I am going to start a thread detailing the Mitropa Cup results from 1927 to 1940. It seemed like a great tournament during this time period: top club teams in Europe (outside of England) were competing from countries that were having major international success at the time (Czech, Austria, Hungary, Italy), high scoring games, dramatic showdowns between all time great players (Sarosi's hat tricks in both legs of the final to defeat Piola's Lazio, Sindelar scoring a hat trick in the second leg of the final to sink Meazza's Inter) etc. It seems to have a good claim to be the premiere club competition in the world once the Italian clubs were involved. Will make the first post detailing the 1927 tournament tonight.
Mitropa Cup 1927 In the first edition of the tournament eight teams would take part, two from Hungary, two from Yugoslavia, two from Austria, and two from Czechoslovakia. Hungary sent there leagues 2nd place (Ujpest) and 3rd place (MTK Budapest) finishers from 1927 to the tournament. Two time defending champions Ferencvaros did not participate. Yugoslavia sent there 1927 champion Hajduk Split and runner up BSK Beograd. Austria was represented by 1927 champion Admira Wien and 1927 3rd place finisher and 1926 champion Rapid Vienna. Rapid Vienna was lead future Wunderteam stars Johann Horvath and Josef Smistik. The Austrian champions, Admira Wien, were lead by the leading scorer of the 1927 domestic campaign (27 goals in 24 matches) and national team star Anton Schall. Czechoslovakia sent two time defending domestic champion Sparta Prague and runner up Slavia Prague. Slavia Prague were lead by star winger and 1927 Czech leagues top scorer Antonin Puc. Sparta Prague, know during this time as Iron Sparta, were one of the dominant club teams of the 1920s and 30s. They were lead by star forward Josef Silny and internationally renown midfield general Karel "Kada" Pesek. Round 1: MTK 8 - 2 BSK Beograd (4-2, 4-0) Rapid Vienna 9 - 1 Hajduk Split (8-1, 1-0) Sparta Prague 8 - 6 Admira Wien (5-1, 3-5) Slavia Prague 6 - 2 Ujpest (4-0, 2-2) In what could be seen as the marquee match-up of the whole tournament the Czech and Austrian champions were pitted against one another in the first round, with Sparta prevailing over two legs 8-6. The two Yugoslavian sides were soundly defeated in the opening round, as they would be in the 1928 edition of the tournament. Round 2: Slavia Prague 3 - 4 Rapid Vienna (2-2, 1-2) MTK 2 - 2 Sparta Prague (2-2, 0-0) Rapid Vienna defeated Slavia Prague in a very tight match-up, while Sparta "Were awarded the tie because a player of MTK occupied an irregular position". I have no clue what this means but I would not find any further clarification. Final: Sparta Prague 7 - 4 Rapid Vienna (6-2, 1-2) The tie was decided in the decisive first leg which Sparta won 6-2, with Kada opening the scoring in the first minute, then Silny and Adolf Patek both contributing braces giving Sparta a nearly insurmountable lead going into the second leg. Silny also scored late in the second leg to officially kill off the tie and was the tournaments top scorer. Top Scorers Josef Silny (Sparta Prague) - 5 Johann Hoffmann (Rapid Vienna) - 4 Antonin Puc (Slavia Prague) - 4 Evzen Vesely (Sparta Prague) - 4 Ferdinand Wesely (Rapid Vienna) - 4 Johann Luef (Rapid Vienna) - 3 Adolf Patek (Sparta Prague) - 3
Mitropa Cup 1928 The same format from 1927 was used in this tournament with two teams from each representative country being sent. This round Hungary sent there three time defending champions Ferencvaros to the tournament led by goal scoring machine Jozsef Takas (1928 Hungarian top scorer with 31 goals in 22 games) and 1928 runner up MTK. From Yugoslavia 1928 champions (Gradanski Zagreb) and 3rd place finishers (BSK Beograd) participated. Austria was once again represented by Admira Wien (1928 champions) and and Rapid Vienna (1928 runners up). Admira had again been led to the domestic title by the leagues top scorer Anton Schall, who scored an impressive 36 goals in 24 games. In Czechoslovakia powerhouses Sparta Prague had been knocked from there perch as Czech champions and would not have an opportunity to defend there title, as new champions SK Viktoria Zizkov and runners up Slavia Prague represented Czechoslovakia. Round 1: Admira Wien 6 - 4 Slavia Prague (3-1, 3-3) BSK Beograd 1 - 13 Ferencvaros (0-7, 1-6) Gradanski Zagreb 4 - 8 SK Viktoria Zizkov (3-2, 1-6) Rapid Vienna 7 - 7 MTK (6-4, 1-3,) (Playoff 1-0) The Austrian champions would make it out of the first round this time, winning a competitive tie against last years semi finalist Slavia Prague with Schall scoring once in each leg. The Yugoslavian sides again failed to make it out of the first round , both suffering convincing defeats. Ferencvaros routed BSK with Takas and Jozsef Turay both scoring six goals over the two legs. Gradanski Zagreb managed to be more competative in there tie, winning the first leg 3-2 before being overwhelmed in the second by the Czech champions. Rapid Vienna and MTK produced the tournaments first playoff when the score was knotted at 7-7 after two legs. Rapid gained the advantage in the first leg led by a second half brace from Ferdinand Wessely giving them a 6-4 victory. In the second leg MTK would fight all the way back going ahead 3-0 and 7-6 on aggregate before a 72nd minute own goal tied the match. The playoff was a much more cautious affair with Rapid defender Anton Sitschel scoring the winner in extra time. Round 2: Admira Wien 1 - 3 Ferencvaros (1-2, 0-1) SK Viktoria Zizkov 6 - 6 Rapid Vienna (4-3, 2-3) (Playoff 1-3) The Hungarian and Austrian champions met in the first semi-final, led by their world class goal scoring forwards, but he tie would be a very defensive affair. Ferencvaros grabbed control by winning the first leg 2-1 in Austria with Takas grabbing the late winner. Ferencvaros center-half Marton Bukovi was singled out as the matches outstanding player. In the second leg Ferencvaros wrapped up the tie winning 1-0 with Admira goalkeeper Franzl playing well to prevent an even heavier defeat. Rapid Vienna were involved in a second straight tie that needed a playoff. The first leg was played in Prague and featured massive momentum shifts. Viktoria took the early lead with defender Karl Steiner scoring the 7th minute. Then Franz Weselik scored three straight goals to give Rapid control of the tie on the road before Viktoria fought back behind three consecutive goals from Jan Dvoracek and took a one goal lead to Vienna. Early in the second half of the second leg Johann Horvath scored to put Rapid ahead 3-1 in the tie and 6-5 on aggregate, but Karel Podrazil scored in the 64th minute to send to tie to a playoff. Rapid had the home advantage for the playoff and and Horvath gave them and early lead with goals in the 8th and 11th minutes, they would go on to win 3-1. Final: Ferencvaros 10 - 6 Rapid Vienna (7-1, 3-5) Ferencvaros took advantage of being at home in the first leg and won the tie with a dominating 7-1 performance, led by a Takas hat trick. Rapid fought back valiantly in the second leg but a 5-3 victory would not be enough as the lost the tie 10-6 on aggregate and were runners up for the second consecutive year. Top Scorers Jozsef Takas (Ferencvaros) - 10 Jozsef Turay (Ferencvaros) - 8 Franz Weselik (Rapid Vienna) - 7 Johann Horvath (Rapid Vienna) - 6 Jan Dvorecek (Viktoria Zizkov) - 5 Ferdinand Wesely (Rapid Vienna) - 5 Karl Podrazil (Viktoria Zizkov) - 4 Ferenc Szedlacsik (Ferencvaros) - 4
This was an excellent compeition and the original forerunner to the European Cup in my view (followed by Latin Cup which had French, Spanish, Italian and Portugese teams in but was much smaller). From what I have read there was huge media buzz and fan interest too. The interesting thing about this competition was it was at its height in the 1930s and back then outside England the strongest leagues in Europe were arguably Italy, Czech, Hungary, Austria as they had embraced proffesional football in the preceeding years. This is evident in early World Cups where 1934 the last four contained Italy, Czechoslovakia and Austria and in 1938 the final was Italy versus Hungary. The last great year for this event was 1939 as it was never as strong post the second world war. In the 1930's the names who dominated the event were the stars of the era, Sindelar, Meazza, Sarosi, Szengeller, Piola, Bican, Orsi plus many more. If there had been a Ballon d'or back then many of the front runners each year would be the people having stand out competitions in this event just like the Champions League of today.
