June 22 (1962)

Kutis tops FC Nuernberg, one of Germany’s top teams during the 1961-62 season, 3-2 in an international match at Public Schools Stadium. Such matches often are called “friendlies,” but there was nothing friendly about this game. Leading 1-0 in the 12th minute, Nuernberg gives up a penalty kick converted by Butch Cook to tie the score. Referee Bill Bertani awards the PK when he whistles Nuernberg’s Ziegfried Hummel for fouling Cook in the penalty area. “The call, which resulted in Nuernberg threatening to walk off the field, set off rough play by the visitors,” according to the next day’s St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Nuernberg, which finished first in the Oberliga Sud, the south division of what was then West Germany’s top-tier league, regains the lead on Dieter Eckhardt’s second goal of the game. Another penalty kick is awarded to Kutis when Bill Eppy’s shot hits the left arm of Waldi Kerndl in the penalty area in the second half. Cook’s PK ricochets off the crossbar, but an alert Bill Looby, a future U.S. Soccer Hall of Famer, follows up and rams in the rebound to level the game. Bob Rooney scores the winner on what the Post-Dispatch describes as a “spectacular hooking shot . . . that hit the inside of the goal post.” The victory marks the fourth time in five games that the all-St. Louis Kutis team beats a major German club. FC Nurernberg, which won 20 games, tied three and lost seven in the Oberliga, will win the DFB-Pokal, a knockout tournament in Germany similar to England’s FA Cup, later that summer.