by Nick Holt
After their ordinary showing in the first match, Argentina gave their supposed second string a chance against Mexico – one change was enforced by their captain Nolo Ferreira sitting a law exam on the day of the match! Imagine John Terry flying home to sit a law exam . . . One of the beneficiaries of the changes was an inside-forward called Guillermo Stábile, who made his debut for the national team and set an unusual record by scoring a hat-trick in his first international and also his first World Cup match. Stábile kept his place for the tougher fixture against Chile and added two more goals in a 3–1 victory.
GROUP 4
Argentina’s semi-final opponents would be the USA, who had won through Group 4 with relative ease, beating Belgium and Paraguay without conceding. The USA were strong and quick and made light of their international experience. The win over Paraguay, recent conquerors of Uruguay in the Copa América, was excellent and saw the World Cup’s first hat-trick, by Bert Patenaude, all created by the dangerous Bart McGhee. Patenaude scored in the match against Belgium as well, and remains a famous figure in US soccer, even though he only played one further international after the competition, against Brazil in a post-World Cup tour. Patenaude played his club football for the splendidly named Fall River Marksmen, a Massachusetts club in the first American Soccer League, which ran successfully throughout the 1920s until financial failure in the wake of the Wall Street Crash.
GROUP 2
* Brazilian captain and centre-forward Preguinho of Fluminense was one of the first superstars of Brazilian football. He was a brilliant multi-disciplined sportsman, excelling at basketball and water polo as well as football; he once swam for the Fluminense club in the state championships then promptly took a taxi to play in a football match.
Paraguay weren’t the only South American side to come a cropper in the early stages. Brazil, even with an almost completely new side, were still expected to get the better of Yugoslavia, but they paid the price for a poor first half and lost 2–1. The undoubted star was the Yugoslav goalkeeper Jaksic, who stayed calm and strong during a second half onslaught by the Brazilians. The young Yugoslav team were far too good for Bolivia – as would any respectable pub team have been – winning 4–0. Pictures show one of the Bolivian side sporting a natty beret thirty-odd years before Che Guevara made them de rigeur amongst the continent’s trendies. Yugoslavia’s 4–0 win rendered Brazil’s win over Bolivia irrelevant.
GROUP 3
Yugoslavia’s reward for their good work was a semi-final against hosts Uruguay. Drawn in an easy group with Romania and Peru, Uruguay had to delay their first appearance until the main stadium was ready, leaving Peru and Romania to open the group with a violent match in front of a pathetic crowd at Pocitos. Uruguay made their delayed first appearance at the Centenário on 18 July, and produced a stumbling performance against unfancied Peru, missing a hatful of chances and finding twenty-year-old Pardón in the Peruvian goal in excellent form. Three days later, nerves settled, they produced a much better performance to brush aside Romania. Coach Alberto Suppici restored the experienced Héctor Scarone to the starting line-up and the added guile made life easier for the forwards, who shared the goals in a 4–0 win as Uruguay dominated the first half then took the foot off the pedal and saved themselves for harder tasks ahead.
SEMI-FINALS
In the first semi-final the USA started well against Argentina, creating a couple of good chances, but soon the superior skill of the Argentinians took effect, as did Monti’s own brand of physical endeavour; USA centre-half Ralph Tracy suffered a knee injury that meant he missed the second half. After reaching the interval only a goal to the good, through Monti, Argentina overran the undermanned Americans in the second half, running in a further five goals, with two more for Stábile. The USA deserved their late consolation.
In one of those frequent statistical quirks the game throws up, the other semi-final ended with the same scoreline. Yugoslavia scored first – the first goal that Uruguay’s tough back line conceded – but the goal spurred on Uruguay and they were the stronger side throughout. Some sources claim a second goal for Yugoslavia at 2–1 down should not have been disallowed, but Uruguay were very convincing in the second half and ran out easy winners. The strolling inside-forward Pedro Cea scored a hat-trick and the asthmatic centre-forward Anselmo twice – although the latter suffered a flare-up in his condition that meant he lost his place for the final.