Excelent thread The first european competition with the power countries by then (exc. british, Spain, German & Sweden). I liked to know which were the contenders for best player for each year.
I will do my best to give a top 5 players of the tournament from here on out with a little explanation, but resources are limited. For the two year already complete. 1927 Sparta should dominate the list, they won the tourney and played all tough opponents: Austrian champs Admira Wien, Orth's MTK, and Rapid Vienna. Where as some other teams got easy match-ups in round 1 (the Yugoslavian sides). 1. Josef Silny (Sparta): Scored the go ahead goal vs MTK in Budapest, MOM in the first leg of the final scoring twice in the decisive 6-2 first leg. Also got an away goal in the second leg of the final that finished of Rapid for good. 2. Kada Pesek (Sparta): Credited with keeping Admira's forward line quite in the first leg of their tie and kept Orth quite vs MTK. In the final opened the scoring the decisive first leg in the first minute and man marked Rapid forwards out of the game. 3. Antonin Puc (Slavia): Scored twice in the second leg of the tie with Ujpesti in Budapest and was named the "dominant" player of the match. Scored in both legs vs Rapid, giving them a 2-0 lead at home and then opening the scoring in Vienna. 4. Ferdinand Wessely (Rapid): Hard to single out a specific Rapid player as they were not mentioned much. Decided on Wessely as he hit a spectacular 83 minute game winning free kick in the semi vs Slavia to win the tie that was locked up at 3-3 aggregate. Did not pick Hoffmann as he scored all 4 of his goals in the 9-1 blowout of Hajduk. 5. Evzen Vesely (Sparta): Although this back up only played two games (both legs vs Adrima) he played spectacularly in this critical tie vs the Austrian champs. Opened the first leg with a brace and was recognized as part of the front line "playing with passion in the absence of its top forwards". Then in the second leg after Admira's huge comeback to tie the game on aggregate Vesely scored twice in the final 30 minutes to seal the tie. 1928 1. Joszef Takas (Ferencvaros): Definitely the dominant player of the tourney with 10 goals in 6 matches as Ferencvaros handily won the 1928 edition of the cup. Scored 6 in the first round blowout vs BSK, scored a critical 2nd half goal in Austria to give Fer. an away win the first leg vs Admira. Also scored a Hat trick in the decisive first leg of the final, giving a "magnificent performance". 2. Marton Bukovi (Ferencvaros): Part of the back line that only allowed 3 goals in the first 5 matches of the tournament, which is remarkable considering how high scoring most of the these games were. Was singled out as the outstanding player of the 2-1 away win vs Austrian champions Adrima Wien. 3. Johann Horvath (Rapid): Scored a brace in the high scoring 1st leg vs MTK, part of the group of forwards who were "highly effective in front of goal". Was singled out for his excellent passing and energy in the 1-0 win in the tiebreaker vs MTK. Scored a critical goal in the second leg vs Czech champions Zizkov that secured a tiebreaker. In that tiebreaker he delivered an early knockout punch, scoring a brace in the first 15 minutes to send Rapid to the final. 4. Joszef Turay (Ferencvaros): Scored 8 goals in 6 games as part of Fer. dominant front line. 5. Franz Weslik (Rapid): Scored 5 goals in the critical semi-final vs the Czech champions, including a hat trick in Prague. The top scorer for Rapid with 7 goals in 8 games.
I agree most of top players must be forwards due to high number of goals. Only E.Vesely is a new name to me. Other top players, i check for 1927 edition: SPARTA - Antonín Perner (famous fullback in NT) RAPID - Josef Smistik, Leopold Nitsch (starter halves in NT), Johann Horvath SLAVIA - Frantisek Plánicka, Frantisek Svoboda MTK - Gyula Mandl, Zoltán Opata, György Molnár. (With 2 matches Hirzer and Orth, 1 match J.Braun and Kálmán Konrád) http://www.iffhs.de/?17f43c20e32b0a...817f7370eff3702bb1c2bbb6a28e13c11e23b00e13c07 I think MTK had the potential to had been 1927 champion (they remained unbeaten). Also FTC which didn't participated (being domestic champion) and won the 1928 edition.
Mitropa Cup 1929 This was the first year that Italian sides entered the tournament, in place of the Yugoslvian sides, which added even more quality and prestige to the Mitropa Cup. The top two teams from Italy (Torino and Bologna) were not available for the tournament, as Italy was using the two division format at the time and the final playoff to decide the Italian champion was occurring at the same time as the Mitropa Cup. Therefore a 4 team playoff was staged to see who would receive to two Italian places in the tournament. Division B's runner up Juvnetus defeated Division B's 6th place finisher Inter 1-0. Genoa received the other position beating out AC Milan. Austria sent two time Mitropa Cup runners up and this years Austrian champions Rapid Vienna back to attempt to finally win the title. Austrian Cup winners First Vienna also made the trip for the first time. Slavia Prague would again be in the tournament, this time as Czech champions, led once again by the 1929 Czech top scorer, winger Antonin Puc. The winners of the inaugural tournament, Sparta Prague also returned to the competition. Hungary sent 1929 champions MTK (led by former Juventus star Ferenc Hirzer) and 3rd place finishers Ujpest to the cup. 2nd place Ferencvaros and league leading scorer Joszef Takas (an amazing 41 goals that year) would not have an opportunity to defend their title. Round 1: Ujpest 6 - 3 Sparta Prague (6-1, 0-2) MTK 1 - 5 First Vienna (1-4, 0-1) Rapid Vienna 5 - 1 Genoa (5-1, 0-0) Juventus 1 - 3 Slavia Prague (1-0, 0-3) In a match-up of third place teams Ujpest put the tie out of reach after the first leg, thanks in large part to a hat trick from Romanian born Hungarian international Istan Avar, who would average well over a goal per game in his 8 seasons with Ujpest and lead them to four domestic titles. First Vienna shocked the Hungarian champions, winning the first leg of the tie in Budapest 4-1, and played great defense, only conceding 1 goal over two legs to a team that had scored 76 in 22 games domestically. First Vienna were led masterfully by playmaker Friedrich Gshweidl who scored in both legs of the tie. Half back Josef Smistik starred for Rapid, as they easily controlled their tie vs Genoa. Wessely and Weslik both had braces in the first leg. Slavia Prague limited there defeat to 1-0 in the opening leg played in Turin through some fantastic saves by world renown goalkeeper Frantisek Planicka and strong play from full-backs Rosetta and Caligaris. In the second leg outside right Junek scored twice to help give Slavia the tie, eliminating both Italian newcomers in the first round. Round 2: First Vienna 5 - 6 Slavia Prague (3-2, 2-4) Ujpest 4 - 4 Rapid Vienna (2-1, 2-3) Playoff (3-1) In the first of two highly competitive semi-final ties, Slavia overcame First Vienna by a one goal advantage. First Vienna dominated the first leg at home, but two goals from star player Puc and more fantastic saves from Planicka kept the tie alive for Slavia. In the second leg Puc starred again scoring two second half goals after his team fell behind 1-0 to turn the game around, putting Slavia in the final for the first time. Slavia players were carried off the field after completing their dramatic comeback. Ujpest and Rapid would require a playoff to settle their semi-final encounter. Weselik grabbed an important away goal in Budapest and Avar scored twice in Vienna, limiting both away defeats two one goal margins and sending the tie to a playoff at a neutral site, Prague. The two stars of the playoff were Avar who scored all 3 Ujpest goals and defender Borsanyi who was man of the match in a game that Ujpest was clearly superior. Final: Ujpest 7 - 3 Slavia Prague (5-1, 2-2) The first half of leg one ended with the sides tied 1-1, with Puc scoring the important away goal. Then in the second half Ujpest exploded for four goals giving themselves a lead that would be difficult to overcome in the second leg. Defender Borsanyi was once again named man of the match for Ujpest. Slavia fought back in the second leg pulling back two goals putting the tie back in reach before the Ujpest keeper saved a critical penalty and Ujpest successfully counter attacked in late to score twice after the 80th minute, with the final goal coming from tournament top scorer Istan Avar. Top Scorers: Istan Avar (Ujpest) - 10 Antonin Puc (Slavia) - 5 Karl Gerhold (First Vienna) - 4 Franz Weselik (Rapid Vienna) - 4 Frantisek Junek (Slavia) - 4 Gabor Szabo (Ujpest) - 4 Leopold Giebisch (First Vienna) - 3 Fiedrich Gschweidl (First Vienna) - 4 1929 Best Players 1. Istan Avar (Ujpest) - For the second straight year there appears to be a clear cut top player, with Avar easily leading the scoring charts for the tournament champions. He was the match winner with a hat trick vs Sparta and against two time runners up Rapid, where he scored a brace in Vienna to force a playoff and then scored a hat trick in that playoff. He also scored in both legs of the final. 2. Antonin Puc (Slavia) - He scored decisive braces in both legs vs the superior First Vienna to win the tie. He also scored away at Ujpest in the First leg of the final to even the score at 1 before the floodgates opened. 3. Frantisek Planicka (Slavia) - He, along with Puc, dragged Slavia to the final making spectacular saves away at Juventus and First Vienna when the team was clearly outplayed to give Slavia a chance in the return legs. 4. Ferenc Borsanyi (Ujpest) - The Ujpest defender was named man of the match twice in crucial games, first in the playoff with Rapid and then dominant first leg of the final. 5. Fiedrich Gschweidl (First Vienna) - The center piece of the team that played great attacking football, easily beating Hungarian champions MTK and outplaying Slavia in the semi-finals, but were foiled by heroics from Puc and Planicka. He was man of the match in their "masterful" first leg demolition of Ujpest.
