By Adam Allington, KWMU
St. Louis, MO. – A St. Louis sports legend has died.
Gino Pariani grew up on the Italian neighborhood, the Hill and played on the 1950 U.S. World Cup Soccer team.
Pariani was the son of Italian immigrants and grew up playing soccer and softball alongside Yogi Berra.
He participated in one of the most famous soccer upsets in world history when a fledgling U.S. men's team defeated the mighty English 1-0 at the 1950 World Cup in Brazil.
Frank Borghi also grew up in St. Louis and played goalkeeper for the 1950 team.
"We lived on the same block of Dagget Ave., so I knew Gino for a long time, we played together with the Carini Cleaners as sponsors and like I say he was quite a player," Borghi said.
The story of the 1950 World Cup team and their upset victory was told in "The Game of Their Lives," filmed in St. Louis.
Pariani died Wednesday night after having bone cancer for two years, his family said, at the age of 79.
A few days after he married, Pariani boarded a plane for Brazil with his St. Louis teammates. The Americans won on a header by Joe Gaetjens in the 37th minute.
The English team featured the likes of Alf Ramsey, who would go on to become England's 1966 World Cup-winning coach, and Tom Finney. Both were eventually knighted for their soccer exploits.
Pariani, a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame, also played on the U.S. Olympic team in 1948.