Yugoslavia were far from disgraced, and their young (twenty-four-year-old) captain Milutin Ivkovíc, was one of the stars of the tournament, along with the lively centre-forward Ivan Bek (later capped by France where he played club football). Ivkovíc was intelligent and politically active, and it would cost him his life during the Second World War when he was executed by the Nazis as a Communist agitator.
WORLD CUP FINAL No.1
30 July 1930, Centenário; 68,346
Referee: John Langenus (Belgium)
Coaches: Francisco Olazar (Argentina) & Alberto Suppici (Uruguay)
Uruguay (2–3–5): Enrique Ballestrero (Rampla Juniors); José Nasazzi (Bella Vista), Ernesto Mascheroni (Olimpia); José Andrade (Nacional), Lorenzo Fernández (Peñarol), Álvaro Gestido (Peñarol); Pablo Dorado (Bella Vista), Héctor Scarone (Nacional), Héctor Castro (Nacional), Pedro Cea (Nacional), Santos Iriarte (Racing Club, Montevideo)
Argentina (2–3–5): Juan Botasso (Argentino de Quilmes); José Della Torre (Racing Club, BA), Fernando Paternóster (Racing Club, BA); Pedro Suárez (Boca Juniors), Luis Monti (San Lorenzo), Juan Evaristo (Sportivo Barracas); Mario Evaristo (Boca Juniors)*, Nolo Ferreira (Estudiantes), Guillermo Stábile (Huracán), Francisco Varallo (Gimnasia), Carlos Peucelle (Sportivo BA)
This match may not have had much impact in Europe, but the atmosphere during the build-up in Montevideo and Buenos Aires was near rabid. Thousands were left disappointed on the docks at Buenos Aires when boats of all shapes and sizes set sail down the coast in the fog carrying excited Argentinians to the game. There are stories of government officials commandeering sailing vessels and commercial boats to carry them – early warning that a downside of a World Cup is the sight of politicians with negligible knowledge of the game doing their “I’m a genuine fan” face while snacking on corporate canapés in a box.
In keeping with the gangster age, there were death threats issued before the match; Luis Monti was told by Buenos Aires mobsters that unpleasant things might happen to his family if Argentina lost. He was told similar things by Uruguayan gangsters if he masterminded a victory over their team – Argentina’s most effective player needed more than a little persuading to take the field. He wasn’t the only one; the Belgian referee insisted on protection for himself and his family, and a boat ready and waiting to take him back to Europe as soon as the game was over. Langenus had another minor crisis before the game – both sides wanted to provide the match ball. The Belgian used the “little grey cells” so beloved of his famous fictional countryman Hercule Poirot and decreed that a different ball be used for each half.
Finishing touches had been applied to the stadium and it was a magnificent edifice to grace a fabulously passionate occasion. The authorities made the sensible decision to reduce the capacity for the final (hence the lower attendance than for the semis) to enable the stadium to be policed more effectively given all the warning signs of trouble.
This was the final everyone wanted; a final between two teams and two nations with a rivalry so intense it spilled way beyond the pitch. Uruguay taking on their bigger neighbours was Scotland versus England, New Zealand versus Australia, Hungary versus the Soviet Union in the fifties, it was David against Goliath, the oppressed against the evil empire.
Both sides had cause to be optimistic. Argentina had the more skilful players, great dribblers and artists, and they also had Monti, who not only struck fear into opposing attackers but was also one of the best passers of the ball in the game. Uruguay had their teamwork and their pride, their fierce will-to-win, and their memory of beating the same op
ponents in the Olympic Final in 1928. There is a word, garra, that is meant to encapsulate the Uruguayan pride in their footballing prowess. It has been overused and ascribed too much mystique, but it’s a good word – aggression, pride and guts all rolled into one with a smidgen of nationalism thrown in. Uruguay also had a superb back line, marshalled by the durable Nasazzi, and an excellent defensive half-back line in front; the only conspicuous weakness was in goal, where they missed Andrés Mazali, left out of the squad after a night on the tiles and an “assignation” in defiance of his manager. Ballestrero was okay, but Mazali was the best in the world.