József Takács must be the best player, also great performance by Weselik. Other top players whom participated for 1928 edition: FTC - Vilmos Kohut RAPID - Josef Smistik, Ferdinand Wessely ADMIRA - Friedrich Franzl, Toni Schall VIKTORIA - Karel Steiner
Tom Stevens, Thanks for such a useful thread. Did Antonin Puc perform as inside-forward or outside-forward during the 1920s Mitropa Cup ?
I do not have any direct mentions of what position he is playing in the Mitropa Cup. His Slavia teammate Junek is specifically mentioned as an outside right in the 1929 Mitropa Cup tie with Juventus. Other more general information I have seen indicates Puc was an outside left for Slavia. In light of these pieces of information, one thing that does not make sense is the lineup posted here for the 1934 world cup final. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1934_FIFA_World_Cup_Final It shows Puc as the outside right and Junek as the outside left. Why would they switch sides to play for the national team?
According IFFHS, Puc played 10/11 matches as Inside Left and 1 as Outside Left in the 20s Mitropa Cup. Is interesting that his only match as winger, his teammate in the IL role was Kratochvil, which usually performed as OL in most Slavia matches.
Mitropa Cup 1930 The same format from last year was used, with two teams from Austria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Italy. This time Italy was able to send their top two teams to the cup. 1930 Italian champions Ambrosiana-Inter were led by budding superstar and 1930 top scorer Giuseppe Meazza. Genoa would make there second straight Mitropa appearance, this time as league runners up. Rapid Vienna once again represented Austria as domestic champions. For the second straight year First Vienna qualified as Austrian Cup champions (3rd position in the league). Slavia once a qualified as league champions. They had an amazing domestic season, winning the league with an undefeated 14-0-0 record. Sparta Prague qualified as the league runner up. For the first time a Mitropa Cup champion would have a chance to defend their title the following year, as last years champions Ujpest qualified as this years Hungarian champions. Takas and Ferencvarios made a return to the tournament as Hungarian runners up. Round 1: Slavia Prague 2 - 3 Ferencvaros (2-2, 0-1) Sparta Prague 5 - 3 First Vienna (2-1, 3-2) Genoa 2 - 7 Rapid Vienna (1-1, 1-6) Ujpest 6 - 6 Inter (2-4, 4-2) Playoff 1 (1-1) Playoff 2 (5-3) Ferencvaros defeated Slavia in a close tie. After an entertaining 2-2 draw in Prague, both back lines and goalkeepers played excellent in Budapest with Ferencvaros edging the return leg on a second half penalty. Sparta achieved narrow victories in both games of there ties with First Vienna to move on the the semi-finals. The first leg in Prague was deadlocked after second half goals from Silny and Gschweidl until the 86 minute when Sparta's new star signing, Belguim international Raymond Braine, scored the winner despite man marking from Austrian international Leopold Hofmann. In the second leg, after establishing a 3-1 lead away from home in the first 20 minutes, Sparta's world class back line of Jaroslav Burgr, Antonin Hojer, and Kada Pesek weathered attack after attack to hold on for the win. After a spirited 1-1 draw in Genoa, luck turned to Rapids side. In the 40th minute of the second leg Genoa lost there excellent goalkeeper Manlio Bacigalupo to injury, forcing an outfield player to take up his position. From there Wessely and Weselik both scored twice and Rapid easily advanced. Italian champions Inter and defending Mitropa Cup/Hungarian champions Ujpest would play an epic first round encounter that needed two playoffs and 22 goals to decide a winner. Inter shocked the holders in Budapest, winning the first leg 4-2 behind two goals from Meazza, the match's top player. Ujpest returned the favor, winning 4-2 in Milan despite two first half goals from Meazza, forcing a playoff. The first playoff was a defensive affair played at a neutral site with each teams star player, Meazza and Ivar, both scoring once. In the final and decisive game between the two teams saw Inter take advantage of being at home by taking a 3-0 lead with the opening goal from Conti and then two from Meazza which seamed to put the game out of reach. Then Ivar pulled back two consecutive goals to make it close, but to no avail, as Inter went on to win 5-3, despite Ujpest being noted as playing the better football. Round 2: Inter 3 - 8 Sparta Prague (2-2, 1-6) Rapid Vienna 5 - 2 Ferencvaros (5-1, 0-1) Inter were shocked in the first leg of their semi-final tie when Sparta took a 2-0 lead in the first 15 minutes at Milan with two goals from Josef Kostalek. They were able to fight back and draw level behind two goals from Pietro Serantoni, but could not manage to take the lead, as there keeper had broken his arm and Inter were forced to play the second half with 10 men and an outfield player in goal. In the second leg Sparta dominated behind world class performances from Braine and Pesek, and unsure goalkeeping by Inter's reserve goalkeeper Pietro Miglio. In a rematch of the 1928 Mitropa Cup final Rapid Vienna would avenge their defeated and make a 3rd appearance in the final. In the first leg Ferencvaros had most of the possession but failed to capitalize, while Rapid counter attacking ruthlessly with center froward Matthias Kaburek starring and scoring a hat trick. Smistik was recognized for keeping the defense organized and quickly transitioning the team from defending to attacking. With a large lead in Budapest Rapid's defense "was a bastion" limiting Ferencvaros to 1 goal and putting them in the final for the third time. Final: Sparta Prague 3 - 4 Rapid Vienna (0-2, 3-2) In a rematch of the 1927 final Rapid looked to finally win the cup after two final disappointments and Sparta looked to be the first team to ever win the cup twice. The first leg was played in Prague, where Rapid's energetic defense and outstanding goalkeeping from Josef Bugala kept Sparta off the scoreboard. Rapid would score two excellent counter attacking goals through Luef and Weselik. In the return leg at home Rapid appeared to be on their way to victory after opening the scoring in the 17th minute through Kaburek and holding a 3-0 aggregate lead. Then Sparta got back in the tie with two goals in two minutes from Kostalek. Rapid then renewed their attack and the great center half Smistik scored the goal that would seal the tournament for Rapid. Kostalek would complected his hat trick and Kada Pesek gave an excellent performance, helping Sparta win the game, but Rapid had finally won the tournament, avenging both of their previous final losses on the way. Roman Schramseis was also noted as excellent in the second leg for Rapid. Top Scorers: Giuseppe Meazza (Inter) - 7 Josef Kostalek (Sparta) - 5 Istan Ivar (Ujpest) - 4 Raymound Braine (Sparta) - 4 Matthias Kaburek (Rapid) - 4 Ferdinand Wessely (Rapid) - 4 Janos Solyom (Ujpest) - 3 Johann Luef (First Vienna) - 3 Pietro Serantoni (Inter) - 3 Franz Weselik (Rapid) - 3 1930 Best Players This was a tougher decision than the last two years with no single standout forward for Rapid and two different forwards from Sparta playing well in different games. 1. Josef Smistik (Rapid) - The great attacking center-half was the key figure in Rapid's successful counter attacking tactics throughout the tournament (most notable vs Ferencvaros and Sparta), organizing the defense and the quickly launching counter attacks. He had a man of the the match display in the final and scored the tournament winning goal. 2. Kada Pesek (Sparta) - Was given man of the match honors in all three of his teams second leg matches: the 3-2 victory vs First Vienna in Vienna, the 6-1 home drubbing of Inter, and the 3-2 victory second leg comeback that barely fell short in the final vs Rapid. 3. Giuseppe Meazza (Inter) - The tournaments top scorer with all of his goals coming over the 4 match first round tie vs Ujpest. He failed to make an impact vs Sparta, but his team was put in a tough situation with their top goalkeeper breaking his arm part way through the first leg. He scored at least once in every game vs Ujpest, the defending tournament champions and Hungarian champions. He out dueled the 1929 editions top played Istan Avar, scoring decisive goals in the away leg (x2) to steal a 4-2 vistory, in the home leg (x2) to force a playoff, the only goal of the first playoff to force a second, and then twice in the final match to put the Italians up 3-0 and secure the tie. 4. Raymound Braine (Sparta) - Scored the winning goals late in the first leg vs First Vienna, allowing Sparta to take a lead to Vienna. Gave a world class performance outshining Meazza in Sparta's second leg demolition of Inter, where he scored twice. 5. Matthias Kaburek (Rapid) - Was the man of the match in the decisive counter attacking masterpiece vs Ferencvaros where he scored a hat trick. Also opened the scoring in the second leg of the final vs Sparta.
