III. Italy
-
Italy Manager Vittorio Pozzo (March 12, 1886-December 21, 1968) was still in
charge as he had been in 1934.
He
took charge of the National Team for the first time for the 1912 Olympics.
He
returned as head coach in 1929. He would remain as Commissario Tecnico until
1948.
The
only survivors from Italy’s 1934 World Cup winning squad were Giuseppe Meazza
(now promoted as Captain), Giovanni Ferrari, Eraldo Monzeglio and substitute
goalkeeper Guido Masetti.
 |
Photo
From: Guerin Sportivo, Issue 988 (Number 12),March 23-29, 1994
(Silvio Piola and Vittorio Pozzo) |
-In
1934, The Italians had drafted Oriundis (an Oriundo in particular refers to
South Americans with Spanish or Italian ancestry), such as Argentinean-born
stars such as Luisito Monti (Juventus), Raimundo Orsi (Juventus), Attilio Demaria (Ambrosiana-Inter) and Enrique Guaita (AS Roma).
For
this 1938 Edition, the lone Orundi was Uruguayan-born Michele Andreolo who
filled Luisito Monti’s role.
 |
Photo
From: La Grande Storia del Calcio Italiano,
L'apoteosi di Parigi, Issue 8, April 1965
(Michele
Andreolo)
|
-In
1936 Olympics in Berlin, Italy had been triumphant. Pozzo called up Alfredo
Foni, Pietro Rava, Sergio Bertoni, and Ugo Locatelli to the full squad.
-Before
leaving for France, the squad trained initially in the Alps, above Stresa, on
Lake Maggiore (just like in 1934) in May. This phase was to ‘detoxify’ the
players and included rest, relaxation
Afterwards,
they went to Cueno (in Piedmont) for the final phase of preparation. This was
where the real physical and tactical training was accomplished.
 |
Photo
From: Calcio Illustrato, issue 22, June 1, 1938
(Italy players) |
 |
Photo
From: Il Calcio Illustrato, Giugno 1950, Supplemento Al. No 24
(Italians training) |
 |
Photo
From: Azzurri, Storia della Nazionale di calcio tre volte campioni del Mondo,
1910-1983
(Italians
at the Port of Marseille)
|
 |
Photo
From: La Grande Storia del Calcio Italiano,
L'apoteosi di Parigi, Issue 8, April 1965
(Italy squad in training) |
-Italy
concluded its preparation with friendlies on two consecutive Sundays, against
Belgium (May 15th at Milan) and vs. Yugoslavia May 22nd
(at Genoa).
On
May 15th, Belgium were defeated (6-1). Preceding the match, the
B-squad (with Foni in command) defeated Luxembourg (4-0).
On
May 22nd , Yugoslavia were defeated (4-0) with some of the missing
elements from the Belgium match, such as Foni and Colaussi.
The
B-Team defeated a South German selection XI (5-2).
 |
Photo
From: Calcio Illustrato, issue 22, June 1, 1938
(Foni
and Rava in training)
|
Italy’s Preparatory matches/ Friendlies ahead of the
World Cup:
Date: May 15, 1938
Venue: Milano -Stadio Comunale, San Siro
Attendance: 25, 000
Referee: Peter
J. (Peco) Bauwens (Germany)
Italy 6-Belgium 1 (Giuseppe Meazza 17 pen,
Michele Andreolo 28, Piero Pasinati 58, Silvio Piola 71, 80, 84 / Jean Capelle
2)
Italy:
Aldo
Olivieri (Lucchese) , Eraldo Monzeglio (Roma), Pietro
Rava (Juventus), Pietro Serantoni (Roma) , Michele
Andreolo (Bologna),
Ugo Locatelli (Ambrosiana -Inter), Piero
Pasinati (Triestina), Giuseppe Meazza (captain) (Ambrosiana -Inter), Silvio
Piola (Lazio), Giovanni Ferrari (Ambrosiana -Inter), Pietro Ferraris
II (Ambrosiana -Inter)
Coach: Vittorio Pozzo
May 22, 1938
Venue: Genova -Stadio
Comunale ‘Luigi Ferraris’
Attendance: 25, 000
Referee: Alfred
Birlem (Germany)
Italy 4-Yugoslavia 0 (Luigi Colaussi 6,
Silvio Piola 12, Giuseppe Meazza 62 pen, Giovanni Ferrari 84)
Italy:
Carlo
Ceresoli (Bologna), Alfredo Foni (Juventus), Pietro
Rava (Juventus), Mario Perazzolo (Genova 1893), Michele
Andreolo (Bologna), Ugo Locatelli (Ambrosiana -Inter),
Piero Pasinati (Triestina), Giuseppe
Meazza (captain) (Ambrosiana -Inter), Silvio
Piola (Lazio), Giovanni Ferrari (Ambrosiana -Inter), Luigi ‘Gino’
Colaussi (Triestina)
Coach: Vittorio Pozzo
IV. Brazil
In
1937, after almost four years of power struggle, the Brazilian Confederation of
Sports, chaired by Luiz Martha, returned to take charge of football in the
country, recognizing the professional regime and absorbing the then dissident
Brazilian Federation of football. The president of the FBF, Jose Maria Castello
Branco, became the confederation's director and was named responsible for the
Selection of the World Cup Team.
