International Career
John Harkes played in the 1990 and 1994 FIFA World Cups and was controversially cut from the team weeks before the 1998 tournament by national team coach Steve Sampson.
Harkes made his national team debut on 23 March 1987 against Canada. He quickly established himself as a national team regular and was selected for the 1988 Olympics. That year the U.S. went 1-1-1 and failed to qualify for the second round. Harkes continued to play for the national team as it went through the qualification process for the upcoming World Cup. The team qualified for those games after an improbable 1-0 road victory over Trinidad and Tobago in the final qualification match.
In 1990, he was a member of a World Cup squad made up mostly of college and semi-professional players. The United States side was routed 1-5 by Czechoslovakia, but were respectable losing 0-1 to host nation and eventual semi-finalist Italy, and 1-2 to Austria. Despite losing all three matches, many players from the 1990 squad, including Harkes, Ramos, Meola, Marcelo Balboa and Eric Wynalda, formed the core of the US national team for most of the decade and played an important role in the development of MLS.
USA fared better as the host nation in the 1994 World Cup, upsetting Colombia 2-1 in a group stage match to advance to the Round of 16. Harkes contributed to the Andrés Escobar own goal which likely led to the Colombian defender's shooting death weeks later. Harkes delivered a cross from the left aimed at Earnie Stewart, which Escobar attempted to clear, but instead sent the ball past his goalkeeper.
However, Harkes missed the Round of 16 match against Brazil after receiving his second yellow card of the group stage against Romania, earning a one-match suspension. Brazil won the match 1-0 and went on to win the World Cup.
In Copa América 1995, Harkes led the United States, a guest team at the tournament, to a 3-0 upset of defending champion Argentina and a semi-final finish. He was named co-Most Valuable Player of the tournament, along with Uruguyan Enzo Francescoli.
In 1996, before the beginning of the qualifying for the 1998 World Cup, head coach Steve Sampson named Harkes "Captain For Life", which meant Harkes would be the captain of the national team as long as he wished and Sampson was the coach. He responded by leading the team in assists in qualifying and helped the United States qualify for a third straight World Cup finals appearance.
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