It seems that at late 20s, the hungarians teams were the stronger in Central Europe winning 1928 and 1929 editions. (note that in 1927 ed., don't send it the domestix champion)
As regarding to Inter defeat to Sparta, it has to be noted that Ambrosiana-Inter was playing the return leg of the semi with one Pietro Miglio as goalkeeper. Inter had both the starting and sub goalkeeper (Smerzi and Degani) injured and having to find one in a couple of week time, and being the transfert lists for professional already closed, just wrote an advertisment in sport newspapers. It is unknown how many reported to the advertisemnt, but in the end, the chosen one was this Pietro Miglio, who was playing as goalkeeper in a team from Turin, Crocetta, partecipating in the ULIC leagues and who was preferred also to the goalkeepers of the youth teams. ULIC (Unione Libera Italiana del Calcio: Free Italian Union of Football) was a non professional federation born during the First World War as an alternative to FIGC. ULIC didn't require that the players were signed to a team, and in fact they disregarded the "belongings" of players to a "federate" team. As a result of this "free" approach the lineups of the teams in ULIC were ever changing and often some "federal" players would play in ULIC competitions, sometimes under a false name to avoid sanctions form FIGC. ULIC champiopnships both senoir and youth had a good following and soon in the early 20's become a very important source of players for federate teams. Many players began in ULIC and finished playing in the national teams. Meazza, for an example, started playing in the boys team of an ULIC team, Gloria, of Milan, before going to Inter. Dugoni from Modena (b. 1905, 4 times in the NT) won the 1922 ULIC senior championship with the Giovani Calciatori Modenesi, and had begun the 1922-23 season with San Lazzaro (another ULIC team in Modena), before being signed 14.11.1922, by Modena, to gain his first cap against Genoa in a First Division (the top league) match 5 days later (19.11.1922). 3 years later, 4.11.1925, he gained his first cap with the national team in the match Italia-Jugoslavia 2-1, held in Padua. By 1927 the fascist party, which in fact disliked every "free" organisation, put, by law, the ULIC under the control of the growing Opera Nazionale Dopolavoro (a fascist organisation for the control of workers "free-time") marking the beginning of the end of ULIC. By 1930 with the growing of the 4th, 5th, 6th tiers of FIGC championship, the ULIC teams were more of an "amateur" league than a source for future football stars: sometimes you could find some good Serie C level players in ULIC temas, but just because they hadn't be able to find a team in time, or because they had finished the levy... So Inter played with this "carneade", Pietro Miglio, in the second leg of the semi. He had played just one pro match the week before, against Pro Vercelli (1-1), and after the trashing in Prague didn't do better against Torino (0-6), or Triestina (0-5). After 17 goals in 6 matches, with Degani back from injury, he played no more in Serie A, and in the following years became a just decent goalkeeper for Serie B and C sides.
Good info. Anotonin Puc totally reached 4 Mitropa Cup semi-finalists and he seems to play as left-winger in the later 1930s refer to this link http://www.world-football-legends.co.uk/index.php/cze/32-puc-antonin. Note that he is the most consecutive games scorer in history of Czechoslovakia National Team with seven primarily did it in 1927.
From the iffhs website that appears to have been redone just today, I can't find the information now all the links re-route me back to the new website which does not have any content. The link was originally posted in a Mitropa Cup thread on xtratime. It will be disappointing if the IFFHS does not get the content back up, that was where the juiciest tidbits were coming from. https://www.google.com/search?q=mit...s=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a This google search shows the links that used to get you there, now they all re-route.
Mitropa Cup 1931 The format remained unchanged this year, with two teams from Austria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Italy. Once again Italy's two top teams would attend. Juventus were league champions for the first of a record five straight seasons. They had acquired one of the most star studded lineups in the world featuring legendary names like Orsi, Ferrari, Cesarini, and Monti. Italian runners up Roma were led by the domestic top scorer Rodolfo Volk, who scored 29 times in 33 appearances. First Vienna again qualified for Mitropa, this time as Austrian champions as opposed to cup champions. They sported the best defense in Austria that season, in large part to the presence of three of the Wunderteam's defensive standouts: Josef Blum, Karl Rainer, and Leopold Hofmann. Wiener AC represented Austria as cup champions and were led by Austria's #2 scorer that season with 18 goals, Heinrich Hiltl. Slavia qualified as Czech champions for the third straight year, and were once again joined by last season Mitropa Cup runners up Sparta Prague. From Hungary, champions Ujpest did not participate. Instead second place MTK and fourth place Bocskai FC, who where led by the leagues leading scorer that season Jeno Vincze (20 goals), represented Hungary. Round 1: First Vienna 7 - 0 Bocskai (3-0, 4-0) Slavia Prague 2 - 3 Roma (1-1, 1-2) Wiener AC 6 - 4 MTK (5-1, 3-1) Juventus 2 - 2 Sparta Prague (2-1, 0-1) Playoff (2-3) First Vienna easily outclassed Hungarian newcomers Bocskai, not allowing a single goal the entire tie. This was the first time a team had been held scoreless in a Mitropa Cup tie. Gschweidl scored twice in the first leg and Erdl twice in the second. Roma won a low scoring affair vs Slavia. Roma outplayed Slavia throughout the tie, with the great Planicka to thank for keeping the score down in both legs. The 1-1 first leg in Prague, Italian top scorer Volk grabbed the away goal while Roma's outstanding half backs intercepted many passes and kept Slavia's famous forward line quite. The player of the game was Roma's intelligent Center Half Fulvio Bernardini. In the second leg Slavia grabbed an early lead behind Puc, but Volk would score the winner in the 47th minute and was the matches best player. The Austrian Cup winners, who finished in the bottom half of their domestic league, were heavy underdogs vs MTK. The Austrians sent shockwaves through Europe, winning the first leg in Budapest 5-1 behind masterful combination play and two goals from Hiltl and the German Hanke. After their great victory in Budapest, the Austrians started carelessly, falling behind 3-0 by the 47th minute at home, which could have been more if not for excellent play from their goalkeeper Rudolf Hiden. With the tie now almost even, Hanke rescued Wiener with an 82nd minute goal that sealed the tie. Juventus met Sparta Prague in the first round, who may have been the only team in the world to boast as star studded a front line as Juventus. In addition to long time stalwart and that seasons Czech top scorer Silny, young Czech star Nejedly joined Raymond Braine and formed a formidable threesome. Despite the star power of the front lines it was not a particularly high scoring affair. Juventus took the first leg in Torino 2-1. Cesarini opened the scoring before Braine equalized. Braine had a chance to give Sparta the lead but his penalty was saved and Italian international Munerati grabbed the winner in the 88th minute. In the second leg Juventus's fullbacks, Virginio Rosetta and Umberto Caligaris, played excellently to weather the Sparta assault and only allow one goal, sending the tie to a playoff. In a lively affair Sparta took a 3-1 lead after 70 minutes with goals from Silny and Nejedly before the game got out of hand and 4 players (3 from Juventus) were sent off. Despite having only 7 outfield players Juventus managed to pull one goal back in the 90th minute but lost 3-2. Round 2: First Vienna 6 - 3 Roma (3-2, 3-1) Sparta Prague 6 - 6 Wiener AC (3-2, 3-4) Playoff (0-2) First Vienna won the first leg in Rome, they scored three straight goals after falling behind 1-0 to give themselves a 3-1 lead. From that point First's excellent defense took over, once again leg by Rainer and Blum, to hold on for a 3-2 away win in Rome. First Vienna would win the second leg comfortably at home behind an excellent all around performance from Leopeld Marta who scored twice. Sparta went into Vienna and turned the tables on the upstart Wiener team, winning 3-2 behind two goals from Nejedly who was supported with excellent play from his fellow attackers Braine, Silny, and Podrazil. In a hard fought, back and forth match Silny had tied the score at 3-3 and restored Sparta's aggregate lead in Prague before Hiltl scored a dramatic 88th minute goal to complete his hat trick and force a playoff. Despite the playoff being played in Prague, Wiener shocked a major continental power for the second time, winning 2-0 with the final goal being scored by Hiltl, giving him 5 in the three games vs Sparta. Final: First Vienna 5 - 3 Wiener AC (3-2, 2-1) The all Austrian final reflected the dominance of the Austrian national team at the time. In the first leg Wiener took a 2-0 lead, but First fought back to win the match through excellent performances from Gschweidl and Hofmann. The second leg was controlled by First Vienna, as Karl Rainer expertly marked the competitions top scorer Hiltl out of the game. Hofmann was technically strong and dominated the game in the air. Gschweidl once again pulled the strings setting up two Erdl goals and was the matches outstanding player. First Vienna won all 6 of there matches on the way to the title, making them the only team to ever accomplish this feat in the Mitropa Cup before WWII. Top Scorers Heinrich Hiltl (Wiener AC) - 7 Josef Hanke (Wiener AC) - 5 Franz Erdl (First Vienna) - 4 Oldrich Nejedly (Sparta Prague) - 4 Leopold Marat (First Vienna) - 3 Rodolfo Volk (Roma) - 3 Friedrich Gschweidl (First Vienna) - 3 Otto Haftl (Sparta Prague) - 3 1931 Best Players - This is the most dominated by one team that a top 5 players has been, but First Vienna was by far the dominant team of the tournament, giving an amazing defensive performance. 