The Story of the World Cup

by Brian Glanville

  Three days before the Final, Germany consoled themselves with victory in the third place match in Naples against a dejected Austria. Both teams made several changes, and Germany scored after only twenty-four seconds; another save-rebound-shoot affair, scored by Lehner. Conen got a second, Horwarth, fit again, made it 1–2, and for a while Austria made the Germans look ploddingly inadequate. But Lehner eventually scored again for Germany, and the only goal of the second half came from the Austrian left-back Seszta’s thirty-yard free kick. Play became rough, but Germany survived.

  The Final Italy v. Czechoslovakia

  Rome had been curiously phlegmatic about the tournament, and even for the Final there were surprising gaps on the terraces. It was perhaps a pity the game was not played in the north, for the Stadio Nazionale, with its pitch of less than regulation size, its less than ‘capacity’ crowd, was hardly an ideal arena.

  It was known that Italy had the stamina and the power, not to mention home advantage and support, but the Czechs had wonderful skill and subtlety. The Czechs, indeed, began with some splendid, characteristically short-passing ‘Danubian school’ football, with Cambal, the centre-half, everywhere, Puc a great trial to the Italian right flank, Svoboda a clever inside-right. Planicka, though fate would be cruel to him again, looked authoritative in goal, ably abetted by his right-back, Zenisek. Pozzo felt that both teams were keyed up, not least his goalkeeper, Combi, and that the game was a disappointing one in consequence.

  There was no goal till twenty minutes from the end. Then Puc, who had been off the field with cramp, returned to take a corner. When the ball finally came back to him, he struck a long shot to Combi’s right, the goalkeeper dived late—and Italy were one down. How near the Czechs then came to making the game sure! Sobotka missed a fine chance, Svoboda banged a shot against the post. The Italian attack was stuttering: Schiavio looked tired, Guaita moved into the middle to confuse matters.

  Things looked black for Italy till eight minutes from the end, when a goal dropped out of the blue. Raimondo Orsi, the Argentinian left-winger, received the ball from Guaita, ran through the Czech defence, feinted with his left foot and shot with his right. The ball, swerving crazily, brushed Planicka’s desperate fingers and curled freakishly into the net. Next day, Orsi tried twenty times to repeat the shot for the benefit of photographers, with no goalkeeper in goal; and failed!

  So there was extra time. Pozzo decided he wanted Schiavio and Guaita to keep switching, but such was the tumult of the ecstatic Italian fans that he was unable to make himself heard. At last he rushed around the pitch and managed to tell Guaita. The second time the switch was made it produced a goal.

  Ninety-seven minutes had been played when a limping Meazza got the ball on the right wing, where the Czechs had tended to neglect him. He crossed to Guaita, who made ground and in turn found Schiavio. He, with a final effort, beat Ctyroky and shot past Planicka. When asked afterwards what strength he had called on, he said wryly, ‘The strength of desperation’.

  Italy had not only won the World Cup; they had made a profit of a million lire in the process. The more sceptical wondered if they would have won anywhere else. Four years later, they would get their answer.

  RESULTS: Italy 1934

  First round

  Italy 7, United States 1 (HT 3/0)

  Czechoslovakia 2, Romania 1 (HT 0/1)

  Germany 5, Belgium 2 (HT 1/2)

  Austria 3, France 2 (HT 1/1, 1/1) after extra time

  Spain 3, Brazil 1 (HT 3/1)

  Switzerland 3, Holland 2 (HT 2/1)

  Sweden 3, Argentina 2 (HT 1/1)

  Hungary 4, Egypt 2 (HT 2/1)

  Second round

  Germany 2, Sweden 1 (HT 1/0)

  Austria 2, Hungary 1 (HT 1/0)

  Italy 1, Spain 1 (HT 1/0, 1/1) after extra time

  Italy 1, Spain 0 (HT 1/0) Replay

  Czechoslovakia 3, Switzerland 2 (HT 1/1)

  Semi-finals

  Rome

  Czechoslovakia 3 Germany 1

  Planicka (capt.); Kress; Haringer,

  Burger, Ctyroky; Busch; Zielinski,

  Kostalek, Cambal, Szepan (capt.), Bender;

  Krcil; Junek, Svoboda, Lehner, Siffling,

  Sobotka, Nejedly, Conen, Noack,

  Puc. Kobierski.

  SCORERS

  Nejedly (2), Krcil for Czechoslovakia

  Noack for Germany

  HT 1/0

  Milan

  Italy 1 Austria 0

  Combi (capt.); Platzer; Cisar, Seszta;

  Monzeglio, Allemandi; Wagner, Smistik

  Ferraris IV, Monti, (capt.), Urbanek;

  Bertolini; Guaita, Zischek, Bican,

  Meazza, Schiavo, Sindelar, Schall,

  Ferrari, Orsi. Viertel.

  SCORER

  Guaita for Italy

  HT 1/0

  Third place match

  Naples

  Germany 3 Austria 2

  Jakob; Janes, Busch; Platzer; Cisar, Seszta;

  Zielinski, Muenzenberg, Wagner, Smistik

  Bender; Lehner, (capt.), Urbanek;

  Siffling, Conen, Szepan Zischek, Braun, Bican,

  (capt.), Heidemann. Horwath, Viertel.

  SCORERS

  Lehner (2), Conen for Germany

  Seszta for Austria

  HT 3/1

  Final

  Rome

  Italy 2 Czechoslovakia 1

  (after extra time)

  Combi (capt.); Planicka (capt.);

  Monzeglio, Allemandi; Zenisek, Ctyroky;

  Ferraris IV, Monti, Kostalek, Cambal,

  Bertolini; Guaita, Krcil; Junek, Svoboda,

  Meazza, Schiavo, Sobotka, Nejedly,

  Ferrari, Orsi. Puc.

  SCORERS

  Orsi, Schiavio for Italy

  Puc for Czechoslovakia

  HT 0/0

  FRANCE

  1938

  Background to France

  By 1938 and the third World Cup, Europe was in turmoil. The Anschluss had swallowed up Austria, whose best players had been greedily snatched by the German national team, while Spain was in the throes of civil war. From South America, meanwhile, Uruguay, still piqued by the refusals of 1930 and troubled by a continuing crisis of professionalism, declined to come to France; as did Argentina. The Argentinians were still sulking because France’s candidature for the World Cup had been preferred to their own at FIFA’S 1936 Congress at the Opera Kroll, Berlin. After coquetting with the organisers for months, they at length decided to stay at home; a decision which provoked a riot outside their federation’s offices in Buenos Aires that the police had to quell.

  The tournament included—for the first and only time to date—the Cubans, Poles and Dutch East Indies, while the Swedes, Romanians and Swiss were again present. The Czechs, runners-up in 1934, still had Planicka in goal, the classic Nejedly at inside-left and Kostalek at right-half. Otherwise they, like Italy, had rebuilt. Once more, despite distances and early eliminations, the competition was to follow a knockout pattern.

  The First Round

  Italy were very nearly knocked out at once: in Marseilles, by the Norwegians, who had given their Olympic team an arduous run for their money. Norway, playing with six of the team which had lost only 2–1 to Italy in the Olympic semi-final, were a goal down in only the second minute. Piola found Ferrari, whose shot was dropped by the Norwegian goalkeeper. Ferraris ii, the left winger, shot the ball home. R. Johansen, the Norwegian right-back, now indicated Piola to his centre-half, Eriksen, who nodded and dropped back to dedicate himself successfully to the big centre-forward, Henriksen, the little right-half, taking his place in midfield. The pendulum swung.

  Brunyldsen, the mighty centre-forward, now began to set dreadful problems for the Italian defence. He was well abetted by his fast, direct left-winger, Brustad, and Kwammen, a composed inside-right. Three times post and bar were hit, and finally Brustad, in the second half, received from Brunyldsen, cut inside Monzeglio, and equalised. Soon afterwards,
Brustad had the ball in the net again, to be given offside; and just before time, Olivieri made his famous save from Brunyldsen, whom Pozzo called ‘a cruel thorn in my crown of roses’.

  Five minutes into extra time, Piola at last evaded the Norwegian defence, when Paserati shot. Again H. Johansen could only block, and the centre-forward scored. Italy had survived their hardest match of the tournament.

  The Brazilians were drawn against Poland, in Strasbourg. The game turned out to be an extraordinary one, with extra time, eleven goals, and infinite swings of the pendulum. Brazil had the classic full-back, Domingas Da Guia, and the wonderfully elastic centreforward, Leonidas, scorer of four goals; the Poles had their blond inside-left Willimowski, himself the scorer of four.

