Five Facts You May Not Know About the 1930 World Cup - part 11

"BROKEN BONES AND HANDGRENADES"

1.In the fifth match played on Day 3 of the championship, favourites Argentina struggled to beat a stubborn French team 1-0. Luis Monti scored the first ever direct free-kick at a World Cup in the 81st minute. Monti exploited a gap in the wall that left French keeper Alexis Thépot unsighted. 

2. Two players had the misfortune of suffering serious leg breaks. Romania's Adalbert Steiner suffered a double fracture after a horrific stamp from Peru's Luis Souza Ferreira and Bolivia's Gumercindo Gomez broke his leg after an accidental challenge from Yugoslav captain Milutin Ivkovic. Both received compensation from the Uruguayan Football Association, Gomez received a substantially greater sum of 1000 gold pesos (US $16,556 in 2021) compared to the Romanian who only received 200 gold pesos (US $3,666 in 2021).

3. Bolivia's Eduardo Reyes Ortiz who made his World Cup debut against Brazil on 20th July, was grandson to the former Vice-President Serapio Reyes Ortiz. But he could also trace his genealogy back 13 generations to the last Incan emperor Atahualpa.

4. On the day of the Final between Uruguay and Argentina fans were searched for weapons at the port of Montevideo and upon entrance to the stadium. Among the thousands of items seized were revolvers, knives and clubs. In the European press it was claimed it that hand grenades (Ellenzak/Hungary) and bombs (Derby Daily Telegraph/England) were confiscated. 

5. Santos Iriarte, who blasted Uruguay's third goal in the final into the top corner from 30 yards, was lavished with the gift of a great racehorse by an enthusiastic rich fan.

Five Facts You May Not Know About The 1930 World Cup - Part 10

 @WC1930blogger

1. Each player upon arrival in Montevideo received a pinned badge from the World Cup organizing committee inscribed with the words ‘JUGADOR DEL CAMPEONATO MUNDIAL’. Made by the Milan based Stefano Johnson company it gave each player free access to Montevideo’s public transport (trams, buses, taxis), theatres and cinemas.

2. The Brazilians squad would struggle with Uruguay’s harsh winter conditions when they arrived in Montevideo. Their own winter was mild by comparison that you could find bathers on the beaches of Rio de Janeiro. On their World Cup debut against Yugoslavia on the 14th July the temperature had dropped between 5 and 6 degrees. During the match goalkeeper Joel’s hands were so stiff that Brazilian masseuse Ovid Dionysos, (nicknamed Jack Johnson because he resembled the black American Heavyweight champion) wrapped them in a towel with a hot water bag (bottle).

3. Bolivian center-half Diogenes Lara, a pioneer of football in Cochabamba, was a founding member of New Players FC. A lawyer by profession he was the lesser known brother of famous poet, novelist and journalist Jesus Lara Lara, whose literary works cast a light on the social issues of Bolivia’s indigenous population. 

4. Overzealous policing was heavily criticized by the nation's press for their handling of crowd control prior to Uruguay’s opening match with Peru on 18th July. Black market tickets and a failure to direct spectators to the assigned sectors caused overcrowding in parts of the Centenario. Police resorted to jabbing gestures with sabers to discourage encroachment on to the pitch by fans that included women and children.

5. The day after Uruguay defeated Argentina in the World Cup Final, the port of Montevideo was crowded with disgruntled Argentines. The Yugoslav delegation had booked their place on one of the ships heading to Buenos Aires with their luggage already loaded. When it came time to board there was chaos when a mass of several hundred angry Argentines rushed the staircase, some without tickets, led by a burly Argentine waiving two revolvers. It's not clear if he was the culprit of the gunshot that caused the captain of the ship to raise the ladder that left the Yugoslavs stranded without their possessions.

Five Facts You May Not Know About The 1930 World Cup - Part 9

 @WC1930blogger

1. The Romanian team formed a choir among the players while on their travels to Montevideo. During the train journey through Italy they impressed the Italian passengers with a rendition of 'Giovinezza' the official anthem of Mussolini's National Fascist Party.

2. During Brazil's first training session at the Pocitos stadium one of their footballs was kicked over the wire fence and had fallen into the wasteland, where some local boys grabbed it and disappeared, before any them could reach it. Given that the ball was of little value, and the difficulty of identification in a working class neighborhood, delegation chief Afranio Costa resigned himself to the loss. As there were, however, a lot of people around the camp, he was very upset that no one helped. Days later, to the Brazilians great surprise, the ball appeared at their Hotel, sent by the chief of police, who in an attentive letter told us that he had learned of the fact by people who attended the incident, had ordered a rigorous search in the immediate vicinity, where they seized the ball for its return.

3. On the outskirts of the city of Montevideo after 6 pm stood many store fronts where could be found queues of men awaiting their turn outside the brothels in what was considered controlled prostitution. To the surprise of the leaders of the Yugoslav delegation they witnessed some of their players in the queue. Not wanting to cause a scene they waited until the next day to warn the team about the dangers of such proclivities.

4. During the Brazil vs. Bolivia match, French referee Georges Balvay stopped the game in the 8th minute unable to distinguish between the white shirts that both teams wore. The Bolivians changed into the sky blue jerseys of the Uruguayan national team. However, the talents of the Olympic champions did not rub off on the men from the Andean nation as they lost 4-0.

5. In the 77th minute of the Paraguay vs Belgium game, Lino Nessi, forward for the South American team clashed with the goal post when he tried to go for a rebound ball after a save from Belgian keeper Badjou. Knocked unconscious there were grave concerns for his health as he was led to the infirmary.

Five Facts You May Not Know About The 1930 World Cup - Part One

Twitter: @WC1930blogger

1. Some Romanian players almost missed departure due to a mix up with military leave. Those enlisted had been granted leave only for the month of July. The two week sea voyage had not been taken into account. It was only one day before departure on June 16 that they had been given the all clear.

2. Bolivian coach and referee, Ulises Saucedo was playing for English club Billiricay FC in Division 2 of the Chelmsford & District League until March 1930.

3. French right-half Agustin Chantrel was caught with another man's wife onboard the Conte Verde enroute to Montevideo. He declared he would marry the Argentinian lady once she got her divorce. However, upon arrival in South America, he was quick to escape her fiery temperament.

4. Argentinian center-half Luis Monti almost caused a riot with Uruguayan fans while chanting patriotic slogans watching his teammates defeat Mexico 6-3 (19 July 1930). Police had to intervene to prevent further disorder.

5. After Yugoslavia lost their semi-final to Uruguayby 6-1 following some controversial decisions, Belgrade newspaper Vreme publicly accused the Uruguayans of bribing Brazilian referee Gilberto Almeida Rego. They attributed this story to an English journalist working for the Sunday Express. A rival Belgrade newspaper, Politika, proved these allegations to be false.

Match Report - Brazil vs Bolivia; Paraguay vs Belgium (English translation from La Nacion)

@WC1930blogger

This match report covers the two games that were played one after the other on the 20th July between Brazil-Bolivia and Paraguay-Belgium at the Estadio Centenario.

Written by an anonymous reporter (most likely South American) working for cable news agency this clipping was published in the Madrid based La Nacion (21 July 1930). You can the read original report here.

All contributions are welcome to help improve the translation of this report which was interpreted via google.

Note: There are discrepancies with the spelling with some of the players' names and the identity of the goalscorers.

FutRetrô da Copa

Foi em 20 de Julho de 1930, que o Brasil conseguiu a sua primeira vitória em Copas do Mundo. Venceu a Bolívia por 4 a 0 no Estádio Centenário.

Os gols foram de Moderato 27,73, Preguinho 58 e 83... pic.twitter.com/fY7lQM9ZNH

— Luiz Otavio Oliveira📝⚽📷 (@lotaviooliveira) July 20, 2018

Brazil and Paraguay were the winners yesterday

MONTEVIDEO 21.-Yesterday, Sunday, two games were played for the world soccer championship, between the teams of Brazil and Bolivia and those of Paraguay and Belgium.

In the first game, the Brazilians won by four goals to one. Paraguay was the winner over Belgium, by a little to zero. (Associated Press.)

The superiority of Brazil

MONTEVIDEO 21.-In the first half of the game played between the teams of Brazil and Bolivia passed without great interest, although the Brazilians showed from the first moment to have a greater technique than their enemies.

Minutes after the game started, it was noted that the public was confused about the players that belonged to each team, because of the equality of the shirts, which were white for all players. In view of this, the match was interrupted, so that the Bolivians could change their uniforms. When they returned to the field they wore the blue jersey of the Uruguayan teams. The public, seeing the Bolivians appear dressed in such fashion, burst into a standing ovation.

Resumed the game, the game continued to develop without plays of great interest. Twenty-seven minutes into the first half, the Brazilian player Reco scored the first goal of the match.

The first half ended with a goal by the Brazilians, against their opponents.

🇧🇷 Moderato (1930)

Marcó sus 2 únicos goles a Bolívia en la fase grupos. Nacido en Alegrete y fallecido en Pelotas (al revés que el resto de humanos) jugó con el Flamengo días después de ser operado de apendicitis. Todavía llevaba los puntos puestos. Ahí nació su leyenda. pic.twitter.com/2Ax5efVhmc

— Cascarino (@cascarinos_) July 12, 2018

The Brazilians showed more dominance and technique throughout the game than the Bolivians, a domain that grew as the game went on, despite the enthusiasm shown by the Bolivian players. Coelhonetto played magnificently, proving to be the most effective striker of the Brazilian team, marking the second and third goal in favour of his team. The fourth goal of the Brazilians was marked by Wisintainer. The match ended with the victory of the Brazilian team, by four goals to one.

The match was attended by some fifteen thousand people. The weather (*) somewhat tarnished the game, it was dishevelled and cold .- (Associated Press.)

*Thank you to Ken Knight for this correction. See comments below.

Paraguayans and Belgians, bored.

MONTEVIDEO 21.-The second match of the afternoon was held between the teams of Paraguay and Belgium. The Paraguayan team lined up in the following way: Benítez; Flores, Olmedo; Benítez, Diaz, Garcete; Nessi, Romero González, Benítez Cáceres and Vargas Peña.

The Belgian team was composed of Badjón; Hoydonck, Dedecken; Braine, Hallemans, Moesenbal; Versyp, Delbeque, Nowens, Adams and Diden.

The Belgians started the first half with repeated attacks against the Paraguayan goal, whose defence acted well. However, shortly thereafter, midway through the second half, the forces remained balanced, after which a reaction was observed by the Paraguayan team, which twice put the Belgian gate in imminent danger.

The right wing of the Paraguayan team Nessi, at the moment of trying to score a goal, was given, driven by the impulse, a violent blow to the head against the post, falling to the ground vanished. The Paraguayans continued the game with only ten players on the field.

The public showed little interest in the game, withdrawing much of the competition before the end. The match ended with the victory of the Paraguayans by a goal against zero.

The only goal of the match was scored by Benítez Cáceres, thirty-seven minutes after the first half had started.

Although the Paraguay-Belgium party aroused little enthusiasm, it has been considered as a technical demonstration .- (Associated Press.)

#MundialesFIFA Belgica vs Paraguay en #Uruguay1930 / Ese dia los guaraníes ganaron 1-0. (Montevideo 20-07-1930). pic.twitter.com/fAdxX0Ln7Y

— Andrés Barinas (@AndresBarinas18) October 22, 2013

Match Report - Yugoslavia vs Bolivia (English translation from El Sol)

@WC1930blogger

This is the English translation of the match report that appeared in the 18th July issue of Spanish newspaper, El Sol, from 1930 of the Yugoslavia vs Bolivia game that was played at the Estadio Gran Parque Central, home of Montevideo based team, Club Nacional, that was played on the 17th July.

The author of the article is anonymous but was written by a journalist working for Associated Press and is most likely a South American reporter on location in Uruguay.

Google was used to translate this document and is, therefore, subject to possible errors that would be better crafted by a professional translator. Spanish speakers are welcome to offer their opinions to help improve the text. You can read the original report here.

Fudbalska reprezentacija Jugoslavije.Svetsko prvenstvo Urugvaj 1930 god. pic.twitter.com/0BIk7lAE6x

— Jelena Mitic (@JelenaM19289182) July 13, 2017

#UnaVueltaPorElPasado #Mundiales #Uruguay 1930. Se habló siempre del Error de #Bolivia en el homenaje a nuestro país, acá tenemos una foto con la frase de forma correcta pic.twitter.com/PEAucFJjJl

— Juan Pablo Taborda (@jptaborda74) May 7, 2018

The victory of Yugoslavia, over Bolivia

MONTEVIDEO 17 (12 n.).

At the meeting held this afternoon between the national teams of Yugoslavia and Bolivia, Bolivians began attacking strongly to their opponents and putting constantly threatens the Yugoslavian goal only due to the brilliant performance of their goalkeeper was not crossed by the Bolivian shots.

The Yugoslavs, faced with such continuous attacks, were forced to stay defensive at all times.

This dominance of the players of a Bolivia was maintained throughout the first half, but the referee marked the end of the period without either side having scored so much.

In the second half, the Yugoslavs begin a brilliant attack, which takes completely surprise to their opponents. The game is developed in inverse form to that of the first half. The Bolivian goalkeeper shows a lack of security and the whole team reveals that it lacks defensive technique. In these circumstances, the Yugoslavs mark four goals and undo all the Bolivian attacks, which were so brilliantly developed during the first half of the fight.

Imagen de Yugoslavia (4) vs Bolivia (0) en el marco de Uruguay '30. Julio 14 de 1930. #ElAmorEsRedondo pic.twitter.com/Dnvk1d81

— Любовь круглая (@ElAmorEsRedondo) July 13, 2012

At the beginning of the match, the Bolivians surprised the public with an effective game, which always kept the ball in Yugoslav territory, to the point that in the minds of all the spectators was the belief that they would win. But a few minutes into the second half, the Bolivians began to waver and Yugoslav domination prevailed.

The Bolivian team played most of the game with ten players because the player Gomez had to be removed from the field with a fractured leg within minutes of having started the first half.

Soccernostalgia Podcast Part 1 - Mexico, Bolivia & Belgium

@WC1930blogger

This is part one of a three-part podcast I did with Shahan Petrossian from the Soccernostalgia blog on the subject of the first World Cup. In order to make this interview as different as possible from the podcast with the Yesteryear Footy Pod, we had agreed upon a different format where we discuss each of the individual teams in the order in which they finished in the rankings i.e. from 13th to 1st. This would me allow to include topics not discussed in the previous aforementioned podcast. In part one we discuss Mexico, Bolivia and Belgium.

Summary

Beginning with Mexico we discuss the teams' long travel itinerary, anecdotal evidence with regard to the limited education of some of the players and their training regime on board the SS Munargo. Other items include the low expectations of this very young team and of the motivating tactics of their coach Juan Luque Serralonga. There is also a brief focus of one of Mexico's star players, Juan Carreno, and his on and off the field antics. We then review Mexico's matches against France (which include the 1st World Cup goal); Chile (1st World Cup own goal) and Argentina, a game in which there are some discrepancies on how many penalties were actually awarded. 

Moving on to Bolivia we discuss the general lack of information that has been published on this team. And how only recently has new information come to light on their pre-World Cup preparations and journey to Montevideo which coincided with an ongoing coup in the Andean nation. We then take a closer look at Ulises Saucedo, the coach and World Cup referee and his possible connection to Arsenal. We then discuss the reasons why Bolivian players wore letters on their shirts which spelt out 'VIVA URUGUAY' before moving on to their matches against Yugoslavia and Brazil.

We then conclude with Belgium and their journey to Montevideo and how much of what we know comes from the accounts given by the Belgian ref, John Langenus and goalkeeper, Arnold Badjou. Despite their training regime on board the SS Conte Verde some of the players gained weight. We also look at Belgium's selection issues, especially with regard to their star man, Raymond Braine, and how this left them lacking in their attack and as we discuss their defeats against the United States and Paraguay, this affected their ability to be potent in front of goal. 

Unlucky Bolivia or false history?

Follow me on Twitter: @WC1930blogger

On July 17th, 1930, the Bolivian national team took to the field of Parque Central in Montevideo to face Yugoslavia in their Group Two match. The Bolivians were considered to be the weakest team in the group that also included Brazil. The Brazilians, just three days before, were surprisingly beaten by the Yugoslavs by two goals to one and were hoping for a Bolivian win in order to have any chance of advancing further in the tournament. As it transpired the Yugoslavs ran out 4-0 winners after a goalless first half and both Brazil and Bolivia were knocked out before they had the chance to play one another. 

One reason that the Bolivians were unlucky is that one of their players, Gumercindo Gomez, broke his leg in a challenge with Yugoslav defender Milutin Ivkovic around the eighth minute of the match. Substitutes were not permitted during this time and the South Americans had to play some eighty minutes with ten men. But the misfortune of Gomez is not the subject of this article because according to Cris Freddi in his The Complete Book of the World Cup (2002 edition), Bolivia had four goals disallowed. Freddi doesn't state the reasons why the Uruguayan referee Francisco Mateucci annulled the Bolivian strikes nor does he note the source of his claim. Indeed this claim would be repeated in an online article by The Guardian in 2010, most likely drawing on Freddi's account.

It would be understandable that the Bolivians would be much aggrieved not to come away with a four all draw or even a victory if such goals had dampened the resolve of their Yugoslav opponents. And such a controversy may have caused protest from the Brazilians believing some conspiracy may be afoot by the Uruguayan referee to knock out one of the seeded teams from the tournament that may challenge Uruguay for the title. 

How can one team be so unlucky to have four goals disallowed? Perhaps one or two but not four surely? If it all sounds incredulous it's because it never happened. Bora Jovanovic, the Yugoslav journalist who travelled to Montevideo to report for Belgrade newspaper Politika, wrote two dispatches on the match that were published in the July 18th and August 2nd editions of Politika and nowhere does he mention that Bolivia had four goals disallowed. Indeed he reports that it was the Yugoslavs that were unlucky with Marjanovic, Bek and Vujadinovic all striking their opponents crossbar early in the match. 

In the interest of playing Devil's Advocate maybe there was bias reporting on the part of Jovanovic who may have whitewashed it out of his account so not to question the legitimacy of his nation's 4-0 victory. So what did the Bolivian and Brazilian press report, those papers who have much to gain on such a scandalous sensation! 

Bolivia's La Razon, albeit publishing the cablegram from United Press (UP), is silent on the subject of their country's quadruple misfortune, indeed it describes how unlucky Alborta was when his shot hit the Yugoslav crossbar in the first half.

The same is true of the Brazilian newspapers. The reports that were written in Critica (18 July 1930), Diario de Noticias (18 July 1930), Folha da Manha (18 July 1930) and A Batalha make no mention of any such controversy. Many of these reports are extensively written with every foul, throw-in and shot at goal (wide or on target) described in an era before there was any television coverage and live radio reporting was new on the scene. These journalists were true chroniclers of the game and every chance to report on any such bad refereeing would be keenly accounted for. Even Spain's El Sol , with no axe to grind, make no such descriptions.

That's not to say that these contemporary football journalists are always right, we may look no further than the issue of Bert Patenaude's hat-trick against Paraguay. But this concerns the identity of goalscorers in a period when players bore no shirt numbers and not such incidences as four disallowed goals.

Cris Freddi's book is an impressive tome on the subject of the World Cup and is a worthy read but he is wrong on this issue. How did he make such a mistake? His bibliography contains no reference to any newspapers from the period and if I was to make an educated guess I believe he based his information on a mistranslation of a German magazine IFFHS Weltmeistershaft 1930, published in 1994, which describes the Bolivian crossbar being struck four times. However, I cannot be certain.

Yugoslavia vs Bolivia (youtube video)

1930 World Cup Group 2 Brazil - Bolivia (Joefa's World Cup History)

This is a youtube video of Brazil v Bolivia by Joefa's World Cup History. This blogger helped provide photographic material for his project. Special thanks also to JC Blanc for providing material.
Go like, share and subscribe to his Youtube channel.

Read a Match Report in Spanish below:
La Nacion

1930 World Cup Group 2 Yugoslavia - Bolivia (Joefa's World Cup History)

This is a youtube video of Yugoslavia v Bolivia by Joefa's World Cup History. This blogger helped provide photographic material for his project. Special thanks also to JC Blanc for providing material.
Go like, share and subscribe to his Youtube channel.

Read two Match Reports below (one in Spanish, one in Portuguese):
El Sol
A Batalha

20 July 1930 - (World Cup Group 2) Brazil v Bolivia; (World Cup Group 4) Paraguay v Belgium (Match Reports in La Nacion/Madrid)

La Nacion, 21 July 1930

This article includes two match reports of Brazil v Bolivia and Paraguay v Belgium, both played on the 20th July 1930 and published in the 21st July edition of Spanish language Madrid based newspaper La Nacion.

17 July 1930 - (World Cup Group 2) Yugoslavia v Bolivia (Match Report in El Sol)

El Sol, 18 July 1930

This is the match report of Yugoslavia versus Bolivia from the Spanish language Madrid based newspaper El Sol published on the 18 July 1930.

17 July 1930 - (World Cup Group 2) Yugoslavia v Bolivia (Match Report in A Batalha)

A Batalha, 18 July 1930.

This is a match report of the Yugoslavia versus Bolivia game that was played on the 17th July and was published in the 18th July publication of Brazilian newspaper A Batalha.

A Seleção Brasileira na Copa do Mundo de 1930 (10 minute video)

From Footballers to Arbitrators at the World Cup 1930

World Cup 1930 - Copa del Mundo 1930

Out of the fifteen match officials that arbitrated during the 1930 World Cup, at least four are known to have played football at a senior level.

Martin ''Chico'' Aphesteguy (b. 22 October 1888 d. 30 November 1975) who ran the line in the Chile-Mexico and USA - Paraguay matches was a former Uruguayan international who had made 17 appearances for his country between 1906 - 1915. He was a versatile defender who had a preference for playing on the left and had formed a defensive partnership with the legendary Jose Benincasa at Montevideo FC. After retiring from playing he would take up refereeing and had experience at officiating at the South American Championship.

Ricardo Vallarino refereed the Paraguay versus Belgium match and was the linesman in the Yugoslavia - Brazil tie. He had played at inside-left for Club Nacional and made his debut for Uruguay against Argentina in August 1913 with Aphesteguy playing at half-back and would make a total of five appearances for his country. He is recorded as refereeing Uruguay versus Argentina on the 29th October 1916, indeed he would officiate many matches involving his own country and proved to show no bias. On the 3rd October 1924, he took charge of Argentina v Uruguay in Buenos Aires and the Uruguayan team abandoned the match in the 86th minute losing 2-1 after feeling cheated by their own countryman.

Ulises Saucedo was the Bolivian coach during the 1930 World Cup and also refereed the Argentina versus Mexico match. It was a game in which he awarded three penalties and had to pace fourteen steps from the goal-line to place the ball to be taken because the penalty spot had been unmarked. He was the linesman in five other matches (Argentina - France, Argentina - Chile, Uruguay - Romania, Uruguay - Yugoslavia,Uruguay - Argentina). According to an interview given to Chile's El Mercurio (17 July 1930), the head of the Bolivian delegation, told the journalist that Saucedo was hired as the coach because he had played professionally in England and just before he had returned to his homeland had a coaching role at Arsenal.

Costel Radulescu,the Romania coach, also arbitrated during the World Cup running the line in two matches (Argentina v France, Argentina v Mexico), and was known to have played for SC Olympia Bucarest.

References
International Federation of Football History & Statistics; Full internationals - Argentina (1902 - 1940) - Uruguay (1902 - 1940)