comme
30 Jan 2006, 04:59 PM
Italy 1934
In 1934 the World Cup moved back to Europe, and in Italy a nation that had been keen to host originally. Just as many of the European sides had decided not to travel to Uruguay 4 years earlier so now the holders themselves did not attend perhaps in exchange for the perceived slight against them. Also absent, again, were the British nations, arguably the world’s strongest at the time. The Argentinians did send a side, but it was one devoid of all their top players, so scared was the Argentine FA of their best players being stolen by European sides.
The particular cause for the concern was the host nation, Italy, who now boasted a number of Oriundi (foreigners of Italian descent), in their formidable line-up. Foremost among these were Luis Monti, the tough-tackling defender, who had starred for Argentina 4 years earlier, and Raimondo Orsi, the outstanding outside-left. Added to these were domestic stars Giuseppe Meazza, Inter’s superb centre-forward, Giampiero Combi, the captain and goalkeeper, and Giovanni Ferrari the excellent inside-forward of Juventus. Thus the hosts were deservedly confident.
They were not though the only top class team. The Austrians were widely regarded as a major threat, although some felt that their Wunderteam, managed by Hugo Meisl, was past its best. They had managed to defeat Italy 4-2 in the February of 1934, and in Josef Bican of Rapid Vienna and Matthias Sindelar of FK Austria, possessed two of the world’s finest players.
Unlike the first World Cup, there had been a qualifying stage to select the teams to compete in Italy. Remarkably even the hosts had been forced to qualify, and had easily seen off Greece 4-0. There was also a qualifying match between the USA and Mexico held in Italy immediately prior to the tournament which was won by the US 4-2. The unfortunate Mexicans had travelled all the way to Europe, and did not even get to play a game in the finals.
There was also a change in the structure of the tournament. This time the group stages, which had only been put in place due to the odd numbers of team in 1930, were eliminated and the tournament operated with a straight knock-out format.
First round
The Italians got underway against the USA, semi-finalists 4 years earlier, in Rome, and it was an impressive start. The Italians led by 3 goals within half an hour thanks to two from centre-forward Angello Schiavio and one from Orsi. Aldo Donelli pulled one back for the USA after the break, but it was essentially delaying the inevitable. Ferrari added a fourth for Italy before Schaivio completed his hat-trick, then Orsi and Meazza hit late goals to seal a 7-1 victory.
Czechoslovakia faced Romania in another first round game and were behind early on to a goal from Stefan Dobai. The Czech edged back into the game though and ended up winning 2-1 thanks to goals from Antonin Puč and Oldrich Nejedlý in the second half.
The Austrian Wunderteam made hard work of their opening encounter with France, a game they had been expected to win comfortably. The French scored first through their forward Jean Nicolas but the Austrians drew level thanks to a goal from their magical attacker Matthias Sindelar just before the break. Those were the only goals of normal time and so the game was forced into extra-time, the first time a World Cup game could not be settled within 90 minutes. Anton Schall put the Austrians ahead for the first time in the game shortly after the start of extra-time and Bican added another to increase their lead. The French pulled one back through a Georges Verriest penalty, but it proved to be no more than a consolation.
The Germans too were optimistic about their chances, and in their first round game against Belgium it initially looked well based, as they took the lead in the 25th minute. The Belgians however, had other ideas and Bernard Voorhoof scored twice to give them a half-time lead. In the second half though the Belgians fell apart and allowed German striker Edmund Conen to score a hat-trick and put the Germans through.
Neither of the two South American teams progressed to the second round. Brazil were outclassed by a solid Spanish side who were 3-0 up within half an hour. The Brazilians managed to pull one back through Leonidas but Brito squandered a golden opportunity to get them back into the game as his penalty was saved by Ricardo Zamora, the amazing Spanish goalkeeper. Argentina, the beaten finalists 4 years earlier, went down 3-2 to Sweden despite leading twice. It was not a great surprise as the side contained not a single member of their great 1930 team. Argentina and Brazil’s long journeys had been for nothing.
In the round’s other games Switzerland beat Holland 3-2 and Hungary overcame Egypt 4-2, after a couple of scares and being pegged back to 2-2 at one stage. The qualifiers for the quarter finals then were Germany, Sweden, Hungary, Austria, Italy, Spain, Czechoslovakia and Switzerland.