1a-1b. Josef Blum and Karl Rainer (First Vienna) - The great pair of fullbacks gave a completely dominating performance. Shut out their first round opponents, were dominating in the away leg vs Roma, and in both legs of the final, keeping the tournaments top scorer from finding the net. Were the main reason why First Vienna was able to achieve the unique accomplishment of winning every match in the tournament. 2. Fiedrich Gschweidl (First Vienna) - Was the key offensive player in the away win vs Roma and both legs of the final vs Wiener. Scored three goals, including the third and decisive goal in Rome. 3. Heinrich Hiltl (Wiener AC) - Was the tournaments top scorer and gave an amazing performance in the first two rounds, upsetting heavily favored MTK and Sparta. He scored twice and was man of the match in Wiener's shocking 5-1 win in Budapest. He scored 5 times over three games vs Sparta, including a hat tricked capped by a dramatic late goal to send the tie to a playoff in Prague. 4. Leopold Hofmann (First Vienna) - Was a major part of First Vienna's dominating defensive performance, as he was often mentioned dominating the game aerially from the center of the pitch. 5. Josef Hanke (Wiener AC) - The other star of Wiener's attack, he was the tournaments second leading scorer with 5 goals, including a vital one to save the tie after a furious MTK comeback. He also scored in both legs of the final and twice in Wiener's famous win in Budapest.
Mitropa Cup 1932 The format remained unchanged this year, with two teams from Austria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Italy. Juventus were once again league champions and would try to become the first Italian team to win the cup. They were joined by runners up Bologna. The two top teams in Italy seemed far above their domestic counterparts that season, both with goal differentials over 50, while no other teams had goal differentials that reached even 20. First Vienna would have a chance to defend their title, qualifying as Austrian runners up. Admira Wien would qualify as league and cup champions and were once again led by Austria's top scorer that season (22 goals) Anton Schall. The top two teams switched from Czechoslovakia this season, with Sparta qualifying as champions for the first time in four years, led by the Leagues top scorer Raymond Braine (16 goals). Slavia would once again qualify, this season as runners up instead of champions. Hungary returned its two top teams this season, champions Ferencvaros led by Takas and his 42 goals, and runners up Ujpest. Round 1: Slavia Prague 3 - 1 Admira Wein (3-0, 0-1) Bologna 5 - 3 Sparta Prague (5-0, 0-3) Juventus 7 - 3 Ferencvaros (4-0, 3-3) First Vienna 6 - 4 Ujpest (5-3, 1-1) In the first match-up Admira once again failed to deliver in the Mitropa Cup. The first leg in Prague saw Admira's top two attackers, Schall and Vogl, shut down by Slavia's massive defense. Slavia's forward line played magnificently, led by Frantisek Svoboda who scored twice. Admira's excellent young goalkeeper Rudolf Zöhrer prevented the defeat from being even heavier. One second half goal from Vogl in the second leg could not overturn the three goal aggregate deficit and Slavia moved on. Bologna defeated Sparta in a narrow tie where both teams dominated at home. In the first leg in Italy, Sparta were without their defensive leader Kada Pesek and were soundly defeated. They had no answer for Bologna's two Uruguayan inside forwards and creative hubs, Rafael Sansone and Francisco Fedullo. The rest of the Bologna front line played excellent as well with two goals from Bruno Maini, and one from Carlo Reguzzoni and Angelo Schiavio each. The Czech team made a valiant comeback at home, but after scoring three goals in the first 60 minutes they could not reduce the deficit any further and were eliminated. In a matchup of league champions and star studded attacks Juventus would defeat Ferencvaros, making this the most successful tournament for Italians teams thus far, with two teams in the semi-finals. The star studded forward line from Hungary featuring Takas and Turay, former Mitropa champions, and newcomer Sarosi, who would go on to be the tournaments all time top scorer, could make no impact in the first leg in Turin. Juventus' South American stars were a class apart, scoring all the goals and dominating the play (Orsi 1 goal, Cesarini 2 goals, Sernagiotto 1 goal). Faced with a large uphill battle Ferencvaros started strongly at home, in the first 20 minutes two penalties were won by Turay and Toldi, and both were converted by Sarosi. There hope was short lived however as the South American super technicians once again took over, scoring three straight goals, one from Orsi and two from Cesarini. Last years champions kicked off their title defense in dramatic fashion, scoring a 5-3 home victory in the first leg of their tie with Ujpest. Franz Schonwetter starred for First Vienna, scoring a hat trick and putting the team on his back for the victory. In a defensive struggle First Vienna achieved a good result drawing 1-1 in Budapest to move on the semis, thanks in large part to their strong defense, which was dominant away from home just as it had been in the 1931 edition. Round 2: Bologna 2 - 1 First Vienna (2-0, 0-1) Slavia Prague 4 - 2 Juventus (4-0, 0-2) Bologna once again pitched a shutout at home, and were deserving winners in a scrappy game, winning 2-0. Maini and Sansone scored the goals. The second leg started fast with First Vienna earning a penalty in the 7th minute that Josef Blum failed to convert, they earned another penalty 6 minutes later that Schonwetter did convert, pulling them within one goal of a playoff. From there the game would bog down. The Austrian front line was over elaborate and had trouble penetrating the Italian defense. When they did Mario Gianna showed top form and made some impressive saves. Angelo Schiavio, Italy's top domestic scorer that season, was mastered by Leopold Hofmann, but Sansone and Fedullo once again were impressive despite not getting on the scoreboard. The semi-final tie between European powers Slavia and Juventus was marred by violence. The first leg was played in Pague, and in the first half Slavia played masterful short passing combinations to take a 3-0 lead with two goals from Kopecky and one from Svoboda. In the second half the game took a turn for the worse. Play was stopped multiple times as fights broke out on the pitch between players and coaches, Slavia won 4-0 but this was overshadowed after police were forced to restore order multiple times in the match. The atmosphere was violent for the return leg in Turin, Slavia players were greeted by missiles from the stands when they entered the pitch. Juventus players refused to shakes hands before the match. Once play got started the great Argentinians once again took over with Cesarini and Orsi both scoring before halftime, putting the tie back in reach. Slavia's star goalkeeper Planicka played excellently in the first half to keep the deficit from being even larger at the half. Shortly after halftime Planicka was struck in the head with a rock thrown from the stands and the game was called off. Final: It was decided by the Mitropa Cup committee that both Juventus and Slavia would be disqualified and Bologna were named champions. This was a difficult phase for the competition and efforts were made to rein in nationalist media that had been the source of much of the poor atmosphere in both legs of the Slavia Juventus tie. Top Scorers Renato Cesarini (Juventus) - 5 Franz Schonwetter (First Vienna) - 4 Gyorgy Sarosi (Ferencvaros) - 3 Bruno Maini (Bologna) - 3 Raimundo Orsi (Juventus) - 3 Frantisek Svaboda (Slavia Prague) - 3 1932 Top Players 1a-1b. Renato Cesarini and Raimundo Orsi (Juventus) - These two were always mentioned together in match reports and always played well in tandem, dominating in both legs vs Hungarian Champions Ferencvaros and in the first half of the return leg vs Slavia. They had the ability to completely take over a match, scoring and creating goals in bunches. They scored 8 of Juventus' 9 goals. 2. Frantisek Svoboda (Slavia Prague) - The long time Czech international was at the center of Slavia's magnificent passing play among the forward line in the home legs vs Admira and Juventus, leading his team to victory vs both of these domestic champions, scoring 3 times. 3. Rafael Sansone (Bologna) - The Uruguayan played the role of both midfielder and forward and was the creative force for Bologna. He was man of the match in the 5-0 victory vs Sparta, and was excellent in the first leg vs First Vienna scoring the ties decisive 89th minute goal. He also played a very important role in the second leg in Vienna helping control the center of the pitch and hold on to a narrow victory. 4. Leopold Hofmann (First Vienna) - First Vienna defense was once again dominant, but their offense could not score enough goals to achieve the result of the previous season. Hofmann was part of the dominant defensive display in Budapest and was excellent in the home leg vs Bologna, shutting down Italy's top scorer Schiavio. From the IFFHS match report, "Angelo Schiavio met his master in Leopold Hofmann". 5. Bruno Maini (Bologna) - Was the top scorer for the champions scoring twice against Sparta and once against First Vienna. All three goals were crucial as Bologna's margin a victory was slim in both ties and goals were hard to come by.
