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'Captain America's' journey from trailblazer to tragedy at the Olympics

Soccer Hall of Famer Al Trost was in Munich when terrorists struck the Olympic games

ST. LOUIS — A grandfather always likes to set a good example for his grandson.

And when it comes to soccer in St. Louis, the man with the silver hair is the gold standard.

"I was very fortunate to play with a lot of good players," he said.

And a lot of good players were fortunate to play with Al Trost.

Trost's star began to rise at St. Louis University where one of his teammates was Bill McDermott. 

"Al was so smooth. Very good on the ball,  He could shoot from distance," McDermott said.

In an era when many big-name colleges were recruiting Europeans and South Americans to play for their programs, Trost led a team of St. Louisans.

"Some north siders, some south siders who came together," Trost explained

And won two straight national championships in 1969 and 1970. 

Trost himself won back-to-back Herman awards, the soccer equivalent to the Heisman Trophy.

Instead of going pro, Trost chose to play for the 1972 US Olympic Soccer Team, when the Olympics only allowed amateurs.

"In soccer that was the high point," Trost said. "The biggest thing for an American soccer player."

You had to go back to 1956 for the last time USA soccer was in the Olympics. But they qualified for the Munich games, thanks in part to Trost and five other St. Louisans.

"We were all very proud as St Louisans that so many St Louisans were on the soccer team," McDermott remembered.

Though the Americans were eliminated early, Trost says the experience was a dream come true. Until those dreams were shattered.

"The security was relatively non-existent at the beginning because these are Olympic and friendly games," Trost said.

On Sept. 5, 1972,  terrorists from Black September of Palestine got into the Olympic Village and took 11 Israeli athletes and coaches hostage.

"Our balcony at the Olympic village and our building was just across from where the Israeli athletes were housed," Trost recounts.

After a failed attempt to rescue the hostages, ABC Sports' Jim McKay went on the air with the devastating news.

"When I was a kid," he began, "my father used to say our greatest hopes and our worst fears are seldom realized. Our worst fears have been realized tonight. They have now said there were eleven hostages; two were killed in their rooms yesterday morning, nine were killed at the airport tonight. They're all gone."

It forever changed security at the Olympics.

"It's something I'll never forget," Trost said.

Trost went on to captain the US National Team, where he earned the nickname Captain America.

As a pro, he was a three-time North-American Soccer League All-Star.

He later coached the St. Louis Steamers, then Parkway South High School and led McCluer North to a state championship.

And now he's excited about the new downtown stadium and the team that will play in it: St. Louis City S.C., which starts Major League Soccer play in 2023.

"I think there is great ownership behind it," he said. "I think they're all doing the right thing. The stadium is going to be awesome."

In 2006, Al Trost was elected to the National Soccer Hall of Fame.  A fitting tribute to a legendary career that took him from Captain America to Grandpa Al.

"He will go down in history as one of the best players to ever represent his country," added McDermott. "And certainly, certainly one of the best players to ever come out of St Louis."

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