The following is a translation of an article by Dr. Friedebert Becker (1907-1984) on the best players of the 1950 World Cup in Brazil. To be found in issue 31 (August 2, 1950) of "Sport-Magazin". This is how a world team may look like Could our Fritz Walter have been part of them? A symbolic mind game by Dr. Friedebert Becker We know very well that lining up world teams is a mind game. A team created in the mind would in reality might well lose to a team of unknowns, an average yet well-atuned team. Football is becoming more and more an organisational gear box in which, to be sure, still personalities dictate, yet whose individual parts more and more subordinate to "team work". If the Italians …. Nevertheless a "lineup" of a world eleven is taking shape in the observer’s mind. One would like to make a symbolic compliment to those players who managed to play a sublime role – within the frame of their team. Creating such a conceptual world team gets all the more difficult because all comparisons between different games are relative, the form of some individual players fluctuated a lot and the best players of teams that were only noticed marginally on the sidelines could not be factored in such a mind game. If, for example, Italy had reached the finals, surely one or two of the old world champions would have to be factored in. Thus we have to constrain the selection to those who were in the center of attention of the events in Rio. Andrade actually a full back Another thing makes such a lineup difficult: the diversity of "systems". It showed however that the South Americans, who are officially still playing with a "offensive center half" in reality have long since played with a modern WM via the detour of the lopsided half back line, as I have described in previous reports. Brazil and Uruguay, too, operate with three defenders (of which one is officially lined up as a "side half back") and with only two true half backs (of which one is not called side half back but center half). It would thus be correct to label for example Andrade, the magnificent defensive side half back of the world champions as a full back since his way of playing hardly differs from that of a German or English full back. But since this is a mere mind game, and because 'world teams' are being created also in South America, where our attempt at creating a world team will be noticed, we will use the official terms used on papers and thus label Andrade as a half back, whilst in reality he is a full back. With Brazilian inside trio And now our bold attempt: the names are already familiar to readers of "Sport-Magazin": …………Gainza……Jair…..Ademir….Zizinho…..Ghiggia ……………..Andrade…..….Varela………Wright …………………..Juvenal..……………Gonzalez ……………………..………….Maspoli Undeservedly, a little bit coming off poorly are the European champion Sweden and Spain who despite their defeats left the strongest impression of the European teams in Rio. On several positions especially Spanish players would be among the closest selection of players, but they have the bad luck that in those positions we saw superior competitors who surpassed them. We think especially about the magnificent outside right [note: name not given], we think about their center forward Zarra and the right half Gonzalvo, who as good as neutralized Jair. Also the young goalkeeper Ramallets, who in a wonderful way after his overnight meteoric rise is equal to Maspoli, he even surpasses him in terms of elegance and jumping power. We only preferred Maspoli because of his success of having withstood the Brazilian forwards. Thus the line up of substitutions would look like this: Goalkeepers: Ramallets (Spain), Livingstone (Chile), Borghi (USA), Williams (England) Full Backs: Augusto (Brazil), Nilsson (Sweden), Horvath (Yugoslavia), Tejera (Uruguay), Gonzalvo II (Spain) Half Backs: Andersson (Sweden), Gonzalvo III (Spain), Dickinson (England), Bauer (Brazil), Cajkovski (Yugoslavia), Ely (Brazil, despite only playing one game) Center Halves respectively Stoppers: Hughes (England), Nordahl (Sweden), Danilo (Brazil), Ochoa (Mexico) Outside Rights: Basora (Spain), Matthews (England) Inside Rights: Igoa (Spain), Bobek (Yugoslavia), Perrez (Uruguay), Palmer (Sweden) Center Forwards: Zarra (Spain), Tomasevic (Yugoslavia), Robledo (Chile), Baltazar (Brazil, despite only playing one game) Inside Lefts: Mitic (Yugoslavia), Munoz (Chile), Schiaffino (Uruguay), Skoglund (Sweden), Gaetjens (USA) Outside Lefts: Finney (England), Diaz (Chile) How superb the outside forwards played One striking feature of the World Cup in general was that the forwards were much stronger than the defenders. It was much more difficult finding candidates for the world team in defense than it was for the offense, where a number of candidates were nearly equal like for example the two outside rights Ghiggia (the Uruguayan wonder forward, who brought about the decision) and Basora of Spain, the two outside lefts Gainza (Spain) and Finney (England), the center forwards Zarra of Spain and Ademir of Brazil. The by far strongest offense, despite weaker wingers, was that of Brazil, whose inside trio is beyond compare, the best wingers were the Spanish ones, the best half backs those of England. Fritz Walter and Streitle? Full of impatience the German readers now anticipate our answer to the question whether