In
March of 1938, National team Manager Adhemar Pimenta selected a group for the
initial training sessions. Six players ended up being removed after medical
evaluations.
Pimenta
angered Flamengo fans for not calling up Waldemar de Britto, one of the
Brazilian stars of the 1934 World Cup in Italy. The Botafogo fans complained
the absence of Carvalho Leite.
Many Companies, as well as ‘Banco do Brasil’
participated in financing Brazil’s World Cup expedition.
It was reported that a dentist Alceu
Batista offered free service to the players.
The majority of the funds were
obtained through the thousands of
stamps sold, with a raffle for a couple of
tickets to accompany Brazil to the World Cup.
The first issue of 100,000 stamps was
sold in a matter of days.
Each
stamp was sold for 500 Reis, which resulted in collection for the expenses of
the National Team in France. When buying a stamp the fan became a
"patriotic investor" and could be considered - as the advertisement
campaign proclaimed "part of the
delegation".
Brazil manager Adhemar Pimenta received no political pressure
from the various Confederations, but many observers commented that he was
tactically unaware, especially of the popular WM Formation.
Adhemar
Pimenta formed two teams to select his best squad. The ‘blue team’ included Batatais; Domingos da Guia, Machado;
Zeze Procopio, Martim Silveira and Afonsinho; Lopes, Romeu Pellicciari,
Leonidas da Silva, Peracio and Hercules. The other team, the ‘White team’
included Walter; Jau, Nariz; Britto, Brandao and Argemiro; Roberto, Luizinho,
Niginho and Patesko.
Pimenta
would never reveal which as the main team to keep the players on edge, but it
was assumed that any team that featured Domingos Da Guia and Leonidas was the
main team.
After
12 days of training in Rio, Pimenta proposed that the 28 selected players
should spent two weeks in the Aguas de Caxambu, in Minas Gerais, for a training
period of 30 days. CBD accepted this request.
As
soon as they had got off the bus in the small mining town, the players were
greeted by a band of music and had to listen to long speeches by the Mayor,
Fabio Vieira Marques, and other local authorities. The delegation was then
invited to visit the tourist attractions and meet and greet local politicians,
etc.
Thus,
the light training programmed for that first day had to be canceled due to lack
of time.
Some
journalists who accompanied the training commented that discipline was not the
strong point of that group.
The
Gloria and Lopes hotels, which hosted the National Team, were also casinos
(gambling was a legal in Brazil in 1938), which distracted the players.
On
April 5th, the head of Delegation, Castello Branco published the
imposing ‘Ten Commandments of the Players of the Brazilian Seleção’. The tenth
commandment said: "No element can discuss the ordained standard
established by the CBD." And the ninth set the same thing in relation to
the bonuses for cup wins. The problem was the CBD's offered salary was less
than most players earned with their clubs.
The
players wrote back to the Confederation asking the following:
1)
Daily 25,000 Reis, which should be paid from the day of setting sail until the
day of return.
2)
1.5 Million Reis per player.
3)
Ordered monthly minimum of 1.5 Million Reis.
4)
Bonuses of 500,000 Reis per win and 250,000 Reis per tie.
All
the players signed the petition for wages and prizes, which seemed fair.
Castello Branco publicly criticized the claim, even before talking to the
players. Botafogo's President, Sergio Darcy, visibly outraged, ordered his
players to withdraw the signatures of the document.
