Como se organizó el mundial de 1930? Fútbol y Política

@WC1930blogger
Lorenzo Jalabert D'Amado is an academic in Latin American Studies from the University of Sorbonne Nouvelle in Paris. This is a Spanish language interview, titled 'Como se organizó el mundial de 1930? Fútbol y Política', he did with Uruguayan Radio station Del Sol on its program 'No Toquen nada' about the relationship between football and politics in regard to the organization of the first World Cup in Uruguay in 1930.

Lorenzo Jalabert D'Amado has also written an academic study discussing the Uruguayan Communist Party's resistance towards the hosting of the first World Cup, titled 'La Lutte des classes face à l'internationalisme sportif.

La gauche communiste uruguayenne à l'heure de la Coupe du monde de 1930.'

The Descendants - Oral Testimonies (Part-1)

@WC1930blogger

Eighty-seven years have passed since the first World Cup was played in Montevideo, Uruguay. The footballers that played in 1930 have since passed away and we can no longer speak to them to offer their recollections of a tournament where very little film footage exists. 

The next best thing is the stories and experiences that were passed on to their relatives and recorded by historians, writers, journalists and filmmakers. While such eyewitness evidence, passed on by word of mouth, can present problems of faded memories and biased interpretations, such oral testimonies are 'not necessarily any more biased or partial than documentary evidence.' 

Here, then, is a collection of such testimonies from the descendants of those men that had the honour of playing in the 1930 World Cup. It includes links to articles, videos and audio recordings from their wives, sons and daughters to their nephews and grandchildren.

Bert Patenaude was only 20 years old when he played for the United States in 1930. The Fall River Marksmen striker scored four goals in Montevideo, scoring in the first game against Belgium on 13th July and then four days later the first hat trick in World Cup history against Paraguay. His wife, Leona Lambert, who passed away early this year at the age of 103, gave an interview with Fall River's Herald News in July 2010. Bert's son, Bert Patenaude Jnr, also gave an interview in July 2010 with ESPN.

James Brown was born in Scotland in 1908 and was one of six British born players to represent the United States in Uruguay. He is credited with the lone US goal in their 6-1 defeat to Argentina in the World Cup semi-final. His son, George Brown, who also played for the United States in a World Cup qualifier in 1957, gave an interview with the UK's Daily Mail in September 2017. George also appeared in a documentary Soccer in the New World - Part 1 - The history of Soccer in North America, where he recalls a story related to him by his father of the United States victory over Belgium.

Arnold 'Arnie' Oliver was a forward with the 1930 United States team that travelled to Montevideo, Uruguay, but did not play in any the World Cup matches. However, he did play in several exhibitions as apart of post World Cup tour. In 2002, his daughter, Jane Britto, was interviewed by New Bedford's Standard-Times, which appeared on their website Southcoasttoday.

Robert 'Bob' Millar was the coach of the US team in Uruguay. Born 1890 in Scotland, he played for two seasons with Scottish club St Mirren between 1909-1911 before emigrating to the States, where he played for more than a dozen American teams and won several titles. He went on to coach the New York Giants where he was given the opportunity to take charge of the US national team in Uruguay, where he led them to the semi-finals. In 2014, during the United States moderately successful World Cup campaign, an Oregan based TV crew from KGW News, tracked down his daughter Mary Martyn in Gresham. The interview is no longer available to watch but a transcript of the news item is archived here.

Andrew 'Andy' Auld, like James Brown, was also born in Scotland, in 1900, and played for the US team in Montevideo. A World War One veteran, Andy emigrated to the States in 1923, with the intent of settling in Gillespie, Illinois. When his plans did not work out as he hoped he went to live with his sister in Niagra Falls. It was while playing for local team MacKenzie F.C. that he was spotted by a recruiter for the new ASL team Providence Clamdiggers where they offered him a professional contract. In later life, Andy would return to Scotland to visit his relatives, and in 2002, his nephew, Bobby Auld, gave his recollections about his uncle to the Scottish newspaper, The Herald.