Fritz Walter could hold his own in such illustrious company? And since all of this is just a mere mind game, we can answer this straightforwardly: yes! Admittedly, we think of a Fritz Walter of the freshness, the vitality and the sparkling playfulness of his peak form, not in his form crisis of recent months, that goes without saying. And if we talk about peak form, there might be a second German player who could play a role even in the unusually high level of this World Cup: Streitle of Munich, especially since in the whole of the tournament there was no really outstanding center half respectively stopper and even Varela of Uruguay did not have a notably higher level than his competitors. Triumvirate: Zizinho-Ghiggia-Ademir Eventually a neutral critic might be tempted to create a "ranking order of the best players", likewise only a theoretical exercise like the world team. Such a ranking would probably begin with three names: Zizinho (Brazil) Ghiggia (Uruguay) Ademir (Brazil) Of the Europeans the following players would come closest to this triumvirate: Goinga* (Spain) Andersson (Sweden) Wright (England) Finney (England) Ramallets (Spain) Mitic (Yugoslavia) Basora (Spain) Skoglund (Sweden) As one can see with the exception of one goalkeeper, only forwards and (offensive) side half backs. The newspaper "Mundo Esportivo" has come up with the following "world team", which does not differ a lot from our team: Barbosa – Gonzalez, Juvenal – Bauer, Varela, Andrade – Ghiggia, Zizinho, Ademir, Mitic, Finney. As substitutions the Brazil newspaper offers: Maspoli – Ramsey (!), Nilsson – Cajkovski, Danilo, Bigode – Basora, Perrez, Zarra, Skoglund, Gainza. On the topic that we all care about the most: what can Germany learn from the Rio event, how would Germany have fared with its current and with its former national team? All about that in the next issue! * = I didn't find a player with the name "Goinga" in the Spanish roster so I guess he might have spelled "Gainza" wrongly there
More original 1950 World Cup coverage by Dr. Friedebert Becker can be found here: http://www.historical-lineups.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/scan_station_02_2016_5_7_16_55.pdf
I think it's his brother IIRC. He couldn't take part himself after his transfer to AC Milan, and the Swedish selection policy at that time.
I love how high the Brazilians rated Rajko Mitic. Even over their own Jair (certainly one of the starts of that World Cup).
I believe that some of this data has not been published here. They are the ideal XI extracted from different sources and accumulated. As some sources offer up to 5 players per position, hence the 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 point.
The hypothetical ideal XI that could come out of this would be: 3-2-5: Máspoli; Matías González, Nilsson, Horvath; Varela, Bauer; Ghiggia, Zizinho, Ademir, Schiaffino, Finney. 2-3-5: Máspoli; Matias Gonzalez, Horvath; Rodriguez Andrade, Varela, Bauer; Ghiggia, Zizinho, Ademir, Schiaffino, Finney
I guess in the 3-2-5 version it could be better to switch Nilsson to the left and Horvat to the central defensive position. And I think in the 2-3-5 to switch Andrade to the left (I know he did play on the right at times in his career though) and Bauer to the right, if this is a good guide for example (though Brazil played a 'diagonal' formation I believe so not quite as shown here) There are some selections referred to on this thread below in posts #2, #5 (the forward line right to left would be Basora, Mitic, Zarra, Jair, Finney in that one I think wouldn't it?), and #22 (discussed further in #23 and #27) WCs Stars Team by contemporaries - 50s | BigSoccer Forum Nice work putting together the results of various selections for such an old World Cup mate!
Thank you very much partner for following my posts and valuing them well. The truth is that I forgot to visit the thread you post. That '82 font I'm not sure if I have it in my library. I'll have to make sure. Regarding the 3 man defense I hesitated a lot between Horvat and Nilsson, since according to the source they indicate the formation with 2 defenders or with 3. Possibly I was guided by one that presented a Swedish defensive line of 3 and that's where the doubt came from. But you are right in your suggestion. And you are even more right about Bauer and R. Andrade, but this is due to an oversight on my part when I did the "copy and paste" and put the latter the first of the midfielders, as was also my intention. In fact, this morning, the first thing I did was to realize that I had done it right, since I already had suspicions of having made a mistake, but nothing escapes you (; then the XI could look like this: 3-2-5: Máspoli; Matias Gonzalez, Horvat, E. Nilsson; Varela, Bauer; Ghiggia, Zizinho, Ademir, Schiaffino, Finney. 2-3-5: Máspoli; Matias Gonzalez, Horvat; Bauer, Varela, R. Andrade; Ghiggia, Zizinho, Ademir, Schiaffino, Finney. Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
Some considerations: Augusto could play as a CB or SB (defensive - great winger marker). Bauer usually played as a CH for São Paulo (famous line Rui - Bauer - Noronha). Due to his height and playing style (strength and class, not that much speed to chase wingers), I can see him dropping back in a defensive phase, between or close to Augusto and Juvenal.