Mitropa Cup 1933 The format remained unchanged for one final season. From Austria, First Vienna once again qualified as champions and were once again led by their defense that allowed a league low 26 goals. Austria Vienna made their first appearance in the competition, qualifying as cup champions and were led by the star of Austria's national team, Matthias Sindelar. Hungary sent their two top teams to the tournament, champions Ujpest, and runners up MTK. Czechoslovakia would again be represented by Slavia Prague and Sparta Prague, with Slavia reclaiming the title this season and Sparta as runners up. Juventus qualified as Italian champions for the third straight season and were seen a favorites to win the competition after dominating Serie A with a +60 goal differential and appearing to be the best team in the competition last season before being disqualified. Inter and Meazza made a return to the competition as Serie A runners up, and looked to improve upon their 1930 semi-final appearance. Round 1: Ujpest 4 - 10 Juventus (2-4, 2-6) Slavia Prague 3 - 4 Austria Vienna (3-1, 0-3) MTK 3 - 5 Sparta Prague (2-3, 1-2) First Vienna 1 - 4 Inter (1-0, 0-4) Juventus lived up to their status as favorites in the first round, crushing Hungarian champions Ujpest 10-4 on aggregate. Juventus jumped out till a 4-0 lead in Budapest before MTK pulled 2 goals back in the last 15 minutes. Outside right Pedro Sernagiotto was the man of the match, he scored one of Juventus' four goals and was very influential in their attack. The second leg started as a back and forth affair, when Istan Avar reduced the deficit to one goal (three on aggregate) which was followed closely by the sending off of Juventus' great defensive midfielder Luis Monti. This gave Ujpest hope, but it was dramatically taken away by Orsi, who scored three times in the last 30 minutes (4 in the match, 5 in the tie). Austria Vienna was fortunate to score an early own goal in Prague, after which the outstanding inside trio of Slavia (Svoboda 1 goal, Sobotka, and Kopecky 2 goals) took over and gave them a 3-1 home victory. Knowing they needed a big result at home Austria Vienna dominated the match. Sindelar was the conductor of Austria's attack. Despite the excellent play of Slavia goalkeeper Planicka, Austria were able to overcome the two goal deficit and win 3-0, with two goals from the excellent Rudolf Viertl, and the winning goal in the 77th minute from Sindelar. MTK and Sparta played two close match with Sparta coming out on top in both. Despite grabbing an early goal Kalmar and Cseh, MTK's top two forwards, did not preform as expected. Sparta's excellent front line containing Braine, Silny, and Nejedly then took over and created three straight goals before MTK scored a late goal to narrow the deficit to one. In the return leg Sparta's superior back line was the difference as they won the match 2-1, with two goals scored by the new signing from SK Kladno, winger Frantisek Kloz. This was the second straight season both Hungarian clubs were eliminated in the first round. In Vienna, Inter and First had a defensive struggle with Gustav Togel earning First Vienna a 1-0 win. Inter's goalkeeper Carlo Ceresoli was the man of the match. Despite the wealth of great defensive players playing for First Vienna they failing to control Italy's star forward Meazza. Meazza scored a hat trick and was joined by excellent performances from his wingers Frione and Levratto as Inter won 4-0, and claimed an upset over the Austrian champions. Round 2: Inter 6 - 3 Sparta Prague (4-1, 2-2) Austria Vienna 4 - 1 Juventus (3-0, 1-1) The first leg of the semi-final tie between Inter and Sparta was played in Milan, and proved to be the decisive leg of the tie. Inter took a 4-0 first half lead behind a hat trick from Atilio Demaria. The second half was played at a slow pace because of the extreme heat, and Sparta managed to pull one goal back through Nejedly. The second leg was a tense back and forth affair, with Sparta's attacks being countered by Inter. The match ended 2-2, putting Inter through to the final. Kloz scored two more goals for Sparta but it was not enough as Demaria scored his forth of the tie before halftime, putting the tie out of reach for Sparta. Austria Vienna took advantage of having the first leg at home vs favorites Juventus, preforming masterfully and winning 3-0. Juventus had no answer for Sindelar, who opened the scoring in the 3rd minute and made Luis Monti's life miserable throughout the match, seeing him sent off in the 85th minute. Juventus had chances to score but Orsi was denied by the crossbar. In Torino the Austrian goalkeeper Johann Billich played heroically to achieve a 1-1 draw that flattered Austria and sent them to the final. The inside trio of Ferrari, Borel, and Cesarini were excellent for Juventus and created many chances, but could not score enough goals despite taking an early 1-0 lead through Ferrari. Molzer grabbed the late counter attacking goal for Austria. Final: Inter 3 - 4 Austria Vienna (2-1, 3-1) The two best European forwards of their time, Meazza and Sindelar, would meet in one of the biggest club games in the world. Both played excellently but Sindelar would prevail in dramatic and controversial fashion. A year later they would face off in the semi-finals of the biggest international competition in the world, the World Cup, and the tables would be turned with Italy defeating Austria in dramatic and controversial fashion. The first leg was played in Milan and took a dramatic early turn when two Inter players had to leave the pitch injured in the first half. Austria quickly took control and Carlo Ceresoli preformed brilliantly to keep the Austrians from scoring, including saving a 23 minute penalty from Stroh. Then Inter turned the tables scoring twice in two minutes, with Meazza converting a corner and Levratto returning to the pitch injured to score the second. Austria controlled the second half as well but only managed one goal through Viertl, giving Inter a 2-1 lead going into the second leg. The second leg in Vienna was the duel between the two great forwards that everyone had been waiting for. Shortly before half time Sindelar converted a penalty that evened the tie on aggregate 2-2. The last 20 minutes were packed with action and controversy. In the 80th minute Sindelar made an amazing solo dribbling run through Inter's defense and scored to give Austria the aggregate lead. Shortly thereafter two Inter players were sent off for foul play. Despite being reduced to 9 men, Meazza scored in the 85th minute to bring the tie back to even. Then Serantoni had a goal controversially disallowed for Inter and Austria had a penalty claim denied. It would appear the tie was headed for a playoff when in the 88th minute Sindelar spectacularly volleyed a cross home to win the tie. The Italian's felt they had not received a fair game from the referees, but the match and tournament would be remembered for Sindelar's spectacular performance. Top Scorers: Raimundo Orsi (Juventus) - 5 Frantisek Kloz (Sparta Prague) - 5 Giuseppe Meazza (Inter) - 5 Matthias Sindelar (Austria Vienna) - 5 Atilio Demaria (Inter) - 4 Rudolf Viertl (Austria Vienna) - 4 Giovanni Varglien (Juventus) - 3 Top Players 1. Matthias Sindelar (Austria Vienna) - Was undoubtedly the tournaments top player. Was man of the match in the second leg at home vs Slavia, scoring a goal and pulling all the strings to make up a 2 goal deficit inflicted in Prague. Was also the man of the match in the first leg vs Juventus, as Austria dominated the favorites. He scored the opening goal and dominated the match despite Luis Monit's attempt to man mark him. From the IFFHS match report, "The Italian champions could find no answer to the great play of "Sindi" Sindelar and the crowd in homage to the Vienna super star sang "Hoppauf Sindi" and "Sindi reis an". He made his opponent Monti’s life hell." Gave an all time great performance in the second leg of the final vs Inter, scoring a hat trick, with two goals coming after the 80th minute and both in spectacular fashion (a winding solo run and an amazing volley). 2. Giuseppe Meazza (Inter) - If not for Sindelar's late game heroics Meazza would occupy the top spot. This was the closest Meazza came to winning the Mitropa Cup, as he would never reach the tournament final again. Despite man marking from the great First Vienna international defenders Hofmann and Rainer, Meazza single handedly led Inter to a shocking 4-0 home victory vs the Austrian champions and former Mitropa Cup winners, scoring a hat trick. In the final he grabbed of goal against the grain of play and set up another to take the first leg 2-1. In the second leg he scored a dramatic 85th minute goal that leveled the tie in Vienna before Inter were undone one final time by Sindelar. 3. Carlo Ceresoli (Inter) - The Inter goalkeeper was man of the match in Vienna, where he limited First Vienna to one goal despite the onslaught of shots. Was also excellent in the second leg of the semi-final vs Sparta. He saved the first leg of the final for Inter, making many spectacular first half saves, including a penalty, when his team was reduced to 9 men due to injury. 4. Raimundo Orsi (Juventus) - Was unstoppable in Juventus' first round demolition of Hungarian champions Ujpest. He scored 5 goals in the tie, three of them in jaw dropping fashion in the second half of the second leg right after Ujpest had appeared to gain momentum when Monti was sent off. 5. Frantisek Kloz (Sparta Prague) - Despite only signing for Sparta days before the tournament, Kloz was their best player. He scored a critical brace in the second leg vs MTK that won the tie. He also scored twice in the second leg vs Inter, where his more famous teammates (Silny, Nejedly, and Braine) were neutralized.
Excellent write up re 1933, that was arguably the pinnacle of the competition although a few cracking years in the mid 1930s!
Mitropa Cup 1934 In 1934 the Mitropa Cup doubled the number of teams in the competition, taking four teams from each of the four represented countries: Austria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Italy. The first Austrian team to qualify was Admira Wien, who had won the league cup double and looked to improve on their disappointing Mitropa Cup history. In second place by a narrow margin were Rapid Vienna, who had the best offense in the league led by the young striking powerhouses Josef Bican (29 goals, top scorer in Austria) and Franz Binder (20 goals). Qualifying in third place were the defending Mitropa Cup champions Austria Vienna, led once again by Austria's second leading scorer that season (22 goals) Matthias Sindelar. A four team Mitropa Cup qualifier was played to determine the final spot in the tournament between former champions First Vienna, Floridsdorfer AC (FAC), former finalists Wiener AC, and FC Vienna. Two first round upsets occurred, as the two teams who had played well in Mitropa before, First and Weiner, were knocked out. FAC, who finished in 7th place that season, beat FC Vienna in the final to qualify. Czechoslovakia sent their top four teams to the tournament. Slavia Prague were convincing champions, followed by Sparta Prague (led by Braine, the top scorer that season with 18 goals). There was then a large drop in quality to the 3rd place (SK Kladno) and 4th place (FK Teplice) qualifying teams. Hungary sent their top 4 teams as well, led by champions Ferencvaros who were led by the leagues top scorer Geza Toldi (27 goals) and the multi talented star Sarosi. The other teams that qualified were Ujpest (2nd place), Bocskai (3rd place) and MTK (4th place). Juventus once again qualified as champions, but won the league by a smaller margin. They were led by Serie A's top scorer Felice Borel (31 goals). Finishing second were last seasons Mitropa Cup runners up Inter, led again by Meazza. Qualifying in third place were newcomers Napoli, and in fourth place were former champions Bologna. First Round: Ferencvaros 10 - 1 FAC (8-0, 2-1) Kladno 4 - 3 Inter (1-1, 3-2) Bologna 3 - 2 Bocskai (2-0, 1-2) Slavia Prague 2 - 4 Rapid Vienna (1-3, 1-1) Austria Vienna 2 - 4 Ujpest (1-2, 1-2) Juventus 5 - 2 Teplicky (4-2, 1-0) Admira Wien 2 - 2 Napoli (0-0, 2-2) Playoff (5-0) Sparta Prague 6 - 6 MTK (1-2, 5-4) Playoff (5-2) MTK 3 - 3 Sparta Prague (2-1, 1-2) Playoff (1-1) In the first match-up Ferencvaros easily overwhelmed the 7th place team from Austria, FAC. The Ferencvaros front line had a field day and Sarosi was the best player on the pitch in both matches (3 goals total). The major upset of the first round was last years runners up Inter being defeated by the Czech 3rd place finishers and newcomers Kladno. The first leg in Kladno went according to plan for Inter with Meazza getting a first half goal. Inter played conservatively after that and Kladno were able to convert a late penalty to even the tie. Meazza put Inter ahead twice in the home leg, 1-0 and then 2-1, before two late goals from Frantisek Kloz, one of the top players in last years tournament for Sparta who had already return to Kladno, scored twice to give Kladno the upset victory. Bologna won their first leg match with Hungary's 3rd place team Bocskai behind a strong defensive effort and early goals from Reguzzoni and Schiavio. The second match in Hungary was a tight affair, with Bologna's fullbacks and goalkeeper playing well against an aggressive Bocskai side led by Jeno Vincze who scored one of their two goals. The critical away goal that swung the tie was scored by Reguzzoni and set up by the Uruguayan Francisci Fedullo, who was the best player of the match. The premiere matchup of the first round was between Czech champions Slavia Prague and the high powered runners up from Austria, Rapid Vienna. The Austrian side surprised Slavia in Prague, going up 3-0 in the first leg behind excellent play from driving force Franz Wagner and double scorer Karl Hochreiter. Svoboda was able to pull one late goal back. Franz Binder scored a goal early in the second leg that put the tie to bed, but Slavia put on a spirited comeback attempt, although they could only beat Rapid's excellent goalkeeper Rudolf Raftl once. Austria Vienna, the Mitropa Cup holders, suffered a home loss to Ujpest, something had did not happen during last years championship run. Austria were missing Walter Nausch and could not develop their normal passing game and lost 2-1. In the second leg in Budapest, Ujpest played excellent defense and counter attacked effectively winning 2-1. Last seasons Mitropa Cup winners and runners up were both eliminated in the first round. Juventus had no trouble with the 4th place side from Czechoslovakia, winning at home 4-2 behind 2 goals from Cesarini and winning on the road 1-0 with a confident defensive performance. Admira Wien, who were missing Anton Schall, failed to score at home in a 0-0 draw with Napoli. In the second leg Napoli started strong at home, taking a 2-0 advantage, which could have been more if not for the excellent goalkeeping from Admira's Peter Platzer. Then Admira turned the tables the scored two late goals, the equalizer was from Austrian international star Adolf Vogl. The playoff was played at a neutral site, Zurich, where Admira put on a masterful display showing the quality that made them double winners that season. They won the playoff 5-0 behind great combination play from Stoiber, Sigl and Vogl. The final tie of the first round was a bizarre 6 match affair between MTK and Sparta Prague. The first match was played in Prague where MTK surprised the home team, winning 2-1 due to the excellent play of dribbling king Laszlo Cseh, who scored the decisive 88th minute winner. The second leg in Budapest was a high scoring back and forth match. Sparta had achieved a 5-3 lead behind a brace from Fecsinek and goals from Braine and Nejedly that put them in position to win the tie, before a late goal from Janos Dudas sent the tie to a playoff. The playoff was decisively won by Prague who played at home and got braces from Braine and Facsinek. After the match MTK protested the participation of Facsinek as Sparta had yet to pay his full transfer amount at the time. The Mitropa Cup committee upheld the protest and the first three matches were declared null and the tie was to be replayed. By this time ironically, Sparta had finished paying Facsinek's transfer fee to Zurich so he was now eligible. He continued his scoring ways, grabbing an away goal in the first leg in Budapest, but MTK would prevail 2-1, once again led by the electrifying Cseh, who scored the winning goal. The second leg was a tight affair with the excellent Dudas appearing to score the