1936-1939: The Last Years of Interwar Poland
During the period described, the National Team slowly recovered from the Olympic failure, eventually managing to qualify for the 1938 FIFA World Cup (see: Poland at 1938 FIFA World Cup). In the last game of interwar Poland, the white-reds in Warsaw beat 4-2 Hungary (see: The Last Game (August 27, 1939)). This was the biggest success of Polish football in the years 1918-1939.
According to some experts, had the Second World War not started, Poland would have achieved success in the planned 1942 FIFA World Cup, which was supposed to take place either in Brazil or Argentina. Manager Józef Kałuża had gathered a group of excellent, prospective players, with Ernest Wilimowski as the top star. Kałuża had plans and vision; however, on September 1, 1939, it all changed forever. Poland ceased to exist, only to return to the map of Europe in 1945. By then, however, the situation was radically different.
Read more about this topic: Polish Football In The Interwar Period
Famous quotes containing the words years and/or poland:
“In time, after a dozen years of centering their lives around the games boys play with one another, the boys’ bodies change and that changes everything else. But the memories are not erased of that safest time in the lives of men, when their prime concern was playing games with guys who just wanted to be their friendly competitors. Life never again gets so simple.”
—Frank Pittman (20th century)
“It is often said that Poland is a country where there is anti-semitism and no Jews, which is pathology in its purest state.”
—Bronislaw Geremek (b. 1932)