Football at the 1924 Summer Olympics

At the 1924 Summer Olympics held in Paris, Uruguay dominated the Football (soccer) tournament winning the Gold.

Amateur Status

In 1921, the Belgium Football Association first allowed for payments to players for time lost from work; in the months that followed four other Associations (Switzerland and Italy amongst them) permitted similar subsidies. The Football Association, perhaps, with foresight considered their statement of 1884 to be one which FIFA should hereafter follow. They had stated: "Any player registered with this Association ... receiving remuneration ... of any sort above ... necessary expenses actually paid, shall be considered to be a professional."

In 1923 the four British Associations sought an assurance that FIFA accept this definition; the four FIFA representatives on the International Football Association Board refused and, consequently, both Great Britain and Denmark withdrew their footballers from representing their nations at the 1924 Olympic Games.

Entries

In Association Football (1960), Bernard Joy wrote about the 1912 Games that the authorities in Sweden "had debated for a long time whether to include football ... because its popularity was not yet world wide". Twelve years later, in Paris, football had become so important to the Games that a 1/3 of the income generated came from football. In terms of international development these Games signalled the first participation in a major Championship of a team from South America, a continent which would provide the main competition to Europe from that moment on.

In Paris Uruguay, who had paid their third class passage to Paris and gone on a dazzlingly successful tour of Spain beforehand [1], would join as many as 18 European teams; the United States, Turkey and Egypt.

The Uruguayans had comfortably won the South American Championship by maximum points in the December of the previous year to qualify for the tournament as their continent's sole participants; defeating bitter rivals Argentina 2-0 in the final game in which Pedro Petrone scored half way through the first half. They would bring to Paris a revolution in ideas. Joy would write: "A doctor and a physical expert were as important elements of the staff as the coach himself. They saw to it that their charges reached perfect physical condition. They were kept that way by staying away from the attractions of Paris at a villa in the quiet village of Argenteuil". Once they arrived, once they started playing they would amaze and attract, belittling the doubters; aliens in the Old World, magnetic in Paris where Jose Leandro Andrade would be dubbed La Marveille Noire and their interplay would captivate [2].

Despite all this little was known about them; they had never played outside of South America and their international experience had mainly been spent travelling across the harbour from Buenos Aires to Montevideo [3]. It is understandable therefore that, given the general lack of knowledge of the Uruguayans that the Italians and the Hungarians should have been considered favourites, however, both, though strong, had suffered a difficult season.

Italy, having remained unbeaten since 1922, now found themselves beaten 4-0 by an early incantation of Hugo Meisl's Wunderteam (who, tantalisingly, would absent themselves from the Games) [4]. With just six weeks to go before the Games Italy had been walloped 7-1 by Hungary [5]. Other than dropping Giampiero Combi, Vittorio Pozzo would not make major changes; Italy would not prevail [6]. The same policy was adopted by Yugoslavia. Rather than considering dropping players they had sacked their manager Dr Veljko Ugrinic instead (following a 4-1 wiping by those Austrians in Zagreb) but would find his replacement Todor Sekulic just as hapless [7].

The Hungarians had just come off a good run of results in the previous year, but had been beaten, convincingly, by the Swiss in the days leading up to the Games; Max Abegglen, who had only been playing international football for two years, scoring his 7th international goal that day for the Swiss [8]. He and they would become quite a feature of the Games. The Swiss, ironically, had been on the verge of withdrawing from the Games due to their continued success. The team's train ticket was valid for only 10 days and their money had run out. An appeal by a newspaper, Sport, brought in the needed funds [9].

Entering for the second time Egypt would cause a shocking defeat in their opening game; their true worth exposed not only by the drubbing that eventually signalled their exit but by the comprehensive defeats they experienced on a short European tour after the Games [10]. The concept of warm-up matches lay far into the future.

Both finalists from the previous Games would be present; Belgium being afforded a bye into the first round; the Czechs drawn against Turkey in the Preliminary Round.

Tournament

The Games competition was assisted by a Preliminary Round which featured the silver medallists from the 1920 Games, Spain in a game with Italy. Since that time Spain had only lost once and that by a single goal away to Belgium and had drawn 0-0 with the Italians in March 1924 [11]. There was hardly anything between themselves and Italy when they met, this time, at the Colombes Stadium; Pedro Vallana's own goal handing victory to Italy.

Otherwise there were wildly lopsided results in the opening round. Hungary put five past Poland, the Swiss sent poor Lithuania on their way, 9-0. But the big talking point was the play of the Uruguayans [they] played first-rate football, combining speed, skill and perfect ball-control. By marrying short passing to intelligent positional play, they made the ball do all the work, and so kept their opponents on the run wrote Joy. The Uruguayans sailed past Yugoslavia by seven clear goals, then overcame the United States by three goals to nil; only after the Americans had shut bolt their defence. Their team was fundamentally that with which they would dominate World football for the next 6 years.