Adalbert Steiner was a defender who played for Romania in their 3-1 victory over Peru in their opening World Cup match. He was born in 1907 in Temesvar (Timisoara) at a time when the region was apart of the Austro-Hungarian empire. Steiner had a successful period with Chinezul Timisoara winning several titles before moving to Clubul Atletic Timisoara where he was picked to play for the national team in Montevideo. Early in the game against Peru, Steiner suffered a double fracture leg break after a vicious tackle by Peruvian Souza Ferreira. For those versed in the Romanian language check out the audio interviews with Adelbert Steiner's two sons, Iosif and Adelbert, recorded with Radio Timisoara, on the 25 June 2015 and the 5 July 2015, as they discuss their father's experiences in Uruguay.

Ladislau Raffinsky was a Romanian forward who was apart of the Romanian squad that travelled to Montevideo in 1930. In 1929 he scored ten goals for Juventus Bucharest in their 16-0 victory over Dacia Urinea Brailia. Raffinsky, along with his teammate Emerich Vogl, initially had trouble seeking time off work to go to the World Cup. In 2015, his daughter, Colceriu Rodica, gave an interview with news publication Actual de Cluj, about her father. The article which details his journey and experiences in Uruguay is drawn largely from the journal of Romanian captain Rudolf Wetzer.

Dragomir Tosic was part of the Yugoslav squad at the 1930 World Cup although he did not get a chance to play in any of the matches. Dragomir wrote letters home to his parents about his journey and experiences during this epic tour to South America. Unfortunately, all but one of these letters were destroyed in World War Two after a German bomb hit the home of his parents. In 2012, his daughter-in-law, Milica Tosic, wrote a biography of his life titled „Jedno Pismo, Jedan život...” ("One Letter, One life ..."). For Serb speakers, you can listen to an interview that Milica Tosic gave to Radio Beograd in 2013 about the book.

Dr Mihajlo Andrejevic was Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the JNS, the Yugoslav Football Federation. He was head of the Yugoslav delegation that travelled to Uruguay in 1930. He wrote correspondence that he dispatched to the Belgrade newspaper, Vreme, reporting on the Yugoslav team in Montevideo. In 2011, his son, Milan Andrejevic, was interviewed by Serbian newspaper, Politika, where he recalled the time his father left for South America.

Kosta Hadzi was a lawyer from Novi Sad and Vice-president of the Yugoslav Football Federation. He travelled to Montevideo in 1930 as part of the Yugoslav delegation. In 2010, the Serbian newspaper, Politika,  interviewed his son about his father's life and his time in Uruguay.

Milovan Jaksic was the goalkeeper for the Yugoslav national team that travelled to Montevideo in 1930. He was instrumental in Yugoslavia's 2-1 victory over Brazil in their opening World Cup match, where he made many fine saves. The Uruguayan newspapers praised his performance and immortalised him in print and photographic poses in their pages proclaiming him 'El Gran Milovan'. In 2014, his niece, Gordana Jaskic, gave two interviews to the Serb publications, Novosti and Kurir, where she provided an account of his early life.

Blagoje 'Mosa' Marjanovic was an inside forward for the Yugoslav national team that took part in the first World Cup. He was top-scorer for his club BSK Belgrade in 1930, and he would score in his country's 4-0 victory over Bolivia. He was one of the first professional footballers in Yugoslavia along with his teammate Aleksander Tirnanic. In 2013, his son Zoran Marjanovic gave an interview with the Serb newspaper Novosti, describing his father and his life. For Serb speakers, you can also watch an interview with Zoran Marjanovic and his sister, Visnja Marjanovic, discuss the life of Mosa for Serb television in 2011 with RTS.

Guillermo Stabile was the top goal scorer at the 1930 World Cup for Argentina. A prolific striker for his club, Huracan, he only made his debut for his country against Mexico when Roberto Cherro fell ill and Manuel Ferreira had returned to Buenos Aires to take a law exam. His hattrick in that game secured his place in the team for the rest of tournament. He would score twice against Chile in a 3-1 win which assured Argentina's place in the semi-final against the United States. His two goals against the Americans in a 6-1 rout saw Argentina reach the final against their fierce rivals Uruguay. Stabile would score his eighth goal in that final to give his team a 2-1 lead before half-time, but it wasn't enough to win the game as the host ran 4-2 winners. An excellent article on fifamusuem.com details his life and career with some added anecdotes from Stabile's grandchildren, Guillermo, Estaban and Roxanna.

