 11, 2007
Obit: Gino Pariani
79, Soccer Hero, From "The Hill" to the "Game Of
Their Lives"
The
ANNOTICO Report
Gino
Pariani,
played for the
It
is the amazing and inspiring tale of one of the
greatest underdog stories in the history of sports. Ten days before the 1950
World Cup, a ragtag team of recreational players come together for the first
time to represent the
The
all Amateur US team, with a core of six
The
English team had two members that were later knighted for their soccer
exploits, and their team was so deep in talent, that the great Stanley
Matthews did not even get to play that day.
The story of the
1950 squad was told in the 2005 film, "The Game of Their Lives."
It is about the family traditions and passions which shaped the lives of the
players who made up this team of underdogs. Screen play was by Angelo Pizzo.
From
The DVD has been
available since Sept 2006, but has been renamed "Miracle Match" http://videoeta.com/movie/71328
Member of Underdog
By Cheryl Wittenhauer
Associated Press Writer
May 10, 2007
He died Wednesday night after having bone cancer for two years, his family said Thursday.
Pariani, the son of Italian immigrants, grew up playing soccer
in
A few days after he married, Pariani
boarded a plane for
The English team featured the likes of Alf Ramsey, who
would go on to become
Pariani had one goal in five games
with the national team, scoring against
Pariani and four other players from
Pariani, a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame, also
played on the
He was the inside right for the 1950 team and played a
key role in the upset, maintaining ball possession for the U.S. and sending
fellow St. Louis native Frank "Pee-Wee" Wallace on a breakaway in the
second half, the Hall of Fame said.
"Gino was probably more appreciated by his
teammates than the fans," World Cup teammate and fellow Hall of Famer Walter Bahr said. "Always reliable, always gave
a good game -- you could depend upon him to do his job well."
Daughter Denise Steen said her father never boasted
about those heady days, but pictures of the team throughout the house were a
constant reminder.
"He loved the game, loved watching and
playing," she said.
He and fellow World Cup team member Frank Borghi grew up on
Borghi, now 82, described his lifelong friend as an
"excellent soccer player and a fine human being."
"He was an excellent inside right," he said.
"He loved the game."
Pariani told The Associated Press in 2003, during filming of
the movie, that soccer "was a poor kid's game.
"All you needed was a ball," he said.
"With baseball, you needed bats and gloves."
The World Cup team was selected from all over the
It wasn't until the book "The Game of Their
Lives," followed by the 2005 release of the movie of the same name that Pariani and his former teammates enjoyed renewed celebrity.
"He was on a never-ending Disney World ride,"
Steen said.
She said her father and his teammates Borghi and Harry Keough were
treated like kings during filming of the movie in
"He really enjoyed life," Steen said of her
father. "He wasn't malicious. He didn't cuss. For a man to raise seven
kids and never say 'damn it' was good. My mom took care of that."
He is survived by his wife Janet, seven children, 10
grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
A wake is planned from 3 to 9 p.m. Monday at Kutis Funeral Home in
http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news?
slug=ap-obit-pariani&prov=ap&type=lgns
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