Beşiktaş may have played a role in “Why America never fell in love with soccer (!)
Why America never fell in love with soccer
By James Montague, CNN
“In 1950 we played Besiktas of Istanbul, in St. Louis. They beat us badly, 5-0. It was a tryout as much as anything, and then we faced an English select team with Stanley Matthews playing, in New York, and they won 1-0. Those were the first times the World Cup team played together. The next day we left for Brazil. It took us two and a half days to get down there!”