In the first round Czechoslovakia (following their ill-judged decision to walk off the field in 1920) enhanced their reputation as Olympic 'bad sports' during an ill-tempered fixture against an equally unforgiving Swiss; the game went fruitlessly to extra-time. One Czech was sent off, and the Norwegian referee had to call for order during a break. For the replay, Abegllen took the captain's duties and all was different; Switzerland winning by the single goal. Otherwise there were two big shocks, the first went Egypt's way; 3-0 to the good against Hungary. The second saw Sweden annihilate the reigning Gold medallists, Belgium, quite improbably, 8-1. Oscar Verbeeck's own goal set the Swedes on their way; Sven Rydell's hat-trick the feature of the match.

The Swedish outside-left Rudolf Kock (who would become chairman of the selectors in 1948 working alongside George Raynor), would have another fine game against Egypt where Sweden won 5-0. France and Holland had been similarly dominant in the first round but that was put into perspective when Uruguay beat France 5-1 to claim a semi-final place.

In another quarter-final Italy went out disputing a winner by Max Abegglen, who converted a break-away goal. The Italians protested that he had been off-side. The referee Johannes Mutters, refused to alter the decision of his linesman; a jury upheld the judgement.

There was further dispute in the semi-final where Holland (coached by the old Blackburn Rovers' Cup hero William Townley) took a first half lead through Feyenoord's Pijl Kees. With twenty minutes to go Pedro Cea scored an equaliser and with less than ten Georges Vallatt awarded Uruguay a penalty. Suddenly bedlam. FIFA reports: "the Netherlands protested the ruling of a penalty kick that turned out to be the winning goal but then Uruguay protested against the Olympic Committee's selection of a Dutch referee for the final. To appease the South Americans, the committee pulled the name of a final referee out of a hat and picked out a Frenchman, Marcel Slawick" [12].

The Gold Medal

In the second semi-final between Uruguay and the Netherlands the game was decided on the decision of Vallat, the French referee, to award a penalty to the South Americans in the second half. Hector Scarone converted the kick, but the Dutch complained bitterly about the decision, enough to force FIFA to intervene in the choice of referee for the Gold medal match; the Uruguayans complained about the appointment of Johannes Mutters prior to the game; the argument being that a Dutchman may decide against them.

Accordingly, the organisers drew from a hat filled with 'possibles', and the Frenchman Marcel Slawick was pulled out and oversaw proceedings in which two goals in the second period put paid to Swiss aspirations, Uruguay eventually prevailing 3-0. Interest in the final was immense; 60,000 watched and 10,000 were locked out [13].

Trivia

• Sweden, surprisingly, won Bronze. Their 8-1 defeat of the reigning champions, Belgium, in the opening round is still considered the biggest upset in World football by criteria laid down by ELO. [14]
• Some of the games took place at the Vélodrome de Vincennes.
• The lap of honour (or previously called "Olympic turn"), the celebration ritual that any proclaimed champion team do when winning a tournament, was invented by Uruguay team after winning this Olympic title, to salute the attendance by running all around the athletics field.
• Uruguay's Pedro Petrone was two days shy of his 19th birthday when he accepted his gold medal; still the youngest football gold-medallist in the history of the Games.

Men's tournament event

Gold:	Silver:	Bronze:
Uruguay José Leandro Andrade Pedro Arispe Pedro Casella Pedro Cea Luis Chiappara Pedro Etchegoyen Alfredo Ghierra Andrés Mazali José Nasazzi José Naya Pedro Petrone Ángel Romano Zoilo Saldombide Héctor Scarone Pascual Somma Humberto Tomassina Antonio Urdinarán Santos Urdinarán Fermín Uriarte José Vidal Alfredo J. Zibechi Pedro Zignone	Switzerland Max Abegglen Félix Bédouret Charles Bouvier Walter Dietrich Karl Ehrenbolger Paul Fässler Gustav Gottenkieny Jean Haag Marcel Katz Edmond Kramer Adolphe Mengotti August Oberhauser Robert Pache Aron Pollitz Hans Pulver Rudolf Ramseyer Adolphe Reymond Louis Richard Teo Schär Paul Schmiedlin Paul Sturzenegger Walter Weiler	Sweden Axel Alfredsson Charles Brommesson Gustaf Carlson Albin Dahl Sven Friberg Karl Gustafsson Fritjof Hillén Konrad Hirsch Gunnar Holmberg Per Kaufeldt Tore Keller Rudolf Kock Sigfrid Lindberg Vigor Lindberg Sven Lindqvist Evert Lundqvist Sten Mellgren Gunnar Olsson Sven Rydell Harry Sundberg Thorsten Svensson Robert Zander

External links

• Photo from match between Spain and Italy
• RSSSF Archive