Showing posts with label Romania. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Romania. Show all posts

Tuesday, 30 November 2021

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.



Sunday, 7 February 2021

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.

Tuesday, 23 June 2020

Romania, France and Belgium: The Journey To The 1930 World Cup

Twitter: @WC1930blogger 

James Brown @1930WorldCup interviews various experts in the fields of history and journalism to tell the story of the journey of the European teams onboard the S.S.Conte Verde and it's transatlantic sea voyage to the first World Cup in Uruguay. The story of Romania, France and Belgium is explored as part of the 90th anniversary for the 1930 World Cup Conference @1930Cup

Friday, 19 June 2020

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.

Saturday, 21 July 2018

Match Report - Uruguay vs Romania (English translation from El Heraldo de Madrid)

@WC1930blogger

This is the match report of Uruguay's 4-0 victory over Romania, played at the Estadio Centenario, that secured their place in the semi-finals.

The author of the article is anonymous but is most likely a South American journalist employed by the cable news agency, Associated Press. This article appeared in the 22nd July edition of the Spanish newspaper, El Heraldo de Madrid. You can read the original report here.

This article was translated via Google and is subject to errors. Readers are welcome to offer their opinions in order to help improve the translation.

The World Championship soccer

Uruguay Defeat Romania 4 to 0.
MONTEVIDEO 22.-- Uruguay beat  Romania by 4 to 0. The four goals were scored in the first half.
MONTEVIDEO 28. During the first half of the game played yesterday afternoon between the national teams of Romania and Uruguay, the Uruguayan players easily dominated the Romanians, because, although the Romanian defence acted brilliantly, it could not contain the overwhelming attacks of the local.

After six minutes of play, the Uruguayan Dorado scored the first goal for his team; Scarone scores the second at twenty-five minutes; the third is executed by Anselmo at thirty-four, and a minute later Cea points to the fourth. This first half ends with the scoring of four zero in favour of the Uruguayans.
This result gives an idea exactly of the way the match was played in the first forty-five minutes. The Uruguayans were constantly on the offensive, without the Romanians managing to start more than four attacks, which were easily annulled by the Uruguayan defence.
At the beginning of the second half, the Uruguayan strikers play [with] apathy, except Iriarte, who is the only one who has not scored and carries out individual attacks without the support of his linemates. The game is developed without registering dangerous situations, due to the impossibility in which they are the Romanians to overcome the resistance - from the locals and to the little enthusiasm of the Uruguayans to increase the score.


The match ends with the result of four to zero, favourable to Uruguay. -

Monday, 2 April 2018

Match Reports: Yugoslavia vs Brazil & Romania vs Peru (English translation of Heraldo de Madrid)

This is an English translation of the match reports that appeared in the Spanish newspaper, El Heraldo de Madrid, on 15th July 1930. The two authors are anonymous but most likely are South American journalists. El Heraldo de Madrid did not send a correspondent to Uruguay and, based on previous dispatches, most likely carried the reports published by the cable news agency Associated Press.
Google was used to translate this document, and I have tried to keep to this conversion, but where there is confusion, I have added my interpretation. 
The identity of some players described in the action may not be correct as other reports identify different players. This is due in part because the players did not wear shirt numbers. 
What is common in much of the Spanish language press is the difficulty in their spelling of the names of the Yugoslav players. In this instance, I have decided to the include the misspellings.
You can read the original match report in Spanish here.
El Heraldo de Madrid, on 15th July 1930.
The soccer world championship in Montevideo
MONTEVIDEO 15. - The matches between the national teams of Yugoslavia and Brazil on the one hand, and Peru and Romania on the other, have been played in different fields and at the same time.*
*This is not correct. The Romania - Peru match was played after Yugoslavia - Brazil.
The Brazilian team was aligned in the following way:
Monteiro; Brilhante, Gervazoni; Fonseca, Dos Santos, Giudicelli; Ribeiro, Murtinho, Patuska, Coelhi and Bethencourt.
The Yugoslav team was composed of Yakchitch; Yocovitch, Michailovitch; Arsiniyovitch. Stevanovitch, Djokitch; Tirnanitch, Meryanovitch, Becb, Vonyadinovitch and Sekoulitch.
During the first half the Yugoslavs scored two goals in the twenty-three and thirty minutes of play, although the Brazilians showed to have a better technique.
The fight took a great train (tren) (?), playing the teams with violence. The referee annulled another marked (goal) by the Yugoslavs, for having been made out of play (alternative translation: for having been offside).
In the second half the Brazilians made superhuman efforts to draw; but they could only do so much, finishing the game with the victory of the Yugoslavs by two goals against one.
The match between the Romanians and Peruvians was developed in the following way:
At first the Romanians showed great superiority over their opponents, although they play with enthusiasm; but all their efforts are crashing before the Romanian defense line.
The minute after the start of the game the Romanian striker Covaci throws himself on the opposite goal and shoots a strong shot that stumbles on the head of the Peruvian goalkeeper, and this same one introduces him into his net, thus marking the first goal for the Romanians.
At thirty-eight minutes of play the Peruvian De las Casas and the Romanian Stainer stumble, resulting in the European player with a fractured leg. The game is suspended for ten minutes.
The first half ends with the result of 1 to 0 in favor of Romania.
At the beginning of the second half the Peruvian player Galindo and the Romanian Covaci got stuck (alternative translation: Galindo hit Covaci). The referee expelled Galindo, playing from this moment both teams with ten players.
The fight continued with monotony: but at thirty minutes the Peruvians Souza tied the score somewhat.
Three minutes before finishing Romanian put (scored) a goal, and two minutes later hit the Peruvian goalkeeper (goal) again, ending the meeting with the score of 3 to 1 in favor of the Romanians.

Saturday, 31 March 2018

Soccernostalgia Podcast Part 2 - Peru, Paraguay, Romania, France & Brazil




This is part two of a three-part podcast I did with Shahan Petrossian from the Soccernostalgia blog on the subject of the first World Cup. You can get a summary and link to part one here. In this episode, we discuss the national teams of Peru, Paraguay, Romania, France and Brazil.

Summary

Beginning with Peru, we discuss the career of their Spanish coach, Francisco ‘Paco’ Bru, as well as his demands to have control of the selection process. We then move onto the team's training and travelling itinerary to Uruguay before a larger discussion of the role of race and class in Peruvian football in this period. We conclude with a discussion and analysis of the team performances against Romania and Uruguay.

We then briefly talk about Paraguay, and like Bolivia, there is very little contemporary documentation about the teams' preparation and secondary sources are also scarce. We touch upon the career of their Argentinian coach, Jose Duran Laguna, and discuss their performance at the 1929 Copa America which raised expectation upon the team in Uruguay. We then discuss their disappointing defeat against the United States as well as their narrow win over the Belgians.

We then turn our attention to Romania as we try to determine exactly the role played by the country’s monarch, King Carol, who is largely credited with the Balkan country’s participation in the first World Cup. How much of it is actually true as their appears different variations of the story? We then briefly analyse their performances against Peru and Uruguay, as some of it had been previously covered in the Peru section of this episode.

Next, we focus on the French and how Jules Rimet struggled to convince the French Football Federation to make the trip to Uruguay. There are references to some anecdotal stories from members of the delegation in their reports home. We learn how they performed admirably in their three matches and how perhaps the tournament schedule took a toll on the fitness of the team. Then there is a focus on the life and times of the French captain, Alex Villaplane, and his ultimate decline into criminality and collaboration with Nazi’s and his eventual execution by the French resistance in 1944.

In concluding this episode we focus on the Brazilians. We take a look at the controversy around the selection process which manifested in the rivalry among the footballing authorities of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. This resulted in the withdrawal of the Paulistas players from the squad. There are then some anecdotal stories around the teams travels to Uruguay before we take a look at the fall out from their shock 2-1 defeat to the Yugoslavians and their subsequent elimination from the tournament.

Wednesday, 27 December 2017

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.


Saturday, 24 December 2016

1930 World Cup Group 3 Uruguay - Romania (Joefa's World Cup History)


This is a youtube video of Uruguay v Romania 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 3 Romania - Peru (Joefa's World Cup History)


This is a youtube video of Romania v Peru 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:
El Heraldo Madrid (Spain)

Monday, 30 May 2016

21 July 1930 - (World Cup Group 3) Uruguay v Romania (Match Report in El Heraldo de Madrid)

El Heraldo de Madrid, 22 July 1930
This article contains the Uruguay versus Romania match report played on the 22nd July 1930 and published in the Spanish language Madrid based newspaper El Heraldo de Madrid.

Saturday, 28 May 2016

14 July 1930 - (World Cup Group 2) Yugoslavia v Brazil; (World Cup Group 3) Romania v Peru (Match Reports in El Heraldo de Madrid)

El Heraldo de Madrid, 15 July 1930

This article includes the match reports of the Yugoslavia versus Brazil (2-1) and Romania v Peru (3-1) games played on the same day, 14th July 1930, from the Spanish newspaper El Heraldo de Madrid.

Saturday, 26 September 2015

Podcast and Radio interviews with the sons of James Brown (United States) and Adelbert Steiner (Romania)


James Brown

Below is a link to a podcast that has an interview with the son of James Brown, who relates his father's story in the World Cup. George Brown is interviewed around the 8 minute 40 second mark.

http://www.howlermagazine.com/world-cup-dummy-july-1/

Below is an article about James Brown:

http://www.unitedinthestates.com/featured/james-brown-living-in-america/



Adelbert Steiner
Below is a link to a Romanian language radio interview with the sons of Adelbert Steiner, who retell the story of their father's experience at the 1930 World Cup:

http://radiotimisoara.ro/2015/07/05/audio-conte-verde-transatlanticul-cu-teren-de-fotbal-si-calugarite-catolice/


Tuesday, 15 September 2015

1930 World Cup Magazines

Argentina's El Grafico

Mundo Uruguayo magazine



Uruguayan magazine Deportes, 19 July 1930

Guillermo Saavedra on the cover of Chile's Los Sports


Image
News of Romania's 3-1 victory over Peru appeared in 24 July 1930 edition of Realitatea Ilustrata