Luis Monti was the legendary midfielder for Argentina at the 1930 World Cup known for his physical prowess. He scored the only goal, from a freekick, for his country in a 1-0 victory over France in their opening game. He sat out Argentina's next game, a 6-3 win over Mexico, for reasons not entirely clear, but returned to help Argentina beat Chile 3-1. He scored the opening goal against the United States in a 6-1 victory in the semis but had decided he would not play in the final against Uruguay because of death threats to his family. He was finally convinced to play in that game but did not give his usual physical performance with Argentina losing 4-2. He would later play in Italy and represent his adopted country at the 1934 World Cup where he helped them to a 2-1 victory over Czechoslovakia in the Final. Read another great article on fifamuseum.com about his life and an interview given by his grand-daughter, Lorena Monti.

Oscar Bonfiglio was the goalkeeper for the Mexican team that travelled to Montevideo in 1930. He played against France in one of two opening games of the tournament and conceded the first ever World Cup goal by Lucien Laurent in a 4-1 defeat. He was dropped for Mexico's next game against Chile, another defeat (3-0), but returned for the last game against Argentina where he conceded six goals. He did, however, save a penalty from Argentina's Fernando Paternoster. In 2014, his grandson, also named Oscar Bonfiglio, gave an interview with ESPN Deportes about his grandfather.

Juan Carreno was a legendary forward for Atlante and the Mexican national team and travelled to Uruguay in 1930. He scored in Mexico's 7-1 defeat against Spain at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics and would score Mexico's first goal at a World Cup in their 4-1 loss to France. For those versed in the Spanish language, you can watch a Mexican TV program with interviews with Juan Carreno's daughter, Guadeloupe Alicia Carreno, grandsons, Victor Molina Carreno and Julio Molina Carreno, and granddaughter, Maria de la Paz Molina.

Ernesto and Isidoro Sota were, along with their brother, Jorge, legends at Mexican club America in the 1920s and 1930s. Ernesto Sota represented Mexico at the 1928 Olympic games and would head the Mexican delegation that travelled to Montevideo in 1930. His brother, Isidoro Sota, was the second choice goalkeeper in Uruguay and played in Mexico's second game, a 3-0 defeat to Chile. For Spanish speakers, you can watch a short documentary about the three Sota brothers with interviews with Isidoro's sons, Ernesto Cisneros Sota and Isidoro Cisneros Sota, and the son of Jorge, Jorge Sota Garcia.

In Conversation with Yesteryear Footy Pod @yyfpod

Check out our NEW Episode talking about the World Cup 1930 with @WC1930blogger RTs much appreciated 🤗👇🇺🇾https://t.co/nnO7sxNpon

— Yesteryear Footy Pod (@yyfpod) July 30, 2017

http://yyfp.rocks/episodes/decoding-world-cup-1930-dean-lockyer/

Eighty-seven years ago today Uruguay defeated Argentina in the first ever World Cup Final that took place in Montevideo, 1930. The World Cup 1930 project was invited onto the Yesteryear Footy Pod @yyfpod for a three-hour conversation to discuss the event.

Many thanks to Sebastian for the invitation and facilitating this process. Go and check out the Yesteryear Footy Podcast site for other discussions that include topics such as Champions League Finals and Polish Football etc.

World Cup 1930 - Overview

This overview is to help facilitate the navigation of this blog. Below you will find the match schedule and results of the all the 1930 World Cup games, with links to other blog posts that contain original match reports from newspapers from the period. Also added are links from this site that relate to the individual matches. This overview will be continually updated as I review all previous post and designate them appropriately to the relevant categories as well as all new post and articles in the future. 

Twitter: @WC1930blogger

General Reviews
The Road to the First World Cup by Joe Faerstein.