  At Strasbourg it was wet and muddy, but Leonidas was as dangerous as ever. In the second half, he once took off his boots and threw them dramatically to his trainer, but the Swedish referee, Eklind, made him put them on again.

  Surprisingly, the Brazilians chose no fewer than six debutants in their team, but by half-time Leonidas already had a hat trick, and his team were leading, 3–1. After this, the Polish half-backs took hold of the game, and it was Willimowski who ran riot. He scored twice, forcing extra time. Willimowski got another in the supplementary period, but goals by Leonidas and Romeo, a coruscating inside-right, took Brazil narrowly through.

  In Paris, at the Parc des Princes, it took a replay before the brave Swiss put out the Germans. In the first half, Gauchel gave Germany the lead, but Trello Abegglen, a popular figure in France after much success with Sochaux, headed in Wallaschek’s centre. The second half and extra time produced no more goals.

  Five days later—World Cups moved at a more leisurely pace in those days—the Swiss fielded an unchanged team. The Germans now picked three Austrians.

  There were now six goals. Germany were actually 2–0 up by halftime, Hahnemann, their Austrian centre-forward, and Loertscher, with an unfortunate own goal, having scored. Wallaschek made it 2–1, and when Aebi, the Swiss left-winger, temporarily went off injured, his team increased rather than relaxed their pressure. Aebi came back, Bickel equalised, and the splendid Abegglen scored twice more to give Switzerland victory.

  In Toulouse, Cuba, who were only there because Mexico had withdrawn, astonished the Romanians, who still had three members of their 1930 team. The result was an exciting 3–3 draw and the Cubans, unimpressed by fervent praise for their fine goalkeeper, Carvajales, dropped him from the replay. Undaunted, Carvajales called a Press conference of his own at which he promised that Cuba would win the replay: ‘The Romanian game has no more secrets for us. We shall score twice, they will only score once. Adios, caballeros.’ He proved right, though some, including the linesman and Final referee, Georges Capdeville, thought the Cuban winner was offside.

  Stalemates, indeed, proliferated. There was another at Le Havre between Czechs and Dutch; this was, however, resolved in extra time, when the loss through injury of van der Veen finally proved too much for Holland.

  France, the hosts, were another team with plenty of experienced World Cup men. Thépot—who, with Delfour and Aston, had been ‘chaired’ by the crowd at the Gare de Lyon on his return from the 1934 World Cup—had gone. But a superb new goalkeeper had emerged in Laurent di Lorto, who had played brilliantly against the Italians earlier that season at the Parc des Princes. Delfour and Aston were still there; so was Etienne Mattler. Alfred Aston, indeed, was recalled to the right wing when Roger Courtois dropped out ill, and had a magnificent game against Belgium at Colombes. So did Jean Bastien of Marseilles, a young right-half making his debut in place of the injured Bourbotte.

  France scored against their old foes in forty seconds when Badjou, Belgium’s surprisingly recalled 1930 World Cup keeper, could only parry Jean Nicolas’ shot, and Veinante, yet another 1930 veteran, shot home. After ten minutes, Nicolas slipped through for a second, but Isemborghs scored for Belgium in a breakaway, and it was twenty-five minutes into the second half before France made the game sure, Aston taking out two defenders and making a second goal for Nicolas.

  At Reims, Hungary brushed aside the Dutch East Indies 6–0, Sarosi and Zsengeller scoring a couple each.

  The Second Round

  Now Italy, the holders, met their French hosts in Paris. Pozzo brought in Foni for Monzeglio, and Amedeo Biavati and Gino Colaussi on the wings, but he kept Serantoni, who had had a dreadful game in Marseilles. His confidence was rewarded, for Serantoni played with robust aplomb for the rest of the World Cup, an inspiring figure to the team.

  Played at the enlarged Colombes Stadium before 58,000 fans, the match at first found both teams uneasy, remembering perhaps the 0–0 draw of the previous December. It was Piola who turned the tide. He not only threatened the French goal, but distributed the ball superbly with head and both feet, and moved cleverly to the flanks, lithe and explosive. When his opponent, the naturalised Austrian Gusti Jordan, was presumptuous enough to leave him in the second half, it proved disastrous.

