France 1938: Football, the smell of gunpowder and war psychosis

On the eve of the Second World War, France was awarded the organization of the third World Cup in football.

Mussolini used the 1934 World Cup in Italy to promote the rise of fascism, as did Hitler at the Berlin Olympics two years later. That's why FIFA decided to separate football and politics as much as possible, and the organization of the third World Cup was entrusted to a country that was considered a "neutral territory."

However, war psychosis was already prevailing in Europe - Germany had occupied Austria, civil war was raging in Spain, a "manifesto on race" was being prepared for printing in Italy, assassinations of Jews were beginning... That is why the World Cup in France is considered the last civilized meeting of countries that would soon compete on the battlefield.

It was precisely for political reasons that some prominent national teams did not even make it to Paris. The Spanish Civil War was reason enough for the "furies" to be absent, and Germany, by annexing Austria, eliminated one of the best European teams at the time from the competition.

The famous "Danube vortex", the Austrian school of football, a game without the classic nine, which many years later was called the forerunner of tiki-taka, thus went down in history for political reasons. Never since then have the Austrians had such a generation of footballers.

The "Danube Whirlpool" was an invention Huga Majsla, an Austrian Jew, and Jimmy Hogan, an Englishman who lived in Vienna.

"Football, under Maisel's command, was almost like an exhibition, a kind of competitive ballet, in which goals came as an apology to the opponent for hundreds and hundreds of intricate patterned actions, reminiscent of the finest weaving," he wrote. Brian Glenville, a leading British football journalist, in his book "The Inverted Pyramid" about the history of football tactics.

The greatest achievement of the famous Viennese football school was the semi-final of the World Cup in Italy in 1934.

Five Austrian players, however, were included in the German team for the 1938 World Cup, and the strengthened "elf" was considered the main favorite in France. During the championship, the Germans flaunted all the symbolism of Nazi power, but they stumbled against the not very strong Switzerland. The myth of the superiority of the Aryan race, in fact, had been seriously shaken a few days earlier, when a black boxer Joe Louis "slammed" the German champion in New York's Madison Square Garden Max Schmeling.

The Italians climbed to the top of the world for the second World Cup in a row, although they had many difficulties along the way. Already in the first game, they struggled against Norway, by celebrating only after extra time. They played the most interesting match in the quarter-finals, against the host France, which had the support of over 60 fans at the stadium in Colombes, a small town near Paris.

The "Azure" won 3-1, ending their successful run of World Cup hosts. In the semi-finals, they faced Brazil, the revelation of the championship, led by a fantastic Leonidasom da Silvom, who was called the Black Diamond - a guy whose goals were applauded by even opposing goalkeepers.

He was fast, big, he was the first to introduce the "bicycle" dribbling in football, which is why a bewildered French journalist wrote that he had six legs, explaining his dribbling by "black magic".

Soon Leonidas da Silva's name became a brand of cigarettes and chocolates.

However, he did not help the "Cariocas" in the semi-finals either. The Italians won 2:1 after a dubious penalty was awarded. The Brazilians complained in vain, as all the referees, like four years earlier, were from Europe.

The triumph in the final against Hungary was for Mussolini a matter of national importance. Before the match, the Italian players received a telegram from Rome, signed by their fascist leader, in which were written only three words: Victory or death.

Led by a fantastic tandem Meaca - Ferrari The "azures" triumphed with a score of 4:2 and no one had to die.

After the World Cup in France, Europe caught fire in the flames of war, so the world championships were not held until 1950.