Podcasts & Radio:
''Mundial 1930, La Fiesta De Ellos'' - by Carlos Polimeni (Audio)

Como se organizó el mundial de 1930? Fútbol y Política

FIRST ROUND

Group 1
Argentina, Chile, France, Mexico

13 July 1930 - Estadio Pocitos
France - Mexico 4-1 
Statistics and line-ups: FIFA; eu-football; 
Newspaper Match Reports: Le Journal (France); El Siglo de Torrean; El Informador (Mexico); El Heraldo de Madrid (Spain) Read an English translation here; A Batalha (Brazil)
Other related materials:
Video (Joefa's World Cup History); Video (Lucien Laurent, the first World Cup goal scorer interviewed by Gary Lineker); Video (Two interviews with Lucien Laurent, including Oscar Bonfiglio).

15 July 1930 - Estadio Parque Central
Argentina - France 1-0
Statistics and line-ups: FIFA; eu-football; 
Newspaper Match Reports: El Heraldo de Madrid (Spain) English translation
Other related materials:
Video (Joefa's World Cup History)

16 July 1930 - Estadio Parque Central
Chile - Mexico 3-0
Statistics and line-ups: FIFA;
Newspaper Match Reports: A Batalha (Brazil); English translation from El Sol.
Other related materials:
Video (Joefa's World Cup History)

19 July 1930 - Estadio Centenario
Chile - France 1-0
Statistics and line-ups: FIFA; eu-football;
Newspaper Match Reports: La Nacion (Spain)
Other related materials:
Video (Joefa's World Cup History)

19 July 1930 - Estadio Centenario
Argentina - Mexico 6-3
Statistics and line-ups: FIFA;
Newspaper Match Reports: La Nacion (Spain); El Informador (Mexico)
Other related materials:
Video (Joefa's World Cup History); Guillermo Stabile on Film

22 July 1930 - Estadio Centenario
Argentina - Chile 3-1
Statistics and line-ups: FIFA;
Newspaper Match Reports: La Nacion (Spain); A Batalha (Brazil)
Other related materials:
Video (Joefa's World Cup History)

Group 2
Brazil, Yugoslavia, Bolivia

14 July 1930 - Estadio Parque Central
Yugoslavia - Brazil 2-1
Statistics and line-ups: FIFA; eu-football;
Newspaper Match Reports: Pravda (Serbia/Yugoslavia); El Heraldo de Madrid (Spain) English translation; A Batalha (Brazil)
Other related materials:
Video (Joefa's World Cup History); Yugoslavia's Aleksandar Tirnanic's goal versus Brazil (Montevideo vidimo se! - Official trailer); 

Brazilian Newspaper clippings (O Globo and O Estado do Sao Paulo)

17 July 1930 - Estadio Parque Central

Yugoslavia - Bolivia 4-0
Statistics and line-ups: FIFA; eu-football;
Newspaper Match Reports: A Batalha (Brazil); El Sol (Spain) Read an English translation (El Sol)
Other related materials:
Video (Joefa's World Cup History); Unlucky Bolivia or false history?

20 July 1930 - Estadio Centenario
Brazil-Bolivia 4-0
Statistics and line-ups: FIFA;
Newspaper Match Reports: La Nacion (Spain)
Other related materials:
Video (Joefa's World Cup History)

Group 3
Uruguay, Romania, Peru

14 July 1930 - Estadio Pocitos
Romania - Peru 3-1
Statistics and line-ups: FIFA; eu-football;
Newspaper Match Reports: El Heraldo de Madrid (Spain) English translation
Other related materials:
Video (Joefa's World Cup History)

18 July 1930 - Estadio Centenario
Uruguay - Peru 1-0
Statistics and line-ups: FIFA;
Newspaper Match Reports: El Herado de Madrid (Spain), English translation-El Heraldo de Madrid
Other related materials:
Video (Joefa's World Cup History)

21 July 1930 - Estadio Centenario
Uruguay - Romania 4-0
Statistics and line-ups: FIFA; eu-football;
Newspaper Match Reports: El Heraldo de Madrid (Spain)
Other related materials:
Video (Joefa's World Cup History)