  Colaussi put Italy ahead after only six minutes, swerving round Bastien and sending over a cross-ball which made its way through Di Lorto’s hands and into the net. But within less than a minute Delfour found Veinante with a delightful pass, praised by Pozzo as the best of the tournament. Aston cunningly let the centre run, and Oscar Heisserer, the Alsatian inside-right, equalised.

  In the second half, Piola settled matters. When Jordan and Diagne unwisely went upfield together, Biavati robbed Diagne and sent a long deep pass to Piola, who ran on to score. Next, Piola sent Colaussi down the left, a long crossfield ball found Biavati, the right-winger drew Mattler and flicked it to Piola, who headed it in.

  The Swedes, managed by Joseph Nagy, a Hungarian, now annihilated the weary and inept Cubans by 8–0. Torre Keller, captain and insideright, a survivor of the 1924 Olympic team and now aged thirty-five, made and scored a goal, while Gustav Wetterstroem, the ‘bombardier of Nörrkoping’, forerunner of the great Gunnar Nordahl, scored four, his flaxen hair flying.

  At 5–0 the French journalist, Emmanuel Gambardella, shut his typewriter. ‘Up to five goals,’ he announced, ‘is journalism. After that, it becomes statistics.’

  At Bordeaux, where Brazil played the Czechs, there was carnage. The final toll was one broken leg—alas, the dazzling Nejedly’s—one broken right arm, Planicka’s, a bad stomach injury for Kostalek, lesser injuries for Peracio and Leonidas, and three expulsions, for Machados and Zeze of Brazil, and Riha, the Czech outside-right.

  Soon after the start Zeze, Brazil’s right-half, inexplicably and brutally kicked Nejedly, to be sent off by Hertzka, the Hungarian referee. Despite this, Brazil scored after half an hour through Leonidas. A minute from half-time, off went Riha and Machados for exchanging punches.

  Fifteen minutes after the interval, Domingas Da Guia, so elegant yet so unpredictable, so opposed to what he called ‘shock football’ yet at times so violent, handled the ball and Nejedly, then still in one piece, scored the penalty. There were no goals in extra time, and Brazil’s impertinent appeal against the result of the match was rejected.

  The replay, a strange study in group psychology, was as proper and placid as the first match was violent. Georges Capdeville of France succeeded Hertzka as referee; the atmosphere might also have been helped by the fact that the Czechs chose six new players and the Brazilians nine.

  So confident were the Brazilians of victory that the main party left for Marseilles, and the semi-final against Italy, before the game began! They were taken aback when Kopecky—a fine, attacking left-half, moved to inside-left to replace the irreplaceable Nejedly—scored. In the second half, however, Brazil got into their stride, played much exquisite football, and should have had many more than the two goals they scored. Leonidas, splendid again, equalised after an hour, beating Planicka’s deputy, Burkert. What looked like a good goal by Senecky was not awarded when Walter, Brazil’s keeper, seemed to pull the ball back from behind his goal line, and Roberto was thus able to vol
ley the winner.

  The Semi-Finals Italy v. Brazil

  Pozzo, before the game, visited the Brazilian headquarters to point out to them that they had booked every seat on the plane to Paris for the day after the match. ‘What of it?’ was the reply.

  ‘Only that if you lose,’ said Pozzo, ‘you will have to go back to Bordeaux to play the third place match, while we go to Paris for the final.’

  ‘But we shan’t lose,’ was the answer. ‘We shall win in Marseilles.’

  ‘Quite sure?’ asked Pozzo.

  ‘Quite sure.’ Hubris to be punished by Nemesis.

  Now, however, Brazil’s self-assurance would undo them. Eight changes were made, the revenants including Zeze and Machados, the man sent off in Bordeaux, who would later, but only later, be punished.

  It was a sad, bad day for the Olympian Domingas Da Guia, whose son, Ademir Da Guia, would himself play for Brazil some thirty years later. Piola, big and physical, was just the kind of player to unsettle and annoy him, while to make matters worse the fleet Colaussi streaked past him to score the first goal. For Domingas the game plainly reduced itself to a personal duel with Piola, and when, after fourteen minutes, Piola went past him again, he chopped him down. Piola made a histrionic meal of it; up came the cool captain, Meazza, to convert the penalty—an instant before his ripped shorts fell down.