May 30 (1984)

St. Louisan David Brcic posts a shutout as the U.S. Men’s National Team shocks 1982 World Cup champion Italy, 0-0, in an international friendly at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. A crowd of 31,210 sees the Italians frustrated by an unbeatable U.S. defense. Brcic, a goalkeeper with the NASL’s New York Cosmos, makes his best save on a shot by Bruno Giordano in the 36th minute. The Italians, who include six veterans of the 1982 World Cup team, “tried in every way possible to get on the scoreboard, but strong defending from the U.S. and the solid performance by Brcic allowed the game to end in a scoreless draw,” according to Clemente Lisi in a 2018 story on ussoccerplayers.com. The tie, coupled with Roma’s loss to Liverpool on the same day in the European Cup final, leads Italian newspapers to bemoan May 30 as “a day of disgrace.”