As the Olympics returned to Europe, football returned to the Games.
In 1932, it had not been on the programme in Los Angeles for a variety of
reasons (disputes about amateurism, less than overwhelming interest in the
United States, and F.I.F.A.'s desire to protect the status of its new World Cup
tournament, first held two years earlier), but the German organisers did not
want to renounce on the event pulling the biggest crowds (the four
final matches had an average attendance of more than ninety thousand!).
However, it was not an altogether happy return, for various reasons,
some connected to what might be termed the Zeitgeist.
One positive aspect was the first ever entry of two Far Eastern countries,
China and Japan (less than a year later, the latter would inflict the second
Sino-Japanese War on the former, culminating within half a year in the atrocities
of the Nanking Massacre in December 1937 and January 1938).
On the other hand, half a dozen traditional entrants,
all bordering Germany, were absent. Not for political reasons (Belgium,
Czechoslovakia, Denmark, the Netherlands and Switzerland all sent more than a
hundred athletes to the Nazi Games, France just over two hundred), but because of
the "amateur question". In March, Czechoslovakia, France and Switzerland,
who all had a professional football league at the time, had already decided
against sending a weak amateur selection, and Belgium also refrained from
entering because of the 1933 I.O.C. decision that players who had received
"broken time payments" (still accepted in 1928)
could not be considered amateurs.
For the same reason, on 18 May, the football federation of the Netherlands,
the only country to have entered all five previous official Olympic football
tournaments, announced, with considerable regret as the Dutch football side
had been in fine form that season, that it would not register for the tournament,
after having received confirmation that two key players (captain Puck van Heel
and first choice goalkeeper Leo Halle) would not be eligible – in spite
of being much purer amateurs than most of the Italian "student" selection, whose
players may all have been uncapped but for the most part had been bloodied in
the professional Serie A (captain Foni already in its first ever
season, 1929/30, when playing for Lazio); several of them, including bespectacled
outside right Frossi, had already played in
the Mitropa Cup, the Champions League
of the thirties.
The football itself was lacking in quality, and sportsmanship was often
lacking altogether. The tone was set on the first day in the match
between Italy and the United States, in which the Azzurri, who had
had the German crowd on their side at the beginning of the encounter,
misbehaved so badly that according to Belgian and Dutch newspapers the
spectators not only changed sides within fifteen minutes after kick-off but
saw the Italians off with shouts of "Geef ze maar aan den Negus!"
(presumably "Gibt sie doch dem Negus!" in the original), in reference
to Haile Selassie, the ruler of Abyssinia where the fascisti were
waging war at the time. (One is reminded of Nicolae Titulescu's exclamation of
"A la porte les sauvages!" directed at unruly Italian
journalists at the League of Nations five weeks earlier.)
Apart from the Italian team, also the Austrian, Peruvian and Polish sides
came in for considerable criticism from the Belgian and Dutch press; the
quarter-final between Austria and Peru was little more than a
mutual Treterei, with even the spectators joining in.
More than one commentator was reminded of the Germany-Uruguay
quarter-final in Amsterdam eight years before.
Antwerp newspaper De Schelde even likened the scenes to North American
gangsterdom by decrying the match as a "Chicago-battle".
The most memorable result (in, it should be added, a clean match) was
Norway's surprise win over Germany – arguably the greatest upset
in any Olympic football tournament to date; in addition, Japan came back
from two goals down to oust Sweden before being annihilated by Italy, and
Poland and Great Britain combined for nine goals in a spectacular quarter-final.
Now that the I.O.C. is withdrawing medals (for doping offences) years after
they were handed out, it might also, in the pursuit of justice and sportsmanship,
consider retracting the gold and silver medals for this tournament, and hand
the gold to bronze medalists Norway, about the only country to come out of
the tournament with a better reputation than going in.
In April, before the close of registration and thus before the number of
participating countries was known, it was decided that the main tournament
would start on 3 August with the round of sixteen. If more than sixteen
countries were to enter, preliminary round matches were to be played
between 26 July and 1 August in various German cities, not including Berlin.
Eventually, as exactly sixteen teams took part, no such matches were
necessary.
