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Bert Patenaude was a goal scorer. He proved that during his club career, beginning with the Philadelphia Field Club and then with his home town team, Fall River FC, out of Massachusetts.
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Patenaude’s ability to find the back of the net was helpful as the United States took part in the first World Cup in 1930, which was hosted by Uruguay.
Only 13 teams took part, but the format was similar to today with a round-robin group stage before the knockout rounds resulted in a champion. The U.S. was grouped with Paraguay and Belgium and had an easy time advancing with a pair of 3-0 victories.
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It was in that second match that Patenaude would mark his place in World Cup history — although the honor would not be bestowed upon him for 76 years.
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FIFA reports at the time credited the second U.S. goal during their win over Paraguay to Tom Florie. Others recorded it as an own goal, while match reports in newspapers in Argentina and Brazil had Patenaude down for a hat trick.
Two days after the match, Guillermo Stábile of Argentina scored three times during a win over Mexico. He was then the official record-holder of the competition’s first hat trick.
Enter soccer historian Colin Jose.
Jose, who helped found the Canada Soccer Hall of Fame, worked as a press officer and statistician for Canada’s national teams, had a conversation with Arnie Oliver, a member of the 1930 U.S. World Cup team. Oliver informed Jose that Patenaude did in fact score three times during the Paraguay match. Jose also spoke to Jim Brown, another player on that squad, who backed up Oliver’s claim of the hat trick.
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Later on, Jose would discover the match report by U.S. manager Wilfrid Cummings, which had Cummings recording Patenaude as scoring three times.
That put Jose on the hunt for confirmation.
After gathering findings from South Americans newspapers, testimony from former teammates and United States Soccer Federation records, Jose went to FIFA.
Jose would eventually hear back from FIFA, which informed him that Patenaude had officially been credited with the hat trick. It wasn’t until a decade later, on Nov. 10, 2006 — 76 years after the match — that FIFA officially recognized Patenaude as the player with the first World Cup hat trick.
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Patenaude would be inducted into the U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame in 1971. Jose is honored every year with the handing out of the Colin Jose Media Award by the Hall of Fame. It’s an award that goes to a journalist who has made a significant impact on the sport in the U.S.
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