American Fiasco show image

American Fiasco

Latest Episodes

Episode 3: We’ll Always Have Paysandu

What do you get when you put 22 soccer players on a plane headed to South America? A labor standoff with their bosses, and a team turning into a band of brothers. Plus: Expectations soar after the 1995 Copa América and an encounter with Argentinian soccer god Diego Maradona.
American Fiasco |

Episode 2: Steve

Meet Steve Sampson: the all-American regular guy who was plucked from obscurity to become interim head coach of the national squad. From living on a couch to leading the U.S. into battle, how an unlikely placeholder coach with no international experience proved his mettle by crushing the team’s longtime rival.
American Fiasco |

Episode 1: The Dream (On) Team

At the end of the Dark Age of Soccer in the United States, when the world’s favorite sport was a punchline, there came a ray of light: The U.S. was chosen to host the 1994 World Cup. Roger Bennett of Men in Blazers introduces the underdog American team and its Star Wars cantina of characters, as they take center stage at soccer’s biggest event.
American Fiasco |

How Not To Win The World Cup

Coming June 4: Join host Roger Bennett of Men in Blazers for this true tale of the U.S. men's soccer team's quest to conquer the 1998 World Cup. American Fiasco is a 12-part series based on over 30 interviews with the players, coaches, and media personalities who lived out this sporting descent into madness.
American Fiasco |

A Word From Rog

Long before Men in Blazers, Roger Bennett was just a kid growing up in Liverpool with contradictory obsessions: soccer and America. He moved to the U.S. just in time to witness the sudden rise of the U.S. men's national team in the early 1990s. Now, Rog is teaming up with WNYC Studios to tell the tale of that team's ill-fated mission at the 1998 World Cup. Told through candid interviews with the team, it's a story for soccer fans and non-fans alike.  
American Fiasco |

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About

WNYC Studios presents American Fiasco, the story of a team that believed it was their destiny to win the biggest prize in soccer - the World Cup. 

After their giddy success of hosting the 1994 World Cup, a wildly ambitious U.S. men's soccer team swaggered onto the international stage, ready to win it all. But when they arrived at the 1998 World Cup, they were forced to face their toughest opponent yet: themselves. 

Now, 20 years after their last place finish, the team opens up about what happened. In this 12-part series, Roger Bennett, host of the Men in Blazers podcast interviews more than 30 players, coaches, and media personalities about how not to win a World Cup. 

American Fiasco show image

American Fiasco

The true story of how not to win the World Cup. With Roger Bennett of the Men in Blazers podcast.

To request a transcript for an episode of this show, please use the form on this page, and select the “I Need To” and “Request Transcripts” options.

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