27-MAY-34 TURIN Austria:France
3:2 a.e.t (2:2, 1:1) Benito Mussolini
27-MAY-34 ROME Italy:USA
7:1 (3:0) Nazionale PNF
27-MAY-34 FLORENCE Germany:Belgium
5:2 (1:2) Giovanni Berta
27-MAY-34 TRIESTE Czechoslovakia:Romania
2:1 (0:1) Littorio
27-MAY-34 MILAN Switzerland:Netherlands
3:2 (2:1) San Siro
27-MAY-34 BOLOGNA Sweden:Argentina
3:2 (1:1) Littorale
27-MAY-34 GENOVA Spain:Brazil
3:1 (3:0) Luigi Ferraris
27-MAY-34 NAPLES Hungary:Egypt
4:2 (2:2) Giorgio Ascarelli
Quarter-finals
The Germans and Swedes met in the San Siro in Milan in pouring rain. Perhaps the weather was the cause of the style of play, which many felt was less technical in nature than some of the other quarter finals. The first half saw no goals but in the second Karl Hohmann put the Germans ahead after Anders Rydberg the Swedish keeper had only parried a shot. Hohmann extended the German lead 3 minutes later when he waltzed through the opposing defence and calmly slotted the ball past Rydberg. The Swedes battled to get back into the game, despite losing Andersson to injury and got a goal back through Gosta Dunker. It was not enough though and the Germans progressed.
Austria’s game against Hungary was perhaps the most physical of all those in the round. Johann Horvath put the Austrians ahead after just 8 minutes, beating the Hungarian defence to meet Karl Zischek’s cross. The Austrians doubled their lead shortly after half time as Zischek turned goal scorer after a good pass from Bican. The Hungarians were struggling until they were awarded a penalty in the 60th minute which was converted by Gyorgy Sarosi, the Ferencvaros centre-forward. The Hungarians continued to press and the game hung in the balance until Imre Markos was sent off with ten minutes to go. After then the Austrians looked comfortable and the more likely to score, but the game finished 2-1 to Austria.
Arguably the tie of the round took place between Czechoslovakia and Switzerland in Turin. The Swiss took the lead in the opening stages, but the Czechs soon pulled level in what proved to be a see-saw game. Frantisek Sobotka put the Czechs ahead shortly after the break, but the Swiss drew level again through Willy Jaeggi. It was not until the 82nd minute that Nejedlý finally settled the game for the Czechs who deserved to win an excellent game.
If the game between Czechoslovakia and Switzerland was the most exciting of the round, the game between Italy and Spain was undoubtedly the most contentious. The Spaniards took the lead on the stroke of half hour after Regueiro’s miskick sent Combi the wrong way. Italy drew level just before half time after Zamora could only parry Mario Pizziolo ‘s freekick and Ferrari knocked in the rebound. The game went to extra-time but still no further goals were scored and so a replay was required.
The replay was scheduled for the next day and it proved an epic contest. Within the opening 5 minutes Spain had a claim for a penalty as left-winger Crisanto Bosch burst into the box and was hacked down by Eraldo Monzeglio. The referee waved away the claims, although Bosch was injured by the tackle, with no substitutes available Spain effectively had to play the remainder of the game with 10 men. Then from a corner Italy took the lead, though there were claims that Meazza had fouled stand-in keeper Jacinto Nogues. In the second half Marcelino Campanal scored past Combi only for the goal to be chalked off for off-side and in the dying moments the Spanish thought they had an equaliser only for it to be disallowed yet again, this time for a foul on a Spanish player! Questions were asked about the referee and the possibility of undue influence from Italy’s Fascist regime, but there was nothing that could be done. Italy progressed to the semi-finals. Look here (http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=192448&highlight=guaita) for more discussion of this game.
01-JUN-34 FLORENCE Italy:Spain
1:0 (1:0) Giovanni Berta
31-MAY-34 BOLOGNA Austria:Hungary
2:1 (1:0) Littorale
31-MAY-34 TURIN Czechoslovakia:Switzerland
3:2 (1:1) Benito Mussolini
31-MAY-34 MILAN Germany:Sweden
2:1 (0:0) San Siro
31-MAY-34 FLORENCE Italy:Spain
1:1 a.e.t (1:1, 1:1) Giovanni Berta
Semi-finals
The semi-final between Italy and Austria was in truth the final that everyone had hoped for. Yet it was blighted by a torrential downpour which hampered the Austrians’ measured passing game. The Italians took the lead in the 18th minute through their Argentine winger Enrico Guaita, but that was the only score of the game. The Austrians took a long time to get going and appeared tired, despite the Italians having played a replay just two days earlier. The game was not as exciting as some had hoped, but the home crowd didn’t care, the Azzuri were through to the final.