Leonidas
da Silva and Domingos da Guia, Brazil's two highest paid players at the time,
were in Bahia playing friendly matches for Flamengo. On April 5th,
when they returned to Rio de Janeiro, from where they would go to Caxambu, both
heard the news. And they decided to stay in the city until the financial
situation was resolved. Although they had never said this in public, it was
clear that without any agreement, they would not even go to Caxambu and France.
 |
Photo
From: III Fussballweltmeisterschaft 1938 Frankreich, Author Robert Franta
(Leonidas at Flamengo) |
 |
Photo
From: Guerin Sportivo, Issue 988 (Number 12),March 23-29, 1994
(Domingos Da Guia) |
After
a week, everything finally settled peacefully. The CBD stated that its
financial department would ‘think long and hard about it’ and that the players
would have their full salaries paid by the confederation while they were
playing for the National Team. The bonuses were set at 800 francs per victory
and 400 per tie, more or less the equivalent of what the players had requested.
On April 10th, Leonidas and
Domingos accepted the proposal and joined the National Team for the first time
to train in Caxambu.
The
only incident during the training period at Aguas Minas was a dislocation in
the clavicle suffered by goalkeeper Walter of Flamengo on April 18th.
Walter returned to Rio de Janeiro to consult a specialist and many believed he
would be cut. But 12 days later, upon boarding to Europe, Walter arrived and
was given a clean bill of health to travel. On the return from Minas Gerais to
Rio, Ademar Pimenta announced the availability of six players (Dominguinhos,
Thadeu, Cerni, Marreta, Placido and Caxambu).
Pimenta
also made some innovations during the training: he would mix and match two
defenses, a "light" and another "weight", and did the same
thing with the strikers. Every day he mixed up defenders and attackers. When
the training in Caxambu ended, journalists and leaders were absolutely
confused. In his last interview before leaving Brazil Ademar Pimenta was
questioned by a Rio magazine: "The attack that would have been in France
will be light or heavy? he responded: "Either one or another, or a mixture
of the two."
After
the training period, the Brazilian delegation embarked aboard the transatlantic
‘Arlanza’, headed for France, on April 30th, 1938.
There
were stops at Salvador and Recife before crossing the Atlantic.
There
was a stopover in Dakar before setting anchor at Marseille on May 15th.
During
the 15 days of travel, Pimenta would make his first mistake. Officers and press
professionals kept giving their opinion on who should play and who should leave
the team. Pimenta selected Brazil’s squad with the intention to please and
satisfy everyone.
Brazil
had 20 full days to prepare for its first match. From Marseille, the squad
traveled by train to Paris and stayed at the ‘Saint Germain’ and ‘Henri IV’
Hotels.
Two
days later they traveled by train to their training camp at Niederbronn in
Alsace.
Note:
In
another source, Brazil’s journey and dates are as follows:
Brazil
arrived in France on May 20th, 1938, 15
days before their first match. They sailed on April 30th, from
the Guanabara Bay, on board the ‘Arlanza’. (In a different source, it is stated
that they left from Rio de Janeiro aboard a Polish Ship called ‘Koscisusko’ and
that they arrived at Cherbourg on May 16th and went via Paris to
Niederbonn).
 |
Photo
From: L’Equipe-La Coupe Du Monde, Volume 1, 1930-1970
(Brazil players upon arrival at France) |
-Brazil’s
last match prior to playing Poland for their first match in the World Cup on
June 5th, 1938, had been in the Copa America Final on February 1st,
1937 at Buenos Aires (Argentina 2-Brazil 0). This was a stretch of 16 months
that the National Team had been out of action.
-Since
Brazil did not have an Official Team Doctor. Brazil defender Nariz (February
8, 1912-September 19, 1984) would act in that capacity as he was a doctor himself.
Nariz
had personally set up in Botafogo, the medical post for a squad. Until then,
injured players were directly taken to hospitals, which made their recovery
slower.
-Brazil
squad had not taken a masseur with them. The Argentinean player Carlos Volante
would fill that role when the team arrived in France.
He was not officially part of the Brazil
delegation. |
Photo
From: Coupe Du Monde 1938-La Coupe du Monde Oubliee, Author Victor Sinet
(Brazil
squad)
|
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