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 Paul
Caligiuri is truly a pioneer in the contemporary age of American soccer
- he was the first American-born player to land a major
playing contract overseas in the professional European
leagues and also was a major force on the 1990 and 1994
World Cup teams.
However, Caligiuri is probably best-known for the “goal
heard around the world,” the shot he took against Trinidad
and Tobago that sent the U.S. to the 1990 World Cup for the
first time in 40 years. US Soccer Players took a time out
recently to catch up with Paul and talk to him about what he
is up to these days after his induction into the Soccer Hall
of Fame in 2004.
Can you talk about your
present work as head coach of both the men’s and women’s
programs at Cal Poly Ponoma? Do the men and women play in the
same season? How hard is it to be the coach of two varsity
sports?
They play in the
same season, we play doubleheaders on the same day. It was a
slight adjustment at first. But I always enjoyed it. It is a
challenge. I generally enjoy both teams equally. They are two
teams, two different genders, so I make different adjustments in
my approach. Basically, I use two different methods, but my
coaching philosophy is the same. This is my first major coaching
position, but I had my youth “A” license for a while. I did
various jobs with the “A” license, including consulting and
training youth coaches, but nothing full-time. Nothing like
this. At this level, it’s not just a matter of coaching, it’s a
matter of managing. I manage six budgets, I make travel plans,
hotel arrangements, I do recruiting, I keep an eye on grades,
and I make the calendar. It’s very challenging. Coaching is one
thing, but everything that goes along with it is another. During
the season, I have a two-hour practice with each team, four
hours a day total. And that’s just practice. Because I coach at
the level I do, I don’t necessarily have all of the great
assistance that you get at a Division I school. I do learn a
lot, doing all of the legwork. By the time I hired my assistant
I had the structure in place; I had built the program to the
point where it could be run by itself, with the infrastructure
in place.
Turning to your playing
days: you scored the infamous “goal heard around the world” that
sent the US into their first World Cup in decades. Did it hit
you at the time, the impact of what this goal meant for American
soccer? What was your first thought after scoring the goal?
I didn’t really guess the
impact of where the goal would lead this country in terms of
development. We knew it was important. We were on the fringe of
losing our National Team program, losing our sponsorship and
deals. Soccer was
 heading
into do or die. But that wasn’t in our minds, it wasn’t our
motivation. Our motivation was the competition. We wanted to win
the game. Our livelihood was on the line as well. I was
fortunate to be playing in Europe at the time, and it was all
lined up for me to return after the Cup. But the other players
didn’t have places to go. In that situation, scoring the goal
gave us a huge relief. We needed to score and we needed to win.
By scoring first, we were in a better position throughout the
game, like you always are when you score early. The initial
stress was gone, and then game ended up at 1-0. We had no idea
it would end up that way. In that way, history wrote itself, and
I had the game winner. I’ve been labeled the hero. But we’re all
smart enough to know it’s a team sport. All players, all the
coaching staff, made the collective effort. I believe until we
win the World Cup it will remain one of the biggest victories in
American sports history. Sports, not just soccer. There’s not
been one touchdown, not one slam dunk, that has had the impact
that that victory had. One day we will win the World Cup, and
look back and say we wouldn’t have won without that goal. I look
back on it with joy. It’s exciting to see players have the
opportunity to play in MLS and overseas as well nowadays. We
weren’t regarded as cherished players, players that could make
an impact. We’ve come a long way. Now, we’re a big shopping mall
for European coaches. That wasn’t the case ten years ago.
How was your reception
in Germany as one of the first Americans playing professionally
overseas?
I think I was the
first to have a major contract. I basically broke the ice. There
was no one to ask for advice. That was the hardest part. I was
in the Bundesliga, now, we call this league one of the cream of
the crop. I wish in some ways I hadn’t been the first. It was a
little harder. When things happened, I couldn’t pick up the
phone to call someone and ask for advice. I knew the most
important thing was to learn the language. I learned about ten
words a day. That helped me to communicate. But it was always
strange. I never knew how I stood in the eyes of anybody, from
teammates to the checkout person at the grocery store, to the
coach. It’s just something you have to go through, and you learn
a lot about yourself.
Do you have any
children? Are they involved in soccer? What do our youth leagues
need to focus on so that our country will become as
professionally competitive as European soccer leagues?
I have two
daughters - one is eight, one is 12. They both play soccer. I play
with them, but they don’t let me coach. Well, to start, we’re
one of the biggest countries in the world, and we’re always
looking for ways to improve. But when you make comparisons to
Europe, it’s more fragmented here. I mean fragmented in that
there are so many leagues and associations.
 If we find more ways
to create competitions to integrate leagues and associations, it
becomes more simple to find the best players. Sometimes scouts
don’t know where to start looking. The players all want to play.
We need to integrate the associations and allow their top teams
to play one another. Two all-star teams from different parts of
the state should be playing each other. We see this somewhat in
high school. But high school is not the pivotal area in terms of
soccer; instead, we focus on the clubs. For example, here in
Southern California, we’ve got to find ways to take the Hispanic
leagues and have them participate more in the youth system,
integrate them more with top clubs in state associations. We’re
seeing a gradual improvement with interconnectedness. I’m
excited to see us reach into our true potential as a country. I
think the solution is to create the competition and everyone’s
job will become easier. I played youth soccer in Germany as well
in an exchange program in high school, so I learned their
system. They have a youth club system, but it’s all under one
umbrella, all under the national federation. We have state
associations that ascribe to do exactly that. The infrastructure
is set for this to happen, but it’s not happening. I found that
Cal South Youth has about 110,000 kids playing club soccer. But
there are 60 Hispanic leagues, with 140,000 kids playing in
them, and only 8,000 of those kids are eligible for ODP because
their leagues pay the state association fee. Over 130,000 kids
that may be as good or better that the current ODP standard are
not being scouted. Competition is the quickest and easiest
solution to getting these kids noticed. It will make everyone’s
job easier. it will be very simple to find out where the games
are and start evaluating. Get the Hispanic leagues to play the
Cal South leagues. You need a middle man, so as not to feel like
your infringing upon the leagues’ setup.
- December 2004 -
Where
Are They Now
Jill Beauchesne of the the U.S.
National Soccer Team Player Association and the on-line journal
Round Not Oval reports her conversation with Hall of Famers in
our newest feature.
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