Digging a little deeper through newspapers from those years, I can highlight some interesting gameplay and formation points: - Bauer was indeed the right half for the NT in the WC. But his role was more centralized. The journalists from São Paulo state criticized the form and condition from Augusto, saying that he showed flaws in the WC while trying to mark faster strikers and that Bauer was the one that usually covered his flaws. - In the other flank, i remember that Bigode was the one marking Gigghia. He played a great WC, but was always remembered that he was not able to stop Gigghia. - At that time, Bauer was stablished as CH for São Paulo, with Rui moving from CH to RH (mid 40s - around 46/47) because the right half was more offensive minded, with Rui being a better fit there because he was more dynamic and had better ball control (Bauer was a better marker and passer). I also found out these teams made by the best players from the WC, according to the newspaper Mundo Esportivo (SP). The selection was made after the semi-finals. Starter team: Ramallets; Ramsey - Juvenal; Bauer - Nordhal - Rodrigues Andrade; Muccineli - Zizinho - Zarra - Ademir - Finney. (In bold, the best foreign players) Reserves: Svensson; Alonso - Ecklesley; Wright - Danilo - Bigode; Gigghia - Mitic - Amadei - Skoglund - Gainza.
Very good contributions mate. I keep two other clippings from Mundo Sportivo that I used for the file. Anyway I will add this other one that you have posted.
To strengthen your comments on Bauer's defensive role, I will tell you that in the book "Los Mundiales de Fútbol", by Editorial Sedmay (1978), very used by me because they make endless lists and XI of the best Spanish and foreign players by era, position, etc., Ramón Melcón offers his World XI of all time. And who is there?... Bingo, Bauer! And to the surprise of many, he places him between the two full backs, that is, as you say, when he saw Bauer play in Rio, he must have played in practice as a center back, taking advantage of his strength and height, being Rui Campos, surely the distributor. As for the rest, exactly, either of the two appear in some formations as right half and in others as center half.
It looks that for WC50, Bauer played a rol similar to Buzansky in WC54, that is, a mix between Defensive Mid and Centerback.
I think you mean Zakarias msioux do you (who played that role as can be seen vs England in 1953 too)? But yeah, that seems like what the diagram is showing re: Bauer. Mitic seems to be put at both inside right and inside left in various selections, interestingly. This website always shows him as inside right, with Bobek inside left, but maybe it varied or there wasn't a clear difference in areas they both played in or something, and so people felt including him as inside left can be ok (when perhaps they are putting Zizinho as inside right for example): Planet World Cup - 1950 - Group A
Yeah, my mistake. I mean, Zakarias being the "quasi 4th defender". Arguably, not a new role by then, since people like Roy, told that younger Billy Wright played like that, in the 40s-50s, before switched to a WM-centrehalf or stopper.
