Seventy-five years after the U.S. pulled off an upset over soccer powerhouse England in the 1950 FIFA World Cup, five St. Louis residents who were a part of the 11-man starting team were immortalized on the side of Anthonino’s Taverna on the Hill.
St. Louis City SC unveiled the mural on Tuesday. Painted by local artist Scott Pondrom, it features the five players: Frank Borghi, Charlie Colombo, Harry Keough, Gino Pariani and Frank “Pee Wee” Wallace. It includes the words “Hill 2 Brazil” because four of the players were from the Hill neighborhood.
The surviving family members of the players joined Pondrom at the unveiling.
“It’s very humbling to see that they’re still remembered, they're still honored for the great upset that they did, but I think it was more than that, I think they were a part of this community,” said Glen Pariani, who is the son of Gino Pariani. “I couldn't be more proud of my father.”
“He’s been gone for 18 years. They're still talking about him,” he added. "It’s pretty surreal.”
Pondrom worked for nine days straight on the mural, starting at Anthonino’s Taverna when the sun was just coming over the horizon and working until the summer heat became too much to paint through. Throughout that time, community members who knew the players would come by to chat with him.
“I’ve painted many murals for a long time, but rarely if ever I've not had the community behind me, like commenting, talking to me, visiting,” Pondrom said. “It really felt special to be part of something much bigger than me.”
Correction: A previous version of this story misspelled Pariani.