They would need their garra, would Uruguay. They scored first; Castro, back in for the unfortunate Anselmo, set up Dorado for a cross shot past the exposed Botasso. Dorado was by preference a left-winger, but Suppici picked him on the right after a hesitant performance by the regular Urdinarán in the first group game. Despite the early goal Uruguay failed to settle and establish the neat interpassing for which they were known, and which had destroyed Yugoslavia in the semi-final. They gave Argentina too much space and Peucelle and Ferreira started to run at them. When Ferreira slipped a pass between Nasazzi and Gestido for the winger, Peucelle cut back outside Gestido and beat Ballestrero at his near post – he should have stopped it. A rare error from Nasazzi gave Argentina a second when the Uruguay skipper allowed a long ball from Monti to drop behind him – Stábile was lurking and scored. Half-time came with Argentina leading 2–1.
The second half could not have been a starker contrast. Andrade sat a little deeper and the other two half-backs moved further forward, Fernandez to deny Monti the room to spray his long passes. The forwards started threading those little passes between them, and the momentum of the game changed. Uruguay looked more determined and more purposeful, self-belief had been restored. Before the hour, Cea equalised after Scarone cleverly helped on a free-kick. Ten minutes later Iriarte was put in after a strong run by Mascheroni from the left-back position; Botasso should have done better with the winger’s scuffed strike.
Argentina rallied and Stábile came close, but a late, slightly fortuitous, header from Castro sealed the result. An Italian journalist described the teams as “ants” (Uruguay) and “cicadas” (Argentina) – colour and music succumbing to endeavour and spirit. Quaint and a little over-simplified, but essentially accurate.
The anticipated trouble came after the match, mostly in Buenos Aires, where nationalist mobs stoned the Uruguayan consulate and gangs roamed the streets burning anything they didn’t like. Apparently this new trophy was important.
On the fields of Buenos Aires and Montevideo a style was born. A home-grown way of playing football, like the home-grown way of dancing which was being invented in the milonga clubs. Dancers drew filigrees on a single floor tile, and football players created their own language in that tiny space where they chose to retain and possess the ball rather than kick it, as if their feet were hands braiding the leather.
Eduardo Galeano: Football in Sun and Shadow, 1997
World Cup Heroes No.1
José Leandro Andrade (1901–57)
Uruguay
During the 1924 Olympic Football tournament, won by Uruguay, one player stood out among the general excellence of the Uruguayan side; half-back José Andrade, one of the few black men holding down a place in a South American national side.
Andrade was tall, rangy and powerful (think Patrick Vieira) and could break down opposition moves and launch attacks with equal aplomb. With the uncompromising José Nasazzi behind him, Andrade enjoyed licence to roam forward – his game was about striding runs rather than sprayed passes – and cause havoc in the opposition half.
Andrade started with the smaller Montevideo club before spells with Nacional (where he played for most of his peak years) and Peñarol. He won four Uruguayan championships with Nacional. At international level he broke into the side and made his mark at the Paris Olympics; stories exist of Andrade roaming the fashionably seedy streets of Pigalle after the tournament dressed in top hat and silks, enjoying the respect accorded to the Negro Merveille, as the French press dubbed him (it stuck).
Andrade won another Olympic medal in 1928, three Copa América championships and the 1930 World Cup – a fine return for only thirty-four caps. Never much of a goalscorer (one for Uruguay) he was more of an enabler for the talented Uruguayan front line, especially his club colleague at Nacional, the prolific inside-forward Héctor Scarone.
Andrade was a guest of the Uruguayan authorities at the 1950 World Cup Final, where his nephew, Victor Rodriguez, played in the winning side. A plaque was created in his honour at the Estadio Nacional. After that he fell off the radar until a German journalist tracked him down living in poverty in Montevideo; he died of tuberculosis a year later, an unfitting end for a national hero, the first great black international player.
1930 Team of the Tournament: 2–3–5
Thépot (France)
Nasazzi (Uruguay) Ivkovic (Yugoslavia)
Andrade (Uruguay) Monti (Argentina) Tracy (USA)
Peucelle (Argentina) Ferreira (Argentina) Stábile (Argentina) Cea (Uruguay) Iriarte (Uruguay)
Leading scorers: Stábile (8); Cea (5); Patenaude (4)
The official team (chosen retrospectively) was: Ballestrero (Uruguay); Nasazzi (Uruguay), Ivkovic (Yugoslavia); Gestido (Uruguay), Monti (Argentina), Andrade (Uruguay); Cea (Uruguay), Stábile (Argentina), Scarone (Uruguay), Castro (Uruguay), Patenaude (USA).
