John Souza

John Souza-Benavides (July 12, 1920 – March 11, 2012)[1] known as John "Clarkie" Souza,[2] was an American soccer player who earned 14 caps and scored 2 goals for the United States men's national soccer team,[3] and played in the U.S. team's historic 1–0 victory over England in the 1950 FIFA World Cup. He was selected for a World Cup All-Star team by the Brazilian sports newspaper Mundo Esportivo, and remained the only American player ever selected to a World Cup All-Star team until Claudio Reyna in 2002. He is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame. He was born in Fall River, Massachusetts and died in Dover, Pennsylvania.

Not to be confused with John Philip Sousa.

John Souza
Personal information
Full name John Souza-Benavides
Date of birth (1920-07-12)July 12, 1920
Place of birth Fall River, Massachusetts
Date of death March 11, 2012(2012-03-11) (aged 91)
Place of death Dover, Pennsylvania
Position(s) Forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1946–1951 Fall River Ponta Delgada
1951–19?? New York German-Hungaria
National team
1947–1954 United States 14 (2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Souza is sometimes credited as having scored two goals[4] in the tournament but modern sources indicate he scored neither; Gino Pariani scored against Spain and Frank Wallace scored their first goal against Chile.

Souza was a member of the Fall River Ponta Delgada team that won the National Challenge Cup in 1947, as well as the National Amateur Cup for three consecutive years, from 1946 to 1948. In 1951, he transferred to the New York German-Hungarians and proceeded to again win both the National Challenge Cup and the National Amateur Cup that year. Souza was a member of the U.S. team for both the 1948 and 1952 Summer Olympics, and played for the U.S. against Scotland at Hampden Park in 1952.

He was a World War Two veteran, having served in the Navy as a Morse code operator on a supply ship in the South Pacific.[5] He is buried with his wife Anita at Massachusetts National Cemetery, Bourne, Massachusetts.[6]

He was not related to his teammate Ed Souza.[7]

References
  1. "John Souza, former US soccer player, dies". Boston.com. Retrieved August 9, 2013.
  2. "U.S. World Cup Forward John 'Clarkie' Souza Passes Away at Age 91". US Soccer. Archived from the original on April 24, 2013. Retrieved August 9, 2013.
  3. "USA – Details of International Matches 1885–1969". rsssf.com. Retrieved May 25, 2017.
  4. "The US and the 1950 World Cup". The Philly Soccer Pge. Archived from the original on May 13, 2013. Retrieved August 9, 2013.
  5. "John Souza". Olympedia. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
  6. Findagrave, Accessed February 16, 2015
  7. "John "Clarkie" Souza". Society for American Soccer History. Retrieved February 13, 2017.


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