International Career
On 29 November 1933, aged 20 years and 64 days, Bican made his debut for Austria in a 2-2 draw against Scotland. He went on to play for them at the 1934 World Cup, when the Austrian Wunderteam reached the semi-finals. His solitary goal in the tournament came in extra-time in the Austrians 3-2 victory over France.
At the time Bican was playing for Slavia Prague, he applied for Czech citizenship. However, when he eventually became a Czech citizen, he discovered that a clerical error meant he couldn't play at the World Cup in 1938. In total, he scored 34 goals in 34 international matches for 3 teams (Austria, Czechoslovakia and Bohemia & Moravia). His final national team appearance was for Czechoslovakia in a 3-1 defeat against Bulgaria on 4 September 1949.
However, his success did have its downside. Other members of the team became jealous of the tall, handsome Bican's success. He was often called abusive names, such as "Austrian bastard".
Read more about this topic: Josef Bican
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—Margaret S. Mahler (1897–1985)