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

Twitter: @WC1930blogger

1. Preguinho, son of famous poet Coelho Netto, and scorer of Brazil's first ever World Cup goal against Yugoslavia (14 July), was a multi-talented sportsman (swimming, basketball, volleyball, waterpolo). Legend has it that  he once swam the length of the Guanabara bay and then took a taxi to play a domestic match.

2. Ivica Bek scored three goals for Yugoslavia at the 1930 World Cup. Born in Belgrade to a German father and Czech mother, he played professionally in France. During World War Two, he fought in the French Alps for the resistance.

3. Alex Wood and George Moorhouse were the full-backs in the US team that reached the semi-finals. Each earned a schoolboy international cap for Scotland and England respectively.

4. Peruvian centre-half Placido Galindo was the first ever player to be sent off in the history of the World Cup against Romania (14 July). Unhappy with the decision he refused to leave the field and it took five minutes before his coach Paco Bru convinced him to leave. This is in contrast to one domestic game for his club Universitario when he committed such a bad tackle that he, alone, decided was worthy of dismissal and left the field.

5. Mexican captain Rafael Garza Gutierrez was the oldest player at the World Cup when he took the field against Argentina on the 19th July. He was 33 years and 218 days old.

1930 World Cup Player Sketches

Mexico's Rafael Garza Gutierrez, El Mercurio, 17 July 1930

United States' James Douglas, El Mercurio, 17 July 1930

Yugoslavia's Dragan Mihailovic, El Mercurio, 17 July 1930

Chile's Guillermo Arellano, El Mercurio, 23 July 1930