The other semi was between Czechoslovakia and Germany and proved to be a clash of styles. The Germans played a physical game based on their strength and endurance, while the Czechs relied more on technique and passing. The Czechs went in to an early lead through Nejedlý after the ball fell to him from a Kress save. From then on the Czechs failed to press home their advantage and the Germans drew level as the great Planicka inexplicably failed to save a routine shot. The Czechs went back into the lead after a Puč freekick came back off the bar and was put into the net, though there is still debate over the scorer. Some suggest that it was Nejedlý, but FIFA officially credit Rudolf Krcil. Then with 10 minutes to go Nejedlý settled the game after bursting through the German defence to score. The Germans could take some solace in beating Austria to take 3rd place although both teams rested several players.
03-JUN-34 MILAN Italy:Austria
1:0 (1:0) San Siro
03-JUN-34 ROME Czechoslovakia:Germany
3:1 (1:0) Nazionale PNF
07-JUN-34 NAPLES Germany:Austria
3:2 (3:1) Giorgio Ascarelli
The final
The final saw hosts Italy face Czechoslovakia, an all-European match-up just as four years earlier it had been two South American sides facing each other. The Czechs dominated the early stages, using the short passing style that had seen off the Germans in the previous round. However, the first half ended goalless as the Italian defence stood firm. The deadlock was not broken until 20 minutes from time when Puč scored with a long range-effort. The Czechs had opportunities to extend their lead and Frantisek Svoboda even hit the post, but they couldn’t capitalise on the supremacy. Then disaster struck for the Czechs as Orsi scored an incredible curling goal with his right foot to put Italy back on level terms, and force extra-time. After just 5 minutes of extra-time Meazza crossed and from the knock down Angelo Schiavio managed to beat Planicka and score the deciding goal in the World Cup final. Luis Monti who had been on the losing side 4 years earlier was now a World Cup winner for Italy and Pozzo’s team were the champions. After the game Gianpiero Combi, the Italians goalkeeper announced his immediate retirement from football, he could not have gone out on a higher note.
10-JUN-34 ROME Italy:Czechoslovakia
2:1 a.e.t (1:1, 0:0) Nazionale PNF
Full line-ups, goal scorers and much more (http://www.rsssf.com/tables/34full.html)
FIFA’s Official Page (http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/p/pwc/1934.html)
http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/fifa/en/pf/20011221/i/3557695534.jpg
In 1934 the World Cup moved back to Europe, and in Italy a nation that had been keen to host originally. Just as many of the European sides had decided not to travel to Uruguay 4 years earlier so now the holders themselves did not attend perhaps in exchange for the perceived slight against them. Also absent, again, were the British nations, arguably the world’s strongest at the time. The Argentinians did send a side, but it was one devoid of all their top players, so scared was the Argentine FA of their best players being stolen by European sides.
The particular cause for the concern was the host nation, Italy, who now boasted a number of Oriundi (foreigners of Italian descent), in their formidable line-up. Foremost among these were Luis Monti, the tough-tackling defender, who had starred for Argentina 4 years earlier, and Raimondo Orsi, the outstanding outside-left. Added to these were domestic stars Giuseppe Meazza, Inter’s superb centre-forward, Giampiero Combi, the captain and goalkeeper, and Giovanni Ferrari the excellent inside-forward of Juventus. Thus the hosts were deservedly confident.
They were not though the only top class team. The Austrians were widely regarded as a major threat, although some felt that their Wunderteam, managed by Hugo Meisl, was past its best. They had managed to defeat Italy 4-2 in the February of 1934, and in Josef Bican of Rapid Vienna and Matthias Sindelar of FK Austria, possessed two of the world’s finest players.
Unlike the first World Cup, there had been a qualifying stage to select the teams to compete in Italy. Remarkably even the hosts had been forced to qualify, and had easily seen off Greece 4-0. There was also a qualifying match between the USA and Mexico held in Italy immediately prior to the tournament which was won by the US 4-2. The unfortunate Mexicans had travelled all the way to Europe, and did not even get to play a game in the finals.
There was also a change in the structure of the tournament. This time the group stages, which had only been put in place due to the odd numbers of team in 1930, were eliminated and the tournament operated with a straight knock-out format.
First round
The Italians got underway against the USA, semi-finalists 4 years earlier, in Rome, and it was an impressive start. The Italians led by 3 goals within half an hour thanks to two from centre-forward Angello Schiavio and one from Orsi. Aldo Donelli pulled one back for the USA after the break, but it was essentially delaying the inevitable. Ferrari added a fourth for Italy before Schaivio completed his hat-trick, then Orsi and Meazza hit late goals to seal a 7-1 victory.
