The U.S. men's team at the 1950 World Cup.

With the release of the highly anticipated USA home jersey at the end of this month (May 29th to be exact), it only makes sense that we take a look at the historic "miracle on grass," which the new jersey draws inspiration from. While we can't show you pictures yet due to strict rules from Nike (if you really want to see the jersey, click here), I can promise you the new USA home jersey to be worn during the World Cup is white and looks very similar to that worn by the 1950 World Cup squad.

If you aren't familiar with the "miracle on grass," let's have a bit of a history lesson. Heading into the 1950 World Cup, England considered themselves "Kings of Football" with an impressive post-war record of 23 wins, 4 losses and 3 draws. On the flip side of the coin, the Americans were downright awful, having lost their last seven in a row by a combined score of 45-2. If you're a betting man, the odds were 3-1 for England to bring home the World Cup compared to 500-1 odds for the Yanks.

When we look at this story, we have to keep in mind that soccer was very new to the United States. Most players on the American team were semi-pros and had other jobs to support their families. The rag tag American squad was assembled so late that they were only able to scrimmage as a complete team once before leaving for Brazil.

While the Americans looked destined for doom in Brazil, the English side sported the world’s best player - Stanley Matthews. Surprisingly, he was left out of the side facing the USA due to his absence from three previous international matches after joining the team late. Believe it or not, back during these times there was no substitutions allowed.

USA away jersey for the 2010 World Cup.

Want to get one?  Click the jersey to order online.

When the game actually kicked off, England went flying out of the gates. Within twelve minutes, England had recorded six clear shot-on-goal but had failed to convert. Like often is the case, England would come to regret the lack of finishing during that stretch. In the 37th minute, USA's Joe Gaetjens got a glancing header to William Bahr's long range shot, which wrong footed English goalkeeper Bert Williams. The crowd exploded as the Americans took a shock lead into the break.

The second half saw the USA play with a new found confidence, creating a few more scoring opportunities. Eventually the USA survived a late penalty scare (a foul was controversially judged to be outside the box) and held on for the improbably victory.
The fairy tale World Cup was quickly stamped out as the USA lost their remaining matches and failed to qualify for the next round. Even so, the USA victory over England in 1950 is still seen as the biggest upset in soccer history.

Nike has reached back to that glorious day for inspiration in designing the new USA jerseys for World Cup 2010 in South Africa. While the USA away jersey is already out sporting the diagonal sash, the home jersey will bear the same design but in white with a light grey sash.

Pre-Order your new USA Home Jersey on May 29th at SoccerFanatic.com and relive this historic occasion.