In L'Équipe of July 6, 1950. XI of the first round of the World Cup published in La Gazzetta Esportiva by a vote of journalists, technicians and leaders of football. Ramallets (Spain) Horvath (Yugoslavia), Varela (Uruguay), Roldan (Chile) Bauer (Brazil), Puchades (Spain) Mitic (Yugoslavia), Jair (Brazil) Basora (Spain), Zarra (Spain), Finney (England)
L'Équipe, June 26, 1950 June 24 Brazil vs Mexico 4-0, Rio de Janeiro, journalist: de Ryswick. Best players BRA: Jair, Ademir MEX: no one. June 25 Yugoslavia vs Switzerland 3-0, Belo Horizonte, journalist: unsigned. Best players YUG: Đajić, Bobek, Čajkovski, Mitić, Tomašević SWI: Stuber, Neury. England vs Chile 2-0, Rio de Janeiro, journalist: Djukitch. Best players ENG: Mortensen, Wright, Finney CHL: Robledo, Carvalho, Livingstone. Spain vs USA 3-1, Curitiba, journalist: unsigned Best players No information Sweden vs Italy 3-2, São Paulo, journalist: de Ryswick. Best players SWE: Skoglund, Palmer, Jepson, Andersson, Nordahl, Nilsson, Svensson TA: Parola, Boniperti, Muccinelli
L'Équipe, June 29, 1950 Yugoslavia vs Mexico 4-1, Porto Alegre, journalist: unsigned. Best players No information Brazil vs Switzerland 2-2, São Paulo, journalist: de Ryswick. Best players BRA: Ademir, Baltazar SWI: Neury, Bocquet, Eggimann, Tamini, Fatton L'Équipe, June 30, 1950 Spain vs Chile 2-0, Rio de Janeiro, journalist: Djukitch. SPA: Ramallets, Basora, Panizo CHL: Robledo USA vs England 1-0, Belo Horizonte, journalist: Djukitch. Best players USA: Colombo, Borghi ENG: no one Sweden vs Paraguay 2-2, Curitiba, journalist: de Ryswick. Best players No information
L'Équipe, July 3rd, 1950 July 1st Brazil vs Yugoslavia 2-0, Rio de Janeiro, journalist: de Ryswick. Best players BRA: Ademir, Zizinho, Maneca, Bauer, Danilo YUG: no one July 2nd Switzerland vs Mexico 2-1, Porto Alegre, journalist: unsigned. Best players No information Spain vs England 1-0, Rio de Janeiro, journalist: de Ryswick. Best players SPA: Ramallets, Basora, Puchades, Panizo, (Gainza, Zarra) ENG: Bailey, Finney, Wright Chile vs USA 5-2, Recife, journalist: unsigned. Best players CHL: Robledo USA: no one Italy vs Paraguay 2-0, São Paulo, journalist: unsigned. Best players No information Uruguay vs Bolivia 8-0, Belo Horizonte, journalist: unsigned. Best players No information I will post about the final round tomorrow.
I think this selection had previously been thought to be the overall one from the World Cup (with the votes coming from a few sources watching the games maybe), but it does make more sense that it's a 'First Round games' XI (considering notable absentees) I think, and I see now also that the XI was reported (as being "selected by popular vote from the teams that have taken part in the World Cup competition...." on the 11th of July in the Dundee Evening Telegraph (11th of July being before the majority of the final round games took place). I also see, after a search on Britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk, where I noticed that piece in the Dundee Evening Telegraph, that the Birmingham Daily Post was previewing the England-Yugoslavia game from later in 1950 with comments saying Yugoslavia had clever inside forwards in Mitic and Bobek, a centre half-back almost as tall and powerful as Compton in Horvath and a goalkeeper of remarkable agility in Bobek, while in their after-game report the next day they mention quick interchanging between Orgjanov and Mitic, controlled passing of Cajkovski and Djajic, and the goalkeeping of Beara as outstanding features of Yugoslavia's display. This is the page about that game on Englandfootballonline.com: England Match No. 261 - Yugoslavia - 22 November 1950 - Match Summary and Report (englandfootballonline.com) And re: Mitic in particular I see that around the time of an Everton vs Red Star Belgrade game in 1957 the Liverpool Echo said this, also talking about Beara (in the previous column it was said he was one of the best post-war goalkeepers), Stankovic, Zekvovic and Toplak:
L'Équipe, July 10, 1950 Spain vs Uruguay 2-2, São Paulo, journalist: de Ryswick. Best players SPA: Zarra, Molowny, Gainza URU: Varela, Ghiggia, Perez Brazil vs Sweden 7-1, Rio de Janeiro, journalist: Djukitch. Best players No information but the title is Ademir and other Brazilian forwards smashed Sweden L'Équipe, July 14, 1950 Brazil vs Spain 6-1, Rio de Janeiro, journalist: de Ryswick. Best players BRA: Jair, Ademir, Zizinho, Chico SPA: no one Uruguay - Sweden 3-2, São Paulo, journalist: Djukitch. Best players URU: Gonzalez, Gambetta, Ghiggia, Perez SWE: Svensson, Andersson, Gärd L'Équipe, July 17, 1950 Sweden - Spain 3-1, São Paulo, journalist: Djukitch. Best players SWE: Mellberg, Samuelsson, Johansson, Nilsson SPA: Basora, Zarra Brazil - Uruguay 1-2, Rio de Janeiro, journalist: de Ryswick. Best players URU: Ghiggia, Schiaffino, Varela, Andrade, Perez BRA: Danilo, Bauer, (Zizinho) Edit: the wcSPASWE.png file is about Spain - Uruguay, I made a mistake in the name. I'll try to get some information about 1938 world cup during the next weeks because I found some french sport newspapers from that period.