winning goal for MTK in the 80th minute before Srbek sent the tie to another playoff. Fittingly the playoff ended in a 1-1 tie. After 6 matches that the tie would be decided by a drawing which Sparta won. Second Round: Ferencvaros 7 - 4 Kladno (6-0, 1-4) Ujpest 2 - 4 Juventus (1-3, 1-1) Bologna 7 - 5 Rapid Vienna (6-1, 1-4) Admira Wien 6 - 3 Sparta Prague (4-0, 2-3) In Budapest, Ferencvaros dominated their first leg match up vs Kladno, winning 6-0 led by inside forward Gyorgy Sarosi who scored a hat trick. An overconfident Ferencvaros fell behind 3-0 to the underdog Czech side, but did enough to win the tie, by holding on to a 4-1 loss. This game showed that Ferencvaros' defense was not equal to its excellent attack. Juventus got a very important away victory in their first leg match in Budapest, beating Ujpest 3-1. With the match tied 1-1 Italy's top scorer Borel scored two critical goals in the 74th and 78th minutes to secure the victory. Twin brothers Mario and Giovanni Varglien were also excellent for Juventus and helped control the Ujpest attack. In the second leg Ujpest scored in the 3rd minute but were then faced with a resolute Juventus defense who allowed no more goals. Borel scored on a second half counter attack to seal the tie. Bologna humiliated Rapid Vienna 6-1 in the first leg of their encounter. Reguzzoni and Schiavio both scored braces as Bologna relentlessly attacked. The second leg was a reversal of fortunes, seeing Rapid dominate, but they could not take enough of their chances in the first half to make up the goal differential. Binder scored in the second minute, a promising sign, but he had a penalty saved shortly thereafter and Reguzzoni got an important away goal. Rapid would now need 5 second half goals, which was a tall order. Binder made Bologna sweat, scoring three more times in the second half, but it was not enough as Bologna advanced. Admira once again showed excellent form, as they handily beat Sparta in the first leg of their tie. The 21 year old Wilhelm Hahnemann was the key player in Admira's attack, as they were victorious 4-0. The second leg in Prague started once again being dominated by Admira, who would not let the desperate Sparta team have the ball in the first half. Karl Durspekt scored twice for Admira before halftime, giving Sparta no chance. In the second half Sparta managed to gain some momentum and score three times but the tie was far out of reach. Third Round: Ferencvaros 2 - 6 Bologna (1-1, 1-5) Admira Wien 4 - 3 Juventus (3-1, 1-2) The Hungarian champions were favored to advance to the final ahead of the fourth place Italian side, but after their 9th minute opening goal was quickly equalized, they quickly lost their rhythm. The tie would end in a 1-1 draw with Ferencvaros failing to take advantage of a home first leg. Bologna dominated the second leg, shutting down Ferencvaros' front line and terrorizing their defense. The two outstanding players of the match were Bologna's forwards Schiavio, who scored twice, and Fedullo. Admira gave another fine team performance, gaining a 3-0 advantage in the first 50 minutes at home vs Juventus. A late goal from Orsi gave Juventus hope, as they only needed to make up a two goal deficit at home. Juventus started the second leg in control, with Luis Monti dominating the midfield, they scored twice through Borel and Orsi to even the tie in the first 30 minutes. Then an Admira counter attack saw Vogl score a critical away goal right before halftime. In the second half Admira defended with everything they had and it was a miracle that Juventus did not score another goal, needing only one goal to force a playoff. Admira was clearly outplayed but managed to make the final on the strength of their home performance. Final: Admira Wein 4 - 7 Bologna (3-2, 1-5) Despite missing their top forward Schiavio, Bologna jumped out to a shocking 2-0 lead in Vienna. In the second half a determined Admira side took over scoring three times in 5 minute to retake the lead in the 60th minute, sending the crowd into a frenzy. Bologna's goalkeeper, Mario Gianni played excellently late in the game to prevent an even larger defeat. Taking a 1 goal lead to Bologna would not be enough as the Italians dominated at home winning 5-1 and taking the cup. They were unstoppable at home in the tournament outscoring their opponents 18-3, and the hot Italian weather was often cited as a factor in these home victories. The second leg of the final was played in extreme heat and Bologna won with surprising ease led by a hat trick from Reguzzoni. Fedullo was once again cited as the player keying Bologna's attacks and scored himself in the 44th minute. Admira was without their captain Sigl and top forward Schall for the second leg. Bologna was the first team to ever win the Mitropa Cup twice. Top Scorers Carlo Reguzzoni (Bologna) - 10 Gyorgy Sarosi (Ferencvaros) - 7 Adofl Vogl (Admira Wien) - 7 Franz Binder (Rapid Vienna) - 6 Felive Borel (Juventus) - 5 Ferdinand Facsinski (Sparta Prague) - 5 Angelo Schiavio (Bologna) - 5 Top Players - This edition was difficult for one major reason, I was unsure of how to order Bologna's inside trio of forwards. Reguzzoni was the tournaments top scorer by a long way, scoring 10 in 8 games, but he was never specifically mentioned in IFFHS's match reports as one of the top players in any match. Schiavio scored only 5 goals but was mentioned as the outstanding player in two critical home leg victories vs Rapid and Ferencvaros where he scored braces in both. Fedullo was more of a creative player and only scored once, but was mentioned as the best player in 3 matches: away vs Bocskai, home vs Ferencvaros, and home vs Admira. 1a - 1b. Carlo Reguzzoni and Franisco Fedullo (Bologna) - Both players are here for different reasons, Reguzzoni for his undeniable production and Fedullo because of the match reports. They were the two key parts to an excellent offense that scored that averaged nearly 3 goals a game. Reguzzoni scored in 7 of the 8 matches, including critical away goals vs Rapid and Admira, both games Schiavio did not play. He also scored a hat trick in the triumphant home leg of the final that Bologna won 5-1. Fedullo was man of the match in the critical away leg vs Boskai (this was Bologna's closest tie of the tournament), setting up the critical away goal for Reguzzoni. He also earned man of the match honors in the home drubbing of Ferencvaros pacing the offense that scored 5 times and controlling the midfield. He was also the top offensive player in the home leg of the final, scoring once and setting up goals for others in the 5-1 victory. 2. Adolf Vogl (Admira Wien) - The 24 year old winger was entering his prime, and carried the scoring load in this tournament as Anton Schall missed multiple games. He scored in 7 of the 9 matches for Admira and was a critical component of masterful offensive team performances in the playoff vs Napoli, and home vs Sparta and Juventus. He scored in all three games and was singled out as one of the outstanding players vs Napoli. He also scored the critical equalizer late in the away leg to Napoli to send the tie to a playoff, and scored the winning goal against the grain away to Juventus. 3. Angelo Schiavio (Bologna) - The Italian international was man of the match and scored braces in both decisive how victories against Rapid and Ferencvaros. He also scored in the home leg vs Bocskai. 4. Gyorgy Sarosi (Ferencvaros) - Led Ferencvaros to a dominating first round victory over FAC scoring three times and was the named the best player in both legs. Scored a hat trick in the home drubbing of Kladno. 5. Mario Gianni (Bologna) - The goalkeeper played excellently in both legs vs Bocskai, shutting out the opposition in the first match and was the best player on the pitch in the second match, saving Bologna from a shocking first round exit. Also played excellently in the first leg of the final, making a number of spectacular saves in Vienna to keep the goal deficit to one.
1933 is pretty great. I would put 1935 and 1937 as equal with it for a top three. 1935 has great performances by, and showdowns between Sarosi, Braine, and Sindelar. Sindelar has another epic preformance against Meazza as well. 1937 has the two amazing performances from Sarosi and Piola, as well as very good performances from Sindelar and Zsengeller.