1.2 FOOTBALL AT THE OLYMPICS
The Olympics was for a time the unofficial world championship of football, but the World Cup changed all that. By the time football resumed after the war, professionalism was so well established that the amateur game had become a sideshow and the Olympic football tournament followed suit – a display of shamateurism by the Eastern bloc countries used to boost their self-esteem and provide propaganda; their displays during the same period in the World Cup expose the truth beneath the sheen. The exception was the 1952 Hungarian side, which featured all the big names that helped them reach the final of the World Cup two years later. Hungary twice won the Olympic tournament in the 1960s, but made less impact on the World Cup, a terrific win over Brazil in 1966 aside.
From 1974, professionals were allowed to compete, but the stronger nations were not allowed to pick players who had already played in a World Cup; in 1984 the tournament adopted the current method of making the Olympics an Under-23 tournament, although the inclusion of three over-age stars renders this nonsensical. Either make it a proper youth tournament or forget it – Olympic boxing doesn’t suffer from excluding all the big names, on the contrary, it is a far more edifying spectacle than the over-hyped professional bills.
A strong feeling remains that football, such a global money-spinner already and so in thrall to the suits and sunglasses fraternity, has no place in the Olympic Games at all – not that the Olympics is a bastion of honesty and fair play, but because it is an opportunity for sportspeople who get less everyday acclaim (and less money) to shine. It is also the competition that provides those athletes with an opportunity to achieve the Holy Grail of their sport; no one remembers the winners of the world championships in athletics, swimming, cycling, rowing or badminton. The same (very valid) objection is raised to the presence of tennis and golf at the games.
The 2012 London Games was a case in point. It was largely agreed the Games were a triumph; well organised with good facilities, good competition and lots of lovely medals for the home team. But the football? Who cared? Certainly not the public, who stayed away from all but the Team GB matches. The men’s tournament was a non-event, and the sight of Luis Suárez at an event that celebrates the inclusiveness and Corinthian ideals of sport stuck in the craw. At least it produced a surprise winner in Mexico, and two African sides (Nigeria and Cameroon) have lifted the Olympic trophy, so perhaps the nature of the competition levels out the standard and provides an opportunity for teams other than the usual suspects to win. But Mexico won’t win the World Cu
p anytime soon, and nor will an African side, so the tournament is nowhere near the pinnacle of the sport, which is the intention of the Olympic Games.
At this point I should defend the presence of women’s football at the Games; the women’s game is starved of publicity in the main, and, if it became the primary focus for those who want to watch Olympic football, it would do the women’s game much good. And they play the game, in the main, in a far better spirit than their male counterparts.
The tournaments and winners:
Paris 1900 – Upton Park FC, representing the UK, in what was a demonstration sport later upgraded in status.
St Louis 1904 – Galt FC for Canada; this now-defunct Canadian side played only two matches, beating two US collegiate teams.
London 1908 & Stockholm 1912 – Great Britain, who beat Denmark in the final on both occasions. The team captain was Vivian Woodward, England’s first great centre-forward and scorer of twenty-nine goals in twenty-three full internationals.
Antwerp 1920 – Belgium. The final was a stormy affair, with the English referee, John Lewis, accused of partisanship by the Czechs, who walked off the field when Lewis dismissed Karel Steiner, with the score at 2–0 to Belgium – the Czechs having protested about both goals. Belgian soldiers promptly led a pitch invasion to ensure the game could not restart, but the Czechs’ protests were ignored and they were ejected from the tournament and given no medals.
Paris 1924 and Amsterdam 1928 – Uruguay won both these unofficial world championships, beating Switzerland in 1924 and Argentina in 1928. In 1924 the Uruguayans had to battle through a tough semi against Holland, who protested furiously about the late penalty that clinched the game. The 1924 Uruguay side featured Nasazzi, Andrade, Scarone and Cea of the 1930 World Cup Final winning team, while Fernandez and Gestido from that team also played in the 1928 Olympic Final.