Football at The 1924 Summer Olympics - Entries

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, would join as many as 18 European teams; the United States, Turkey and Egypt. In terms of the numbers of participating teams this would be the biggest international football tournament until the 1982 FIFA World Cup in Spain.

The Uruguayans had comfortably won the 1923 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 halfway 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. The way their forwards would pass the ball between themselves would captivate, belittling their early doubters. In Paris Jose Leandro Andrade would be dubbed La Marveille Noire.

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. 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). With just six weeks to go before the Games Italy had been walloped 7-1 by Hungary.). Other than dropping Giampiero Combi, Vittorio Pozzo would not make major changes; Italy would not prevail. 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.

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. 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.

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. 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.