In 1995, the United States Men’s National Team was locked in a fierce battle. Invited to the Copa América tournament in Uruguay, the United States adversary was not another nation, but rather their own federation, “Our preparation for that tournament was not ideal,” Alexi Lalas told Yahoo Sport UK with a laugh.

Locked in negotiations with the U.S. Soccer federation over bonus payments, the two sides had agreed a bonus structure in principle before the team boarded a flight to Buenos Aires, Argentina. However, once in the air, they received a single sheet of paper outlining the revised structure for bonuses. Significantly different to what the team had originally asked for - roughly $2,500 per player - they would now be paid relative to international experience.

Players with 0 to 10 caps for the national team would receive no payment. Those on between 11 and 25 caps would earn $500, while the members of the squad with between 26 and 50 caps would get $1,000. That figure then jumped considerably to $5,000 for those with upwards of 50 caps.

On the surface, the USSF’s approach seemed rooted in loyalty to those that had been long associated with the team. However, for players such as Kasey Keller, still in single digits for caps, it was disheartening, “I think we were all at a point after the ’94 World Cup where we knew our value,” Marcelo Balboa said. “We had a good World Cup, we lost 1-0 to Brazil, and we were finally at a point where people wanted to play us, and respected us.”

For the players, the issue was not solely the financial gain - or lack thereof - as much as the principal behind it and being fair, “Playing at home in the World Cup in 1994 was an honour and a half, but we also knew that U.S. Soccer made a lot of money hosting the World Cup,” Balboa added. “We made very little from it [World Cup 1994] as players.

With neither side willing to back down, it lead to a tense stand off, “The U.S. team stood up as a group and fought for the rights that even today the U.S. Men’s National Team receive,” Lalas said. “There was absolutely a moment where we were not going to step on the field.”

Once the plane landed the team, led by captain John Harkes, approached interim head coach Steve Sampson and informed him of their intention to not play until the matter was resolved, “While they were on strike I got a call from the USSF Secretary General [Hank Steinbrecher], telling me that they were going to be sending the Olympic team to replace the national team for that competition,” Sampson said. “As an interim coach, I’m thinking I have no chance of being named the full coach now, because there’s no way I’m going to get the results I need with the Olympic team against the likes of, Argentina, Chile and Bolivia.”

Word of the USSF’s contingency plan quickly filtered back to the players, “We weren’t worried,” Marcelo Balboa said. “We were going to stick together no matter what. We knew we were going to be threatened. When we heard about the U20s coming, we said ok. This was the best tournament in South America ,and you couldn’t bring an Olympic team because CONMEBOL wouldn’t allow it. They invited the full U.S. Men’s National Team to play, not the Olympic team. We knew the value we had as a national team.”

Back home, news of the story had already broken, “It was in Soccer America the magazine,” Balboa said. “We knew it got out, and we knew the pressure and how we’d have to perform off the back of it. We had a lot to prove to people that ’94 wasn’t a fluke.”

In an interview recently Steinbrecher joked that the mere mention of the incident now brings him out in hives. A polarising situation in which hours felt like days, the team hotel remained a picture of calm, “I remember being in the lobby quite a bit with a bunch of guys,” Balboa said. “There was a lot of cards being played. We would occasionally go out for walks. We tried not to go out too much because the media were there, and they wanted to know why we weren’t training. I must have had 10 coffees a day.”

For those players that remained in their room, the standoff even presented the chance to perfect a new skill, “We spent three days in our hotel rooms drinking cappuccino and playing backgammon,” Eric Wynalda said with a laugh. “I thought I would have got good at it but man Frank Klopas was good. I don’t know how I can get beat that many times in a row and not really ever get a full grasp of the game. I took the frustrations of the back gammon table out on the field for sure. I don’t know why Greeks are so damn good at that game.”

Story continues