Football at the 1928 Summer Olympics

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The 1928 Olympic football tournament, won with difficulty by Uruguay from their bitter rivals Argentina, would be the precursor to the first FIFA World Cup held in 1930 in Uruguay.

1 Background
2 Participation
3 The Tournament
4 Semi-finals
5 Gold medal match
6 The Final

[edit] Background

The 1928 Olympic football tournament was, perhaps, the single most important football tournament in the history of the game, the significance of which should never be underestimated. Up to 1928 the Olympic football tournament had represented the World Championship of football; (and understandably so: the 1920 (14), 1924 (22) and 1928 tournaments (17) all had greater participation than that of the first World Cup in 1930). Yet this presented a significant problem for the governing body, FIFA, since the tournament, though organised and run by FIFA, was an event subject to the ethical foundation that underpinned the Olympic movement.

That all Olympic competitors had to maintain an amateur status had, for a length of time, been a constraint that football was unable to uphold. Increasingly, FIFA had sought to appease those nations that required concessions in order that players could participate in the Olympics. This required there to be an acceptance that irregular payment could be made to players by national associations: the so-called 'broken time payments' by which loss of pay and expenses would be met. On February 17, 1928 the four 'home' associations of the United Kingdom, meeting in Sheffield voted unanimously to withdraw from FIFA in opposition to the manner in which the governing body was seeking to dictate on such matters and, as was noted 'that [the four Associations]] be free to conduct their affairs in the way their long experience has shown them to be desirable'.[1]

For Henri Delaunay, President of the French Football Federation the writing was on the wall; FIFA must wait no longer to put into practice an international tournament, freed from ideological shackles. In 1926 he stated, at the FIFA Conference: 'Today international football can no longer be held within the confines of the Olympics; and many countries where professionalism is now recognised and organised cannot any longer be represented there by their best players'. (Glanville. Brian, p. 15, The Story of the World Cup, Faber and Faber, London. 2005). The day before the tournament began, on May 26, 1928 (Portugal would play Chile; Belgium play Luxembourg in the opening games) the FIFA congress in Amsterdam presided over by Jules Rimet, voted that a new FIFA World Cup tournament be organised in 1930 and be open to all member nations. Italy, Sweden, the Netherlands, Spain and Uruguay would all lodge applications to host the event.

[edit] Participation

There was little question as to who were the favourites going into the tournament. Uruguay and Argentina were rightly considered the strongest sides in the world with the Argentinians shading the advantage between the two and ending a self-imposed exile from the tournament. Uruguay, the defending Olympic champions, once again sent a formidable side made up, predominantly, by the personnel of their two biggest clubs: Penarol and Nacional.

Bolstered by the presence of the Argentinians and the intervening development within the European game, the competition was more competitive than the 1924 edition although it was certainly divested by the absence of the four British nations (the 1927-28 Home International Championship being won by Wales lead by Fred Keenor).

That being said 10 European nations (17 in all) had made the journey to the Netherlands for the competition, but few had any real pretentions to the title. The issues were clear for observers. A football tournament could not be a true reflection of comparative strengths if played between nations limited in their ability to play their best players. However, the football tournament proved to be a fitting tribute to the strength of the Uruguayan team and would remain the only occasion that a South American side would win an international tournament in Europe until the Brazilians thirty years later.

[edit] The Tournament

Perhaps the first round draw favoured the South Americans. Uruguay dispatched the hosts, the Netherlands, 2-0 (there was none of the controversy that had surrounded their previous encounter at the 1924 Olympic Games, the game being expertly controlled by Jean Langenus) and the Argentinians had little difficulty against the Americans winning 11-2.

Elsewhere Germany had performed strongly but in the quarter-final Germany were put to the sword by the Uruguayans who beat them 4-1. In another quarter-final the Italians played out a curious tie with the Spanish fighting back from a half time deficit to force a replay. In the replay the Azzurri simply over-ran their opponents three days later scoring 4 without response before the break. Virgilio Levratto's brace confirmed their superiority, although consistency seemed the chief cause of their 7-1 victory. Spain had gambled by making five changes to Italy's two. Clearly less was more.

[edit] Semi-finals

This meant that in the semi-final Vittorio Pozzo's Italy would play Uruguay. In retrospect this proved to be an intriguing match-up; a game that presaged what may have happened if the Uruguayans had sought to defend their World title in the 1934 World Cup. The Italians selected Giampiero Combi in goal, Angelo Schiavio, in attack. Both would be crowned World champions at the 1934 FIFA World Cup. In this game the Uruguayans stormed to a convincing lead by the break; Levratto's goal in the second half flattered the Italians because Uruguay ran out comfortable winners by the odd goal in 5; José Pedro Cea, Hector Scarone scoring for the Celestes.

[edit] Gold medal match

In the final the Uruguayans would play Argentina who had trounced an Egyptian side that had coursed a fortuitous route through the competition, although they had done surprisingly well to put out the Portuguese in the quarters by two goals to one. Now they would fold like a house of cards; clearly out of their depth against more sophisticated opposition, conceding 6 goals to Argentina and a further eleven to Italy in the Bronze medal match.

[edit] The Final

The final itself was a close - run affair. Both nations had been undefeated in competitive matches against other nations but had traded losses to each other since the last Olympic competition. The interest, understandably, was immense. The Dutch had received 250,000 requests for tickets from all over Europe.

Once again, there was little in it; the first game finished 1-1. The tie went to a replay. Uruguay's Scarone converted the winner in the second half of that game. It seemed only fair and fitting that on May 18, 1929, the Barcelona congress voted that Uruguay be the first nation to host a World Cup.

Events at the 1928 Summer Olympics (Amsterdam)
Athletics • Boxing • Cycling • Diving • Equestrian • Fencing • Football • Gymnastics • Hockey • Lacrosse (demonstration) • Modern pentathlon • Rowing • Sailing • Shooting • Swimming • Water polo • Weightlifting • Wrestling

Football at the Summer Olympics <td style="vertical-align: middle; width: 1px" rowspan="2"> Image:Olympic pictogram Football.png </td>
1896 • 1900 • 1904 • 1908 • 1912 • 1920 • 1924 • 1928 • 1932 • 1936 • 1948 • 1952 • 1956 • 1960 • 1964 • 1968 • 1972 • 1976 • 1980 • 1984 • 1988 • 1992 • 1996 • 2000 • 2004 • 2008 See also: List of Olympic medalists in football