Group 4
United States, Paraguay, Belgium

13 July 1930 - Estadio Parque Central
United States - Belgium 3-0
Statistics and line-ups: FIFA; eu-football;
Newspaper Match Reports: El Heraldo de Madrid; English translation; A Batalha (Brazil)
Other related materials:
Video (Joefa's World Cup History)

17 July 1930 - Estadio Parque Central

United States - Paraguay 3-0
Statistics and line-ups: FIFA;
Newspaper Match Reports: El Sol (Spain)(English translation-El Sol); A Batalha (Brazil)
Other related materials:
Video (Joefa's World Cup History); 

Bert Patenaude and the First World Cup Hat-trick - Part Three (With links to Parts 1 & 2)

20 July 1930 - Estadio Centenario
Paraguay - Belgium 1-0
Statistics and line-ups: FIFA; eu-football;
Newspaper Match Reports: La Nacion (Spain)
Other related materials:
Video (Joefa's World Cup History)

SEMI-FINALS

26 July 1930 - Estadio Centenario 
Argentina - United States 6-1
Statistics and line-ups: FIFA;
Newspaper Match Reports: A Batalha (Brazil) & El Heraldo de Madrid (Spain) plus video (Joefa's World Cup History)
Other related materials:

''The year America won through to the semi-finals'' - Glasgow Herald, 2 June 1982 (Google newspapers)

27 July 1930 - Estadio Centenario
Uruguay - Yugoslavia 6-1
Statistics and line-ups: FIFA; eu-football;
Newspaper Match Reports: El Sol (Spain) plus video (Joefa's World Cup History)
Other related materials:

FINAL
30 July 1930 - Estadio Centenario 
Uruguay - Argentina 4-2
Statistics and line-ups: FIFA;
Newspaper Match Reports: La Voz (Spain) plus links to videos on FIFA's website

Other related materials:
French and Swiss press coverage of the World Cup Final 1930
A Very Brief Review of the German Press Coverage of the 1930 World Cup

The Descendants - Oral Testimonies (Part-1)

''Mundial 1930, La Fiesta De Ellos'' - by Carlos Polimeni (Audio)

Twitter: @WC1930blogger

Here is a link to a Spanish language audio review of the 1930 World Cup in Uruguay. Titled ''Mundial 1930, la fiesta de ellos",  and presented by Carlos Polimeni for Radio Del Plata, it runs just over 13 minutes long.

A Very Brief Review of the German Press Coverage of the 1930 World Cup

Follow me on Twitter: @WC1930blogger

This is a very brief review of some of the newspaper coverage in the German press of the first World Cup in Uruguay in 1930. It does not represent the entirety of the coverage in that country and all references are from secondary sources published online in the last ten or fifteen years. Some of the references are from a site that is no longer available online and unfortunately, I do not have the original German text, only an English translation (via google). 

The German football magazine Kicker did not feel necessary to send a correspondent to Uruguay in July 1930. The vast distance and the almost three-month trip was a costly adventure and there was no real vested interest since their own country had decided not to participate. Instead, according to RP Online, it had decided to employ the Belgian referee, John Langenus and the Hungarian, Moricz Fischer, the FIFA vice president, as ''rapporteurs''.

The written match reports were dispatched via mail on board ships sailing to Europe and reaching their destination a couple of weeks later. Reports of the first round matches were first published in Kicker on the 29th July 1930, a day before the World Cup Final.

The few lines on the World Cup Final could be read on the 26th August, some twenty-seven days after. Their own correspondent, John Langenus, refereed that match. The Belgian referee received some severe criticism in the Argentinian press for his performance. It should, therefore, be no surprise that his description of the Final contained no criticism of his own handling of the match.

According to an article on www.kejelhejel.de, which is no longer available online, ''the renowned Fußball Woche, wrote briefly and contemptuously of the 'Tale of the World Cup'. The Münchner Neuesten Nachrichten, later known as the Süddeutsche Zeitung, told in advance about the upcoming finale but did not think worthy of printing the result. In Britain, the most important newspaper, The Times, didn't even give it a single mention.''

Readers of Fußball Woche were informed in advance what to expect of the World Cup Final. ''One can predict with certainty'', wrote the Berlin publication, ''that there has been the usual, perfectly balanced struggle between Uruguay and Argentina, in front of approximately 100,000 passionate spectators shattering with tension, either 1-0 or 2-1 expected for one of the parties or even undecided.''

Unfortunately, racist stereotypes were common during this period. ''With the runners'', wrote F. Richter in the journal Fußball, ''represented a genuine negro named Andrade, the exotic touch of colour. The long time Andrade falls on his head through his favourite game. The blacks seem to have skulls like coconuts.''

Our last reference comes once more from Fußball Woche, more commonly known as FUWO, when it informed its impatient readers on the 15th September 1930, ''We can now continue our original coverage only because the steamship connection of South America in August was so bad that for weeks no letter could be expedited.''

Without examining the original publications any conclusions should be drawn tentatively. The delayed coverage in Kicker is one area of criticism, especially when one considers that other European newspapers published match reports the day after the event via cablegrams from news agencies such as Associated Press and United Press. It begs the question on whether the magazine provided funds to its two correspondents to send despatches via telegraphy. However, the German journal should be given credit for it was willing to employ eyewitnesses to the event.

In the other examples, there appears to be negative coverage on the one hand and apathy on the other. The errors in their assumptions and the racist language suggest that further research is needed to determine whether certain patterns can be inferred.

Uruguay ahoy! (An article in FIFA Weekly)

One of the objectives of this blog is to provide links to online resources for further reading. Rarely, if ever, do I comment on the content of a book or a magazine. Nor do I necessarily agree with the content published therein. But with this article in a FIFA publication, I think it only right to point out some obvious mistakes. 

Firstly, the author states that the French, Romanian and Belgian delegations boarded the Conte Verde together in Genoa, Italy. It was only the Romanians that boarded in Genoa, picking up the French in Villefranche-sur-mer and then the Belgians in Barcelona. (For further info see: 

The Road to the First World Cup by Joe Faerstein.)

Secondly, it describes Pedro Cea, the forward that scored Uruguay's equaliser in the final, as the 'home captain'. This is untrue, the honour of captain belonged to the legendary defender Jose Nasazzi.

And lastly, it's description of Uruguay's third goal, by Iriarte, is fundamentally incorrect, stating that he ''wormed his way into the box before applying a 12-yard finish''. In fact, Iriarte picked the ball up in midfield, from the inside-left position, and after a short dribble, struck a right-footed shot roughly from 25 to 30 yards that flew into the top left-hand corner of Botasso's goal. Arguably, it was one of the best goals ever scored in a World Cup Final.

FIFA Weekly Issue #3, November 8, 2013
English edition
Édition française
Edición española
Deutsche Ausgabe

La Historia de Los Mundiales - en Primera Persona (Free Magazine)

La Historia de Los Mundiales - en Primera Persona is a 312-page Spanish language publication from Kaiser Magazine, covering the World Cup from its first edition up to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. It dedicates four pages to the 1930 World Cup.

Andy Auld - From Child Soldier to World Cup Semi-Finalist (With a Split Lip)

The U.S. team that took part in the 1930 World Cup contained six players that were born in Britain. The Canadian historian Colin Jose has done much to dispel many of the misconceptions that have surrounded the team over the decades. He has written very detailed biographies of each players background and careers.

The biography of Andy Auld, written by Jose for the U.S. National Soccer Hall of Fame, to be found on Wayback Machine, contains the information that in 1913 Auld joined the British Army. There is a discrepancy in the two accounts written above by Colin Jose with regard to his date of birth. One states he was born 26th January 1900 and the other 1901. That would suggest that the Scot would have been twelve or thirteen years old when he enlisted in the Army. As suspect as this claim may seem it is well documented that during World War One some 250,000 boys under the age of 18 joined the war effort. This became a very controversial subject in British Military history. The rules for enlistment, in place before the war, required all applicants to be eighteen years old to sign up and nineteen to serve overseas. All these young boys, keen to join the war effort, lied about their age and it appears the authorities were very reluctant to check proof of age. 

This raises several questions with regard to Andy Auld. Is his approximate date of birth roughly correct or was he born a few years earlier? If he was born in 1900/01 then he would have clearly lied about his age. However, two other possibilities exist. Either the year of his enlistment is incorrect and it was a few years later or he never joined the Army at all?

I was unable to obtain information regarding birth records for Andy Auld although his gravestone gives 1900 at his birth date. However, I was able to find the 1901 Scotland Census and the information contained therein possibly contradicts the 26th January 1900 birth date stated elsewhere. It states that a four-month-old Andrew Auld lived at Chemical Row with his parents Thomas and Mary, and six older siblings (two sisters and four brothers) ranging between twenty-three and three years old. Another reason to believe that he was born in 1901 is that according to outbound passenger lists, Andy Auld of Dynamite Road, Stevenston, ticket number 51909, aged 22, occupation Miner, departed from Glasgow on 22nd June 1923 on the Canadian Pacific steamship liner Metagama bound for Quebec, Montreal.  So it appears almost certain that in 1913 he was nowhere near the age of 18 and that if he did join the Army he certainly lied about his age.

I was also unable to find enlistment records for the British Military to determine what birth date he provided but I was able to find four different Andrew Auld's that served in British Armed Forces during this period. All four records, dated 1919, pertain to ''individuals entitled to the Victory Medal and/or British War Medal granted under Army Orders''. The four Andrew Auld's are listed by their regiment or corps and are thus as follows: Royal Garrison Artillery, R.F.A (listed as a Gunner), Royal Irish Rifles and the Seaforth Highlanders. The last one I believe to be most likely the Andy Auld we are looking for. So it would appear that Andy Auld did serve in the British Military as a child soldier and left a war hero.

According to Colin Jose, when Auld arrived in the United States he was able to sign professionally for Providence and between 1926 and 1930 he earned five caps for the U.S. national team. During the 1930 World Cup, he played in all three of the U.S. teams matches including the semi-final against Argentina. It was against the South Americans that he had his lip ripped wide open by an opponent.

Proud of his Scottish roots, Andy Auld passed away in 1977, his gravestone engraved with two thistles either side of his name.

1930: El Primer Mundial (Photographic Album)

1930: El Primer Mundial is a photographic booklet that contains images of the first World Cup in Uruguay and is published by the Centro de Fotografía de Montevideo.

Rafael Garza Gutiérrez ''Récord'' - Mexican Captain

Here are a series of Spanish language articles including access to his family tree about the career of legendary Mexican footballer Rafael Garza Gutiérrez, more commonly known as ''Récord''. A defender for Club America he was Mexico's captain at the 1930 World Cup.

''Récord'' shakes hands with Argentinian keeper and captain, Angel Bossio, before their World Cup match.

Family Tree

El otro lado del balón Magazine, October 11, 2012  

Son los campeones americanos que a Record tienen por capitan.. (Fibra America 60 Aniversario)

Rafael Garza Gutiérrez, el padre de la historia

A four page article from the archives from Club America:
Page 1
Page 2
Page 3
Page 4

Watch a short video about ''Récord'' at deportes.televisa.com

FIFA Articles Related to 1930 World Cup

In the interest of trying to collect and gather articles and online resources related to the first World Cup in one place for anyone that wants to research the competition in Uruguay in 1930 are links to four articles from FIFA's website. All published in 2016.

Better to travel hopefully than to arrive?

Journey's end for Belgium's beach boys

Centenario Celebrations set the tone

Castro's clincher secures Celeste's crown

Tantos mundiales, tantas historias - By Alfredo Relaño (Book plus video)

This is a Spanish language book by author Alfredo Relaño. Tantos mundiales, tantas historias contains thirteen pages on the first World Cup in 1930. You can read it on issuu or google books. Below is a video where the author speaks on film (in Spanish) about the tournament in Uruguay.

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)