Czechoslovakia faced Romania in another first round game and were behind early on to a goal from Stefan Dobai. The Czech edged back into the game though and ended up winning 2-1 thanks to goals from Antonin Puč and Oldrich Nejedlý in the second half.
The Austrian Wunderteam made hard work of their opening encounter with France, a game they had been expected to win comfortably. The French scored first through their forward Jean Nicolas but the Austrians drew level thanks to a goal from their magical attacker Matthias Sindelar just before the break. Those were the only goals of normal time and so the game was forced into extra-time, the first time a World Cup game could not be settled within 90 minutes. Anton Schall put the Austrians ahead for the first time in the game shortly after the start of extra-time and Bican added another to increase their lead. The French pulled one back through a Georges Verriest penalty, but it proved to be no more than a consolation.
The Germans too were optimistic about their chances, and in their first round game against Belgium it initially looked well based, as they took the lead in the 25th minute. The Belgians however, had other ideas and Bernard Voorhoof scored twice to give them a half-time lead. In the second half though the Belgians fell apart and allowed German striker Edmund Conen to score a hat-trick and put the Germans through.
Neither of the two South American teams progressed to the second round. Brazil were outclassed by a solid Spanish side who were 3-0 up within half an hour. The Brazilians managed to pull one back through Leonidas but Brito squandered a golden opportunity to get them back into the game as his penalty was saved by Ricardo Zamora, the amazing Spanish goalkeeper. Argentina, the beaten finalists 4 years earlier, went down 3-2 to Sweden despite leading twice. It was not a great surprise as the side contained not a single member of their great 1930 team. Argentina and Brazil’s long journeys had been for nothing.
In the round’s other games Switzerland beat Holland 3-2 and Hungary overcame Egypt 4-2, after a couple of scares and being pegged back to 2-2 at one stage. The qualifiers for the quarter finals then were Germany, Sweden, Hungary, Austria, Italy, Spain, Czechoslovakia and Switzerland.
27-MAY-34 TURIN Austria:France
3:2 a.e.t (2:2, 1:1) Benito Mussolini
27-MAY-34 ROME Italy:USA
7:1 (3:0) Nazionale PNF
27-MAY-34 FLORENCE Germany:Belgium
5:2 (1:2) Giovanni Berta
27-MAY-34 TRIESTE Czechoslovakia:Romania
2:1 (0:1) Littorio
27-MAY-34 MILAN Switzerland:Netherlands
3:2 (2:1) San Siro
27-MAY-34 BOLOGNA Sweden:Argentina
3:2 (1:1) Littorale
27-MAY-34 GENOVA Spain:Brazil
3:1 (3:0) Luigi Ferraris
27-MAY-34 NAPLES Hungary:Egypt
4:2 (2:2) Giorgio Ascarelli
Quarter-finals
The Germans and Swedes met in the San Siro in Milan in pouring rain. Perhaps the weather was the cause of the style of play, which many felt was less technical in nature than some of the other quarter finals. The first half saw no goals but in the second Karl Hohmann put the Germans ahead after Anders Rydberg the Swedish keeper had only parried a shot. Hohmann extended the German lead 3 minutes later when he waltzed through the opposing defence and calmly slotted the ball past Rydberg. The Swedes battled to get back into the game, despite losing Andersson to injury and got a goal back through Gosta Dunker. It was not enough though and the Germans progressed.
Austria’s game against Hungary was perhaps the most physical of all those in the round. Johann Horvath put the Austrians ahead after just 8 minutes, beating the Hungarian defence to meet Karl Zischek’s cross. The Austrians doubled their lead shortly after half time as Zischek turned goal scorer after a good pass from Bican. The Hungarians were struggling until they were awarded a penalty in the 60th minute which was converted by Gyorgy Sarosi, the Ferencvaros centre-forward. The Hungarians continued to press and the game hung in the balance until Imre Markos was sent off with ten minutes to go. After then the Austrians looked comfortable and the more likely to score, but the game finished 2-1 to Austria.
Arguably the tie of the round took place between Czechoslovakia and Switzerland in Turin. The Swiss took the lead in the opening stages, but the Czechs soon pulled level in what proved to be a see-saw game. Frantisek Sobotka put the Czechs ahead shortly after the break, but the Swiss drew level again through Willy Jaeggi. It was not until the 82nd minute that Nejedlý finally settled the game for the Czechs who deserved to win an excellent game.
If the game between Czechoslovakia and Switzerland was the most exciting of the round, the game between Italy and Spain was undoubtedly the most contentious. The Spaniards took the lead on the stroke of half hour after Regueiro’s miskick sent Combi the wrong way. Italy drew level just before half time after Zamora could only parry Mario Pizziolo ‘s freekick and Ferrari knocked in the rebound. The game went to extra-time but still no further goals were scored and so a replay was required.
The replay was scheduled for the next day and it proved an epic contest. Within the opening 5 minutes Spain had a claim for a penalty as left-winger Crisanto Bosch burst into the box and was hacked down by Eraldo Monzeglio. The referee waved away the claims, although Bosch was injured by the tackle, with no substitutes available Spain effectively had to play the remainder of the game with 10 men. Then from a corner Italy took the lead, though there were claims that Meazza had fouled stand-in keeper Jacinto Nogues. In the second half Marcelino Campanal scored past Combi only for the goal to be chalked off for off-side and in the dying moments the Spanish thought they had an equaliser only for it to be disallowed yet again, this time for a foul on a Spanish player! Questions were asked about the referee and the possibility of undue influence from Italy’s Fascist regime, but there was nothing that could be done. Italy progressed to the semi-finals. Look here (http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=192448&highlight=guaita) for more discussion of this game.
01-JUN-34 FLORENCE Italy:Spain
1:0 (1:0) Giovanni Berta
31-MAY-34 BOLOGNA Austria:Hungary
2:1 (1:0) Littorale
31-MAY-34 TURIN Czechoslovakia:Switzerland
3:2 (1:1) Benito Mussolini
31-MAY-34 MILAN Germany:Sweden
2:1 (0:0) San Siro
31-MAY-34 FLORENCE Italy:Spain
1:1 a.e.t (1:1, 1:1) Giovanni Berta
Semi-finals
The semi-final between Italy and Austria was in truth the final that everyone had hoped for. Yet it was blighted by a torrential downpour which hampered the Austrians’ measured passing game. The Italians took the lead in the 18th minute through their Argentine winger Enrico Guaita, but that was the only score of the game. The Austrians took a long time to get going and appeared tired, despite the Italians having played a replay just two days earlier. The game was not as exciting as some had hoped, but the home crowd didn’t care, the Azzuri were through to the final.
The other semi was between Czechoslovakia and Germany and proved to be a clash of styles. The Germans played a physical game based on their strength and endurance, while the Czechs relied more on technique and passing. The Czechs went in to an early lead through Nejedlý after the ball fell to him from a Kress save. From then on the Czechs failed to press home their advantage and the Germans drew level as the great Planicka inexplicably failed to save a routine shot. The Czechs went back into the lead after a Puč freekick came back off the bar and was put into the net, though there is still debate over the scorer. Some suggest that it was Nejedlý, but FIFA officially credit Rudolf Krcil. Then with 10 minutes to go Nejedlý settled the game after bursting through the German defence to score. The Germans could take some solace in beating Austria to take 3rd place although both teams rested several players.
03-JUN-34 MILAN Italy:Austria
1:0 (1:0) San Siro
03-JUN-34 ROME Czechoslovakia:Germany
3:1 (1:0) Nazionale PNF
07-JUN-34 NAPLES Germany:Austria
3:2 (3:1) Giorgio Ascarelli
The final
The final saw hosts Italy face Czechoslovakia, an all-European match-up just as four years earlier it had been two South American sides facing each other. The Czechs dominated the early stages, using the short passing style that had seen off the Germans in the previous round. However, the first half ended goalless as the Italian defence stood firm. The deadlock was not broken until 20 minutes from time when Puč scored with a long range-effort. The Czechs had opportunities to extend their lead and Frantisek Svoboda even hit the post, but they couldn’t capitalise on the supremacy. Then disaster struck for the Czechs as Orsi scored an incredible curling goal with his right foot to put Italy back on level terms, and force extra-time. After just 5 minutes of extra-time Meazza crossed and from the knock down Angelo Schiavio managed to beat Planicka and score the deciding goal in the World Cup final. Luis Monti who had been on the losing side 4 years earlier was now a World Cup winner for Italy and Pozzo’s team were the champions. After the game Gianpiero Combi, the Italians goalkeeper announced his immediate retirement from football, he could not have gone out on a higher note.
10-JUN-34 ROME Italy:Czechoslovakia
2:1 a.e.t (1:1, 0:0) Nazionale PNF
Full line-ups, goal scorers and much more (http://www.rsssf.com/tables/34full.html)
FIFA’s Official Page (http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/p/pwc/1934.html)
http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/fifa/en/pf/20011221/i/3557695534.jpg