At the same time, it was announced that the countries eliminated in the preliminary
round and the round of sixteen would be invited for a consolation tournament,
to be organised by the German football federation (just as the 1928 consolation
tournament had been arranged by the Dutch federation). That consolation
tournament would again be a straight knock-out tournament, with matches to
be played between 31 July and 12 August (possibly to be extended to 22 August
depending on the number of entrants), in various German cities.
However, after consultation with the participating countries it was cancelled by the
technical committee on 3 August, the day of the start of the tournament.
On the same day, a curious article appeared in various Dutch newspapers, stating that
the matches would be played according to the international Laws of the Game, but that
the half-time breaks were to last only five minutes, and that draws were to be
followed by 2x15 minutes of extra time, with the proviso
that the second period of extra time would be cancelled if a goal was scored
(presumably: if one side was in the lead after the first period of extra time).
If this "silver goal" regulation was not a canard by a Dutch journalist, it
either was overturned soon afterwards or not communicated to the referees and teams:
Italy twice scored in the first half of extra time (against Norway in the semi-final
and Austria in the final) but the second period of extra time was nevertheless played
in both cases.
Before the draw, the sixteen entrants were seeded by dividing them over two
groups, the stronger group A consisting of Egypt, Germany,
Great Britain (Amateur), Italy, Norway, Peru, Poland and Sweden and the
weaker group B comprising Austria (Amateur), China, Finland, Hungary (Amateur),
Japan, Luxembourg, Turkey and the U.S.A. (Amateur), with teams from the same
group being kept apart in the first round. (This was a novelty; previous draws
of Olympic football tournaments had been completely random, although a similar
concept seems to have been considered for
the 1916 Berlin Olympics.)
Note that Italy, although officially
entering an amateur side, considered all its matches official, whereas Austria,
Great Britain, Hungary and the United States, who also had a professional league,
did not (they were also rather more serious about sending real amateur players
than the Italians).
At the draw on 19 July, the entire tournament bracket was fixed at once.
All modern sources the author is aware of copy the attendance figures given
by the IFFHS [IFF 00 (Band 2)];
however, considering the aggregate attendance figures (which include seats reserved
for guests of honour and complimentary tickets, press and radio, and participants
and active competitors, in addition to seats sold) listed in the official report
(see the overview below; unfortunately the official report only gives aggregate numbers
by venue and not for individual matches), it is clear that those IFFHS estimates
(which add up to 87,000 at the Poststadion; 30,000 at the Mommsenstadion; 12,500 at
the Hertha-Sportplatz; and 357,000 at the Olympiastadion) are far too high for the
Mommsenstadion and way too low for the Hertha-Sportplatz am Gesundbrunnen.
Therefore, in the match details section below estimated attendances
are given based on contemporary newspaper reports, which are quite different for four
matches: the first round meeting between Norway and Turkey,
the quarter-final match between Italy and Japan, the scandalous
encounter between Austria and Peru, and the
final itself (which is unlikely to have been attended by fewer
spectators than the bronze medal match). Those estimated attendances roughly add up
to the official aggregate totals by venue.
Venue Capacity Matches Total Att. Average Paying Att. Average
Olympiastadion 100,000 4 373,553 93,388 332,274 83,069
Poststadion 55,000 ? 5 [*] 92,703 18,541 84,718 16,944
Mommsenstadion 15,000 ? 4 17,679 4,420 12,849 3,212
Hertha-Sportplatz 35,000 3 23,534 7,845 20,513 6,838
total 16 507,469 31,717 450,354 28,147
[*] does not include the quarter-final replay behind closed doors forfeited by Peru.
NB: capacity refers to capacity at the time of the tournament;
total and paying attendances based on p. 498 of the official report.
Olympic Football Tournament | Friendlies
OLYMPIC FOOTBALL TOURNAMENT
NB: Apart from the 16 countries which eventually entered, also Bulgaria and Portugal had
registered by 23 June, but withdrew before the draw four weeks later; Estonia and
India had withdrawn before the close of registration after entering initially.
First Round
3 August 1936 - Poststadion - Berlin - Att: 10,000 [estimate; IFFHS: 9,000]
Ref: Karl Weingärtner (Ger) - Lin: R. Eklöw (Swe), M. Hamus (Lux)
ITALY 1 (Frossi 58)
UNITED STATES 0
HT: 0-0
Italy: Venturini - Foni, Rava - Baldo, Piccini, Locatelli - Frossi,
Marchini, Scarabello, Biagi, Capelli (cap).
USA: Bartkus - Greinert, Zbikowski - Crockett, Pietras, Altemose - Gajda,
Nemchik, Lutkefedder, Fiedler, Ryan.
Sent off: Rava (53).
NB: when Rava was sent off, a number of Italian players physically attacked the
referee, grabbing him and covering his mouth; it took five minutes for Rava
to leave the field; it was also reported Piccini was sent off but allowed to
stay on the field after violent Italian protests; judging from reports in
contemporary Dutch newspapers (some relating the sending off of Rava, others
the Piccini story – but none of them describing both), the two incidents may
in fact have been (part of) one and the same confused and prolonged outrage;
Dutch and German newspapers reported attendances between 5,000 and 10,000.
3 August 1936 - Mommsenstadion - Berlin - Att: 1,000 [estimate; IFFHS: 8,000]
Ref: Giuseppe Scarpi (Ita) - Lin: F. Hafiz (Egy), H. Fink (Ger)
NORWAY 4 (Martinsen 35, 73, Brustad 55, Kvammen 81)
TURKEY 0
HT: 1-0
Norway: Johansen - Horn, Eriksen - Ulleberg, Juve (cap), Holmberg - Hansen,
Isaksen, Martinsen, R. Kvammen, Brustad.
Turkey: Cihat - Yaşar, Hüsnü (cap) - Mehmet Reşat, Lütfü,
İbrahim - Niyazi, Sait, Hakkı Yeten, Rebii, Fikret.
NB: the IFFHS attendance figure of 8,000 is undoubtedly far too high; Dutch and
German newspaper reports stated the attendance was "zeer matig", with "nur
wenige Zuschauer", suggesting fewer than 1,000 were at the match.
4 August 1936 - Hertha-Sportplatz - Berlin - Att: 5,000 [estimate; IFFHS: 5,000]
Ref: Willy Peters (Ger) - Lin: H. Fink (Ger), K. Weingärtner (Ger)
JAPAN 3 (Kawamoto 49, Ukon 62, Matsunaga 85)
SWEDEN 2 (Persson 24, 37)
HT: 0-2
Japan: Sano - Horie, Takeuchi (cap) - Tatsuhara, Oita, Kim - Matsunaga, Ukon,
Kawamoto, T. Kamo, Sh. Kamo.
Sweden: Bergqvist - O. Andersson, Källström - Carlund (cap), Emanuelsson,
T. Johansson - Josefsson, Persson, Jonasson, Grahn, Hallman.
NB: T. Kamo withdrew injured after 80 minutes;
left half Kim Yong-sik (known as Kin Yōshoku in Japanese) would also play
two Olympic matches for his native Korea in 1948.
4 August 1936 - Poststadion - Berlin - Att: 15,000 [estimate; IFFHS: 12,000]
Ref: Pál Hertzka (Hun) - Lin: R. Scorzoni (Ita), G. Scarpi (Ita)
GERMANY 9 (Urban 16, 53, 73, Simetsreiter 28, 48, 72, Gauchel 50, 90, Elbern 76)
LUXEMBOURG 0
HT: 2-0
Germany: Buchloh - Münzenberg (cap), Ditgens - Mehl, Goldbrunner, Bernard -
Elbern, Gauchel, Hohmann, Urban, Simetsreiter.
Luxembourg: Hoscheid - Mousel, Majerus - Kieffer (cap), Frisch, Fischer -
Stamet, Mengel, Mart, Geib, Kemp.
NB: Dutch and German newspapers reported attendances between 10,000 and 15,000.
5 August 1936 - Poststadion - Berlin - Att: 6,000 [estimate; IFFHS: 5,000]
Ref: Raffaele Scorzoni (Ita) - Lin: F. Hafiz (Egy), M. Badr el-Din (Egy)
POLAND 3 (Gad 12, 27, Wodarz 88)
HUNGARY 0
HT: 2-0
Poland: Albański - Martyna (cap), Gałecki - Kotlarczyk II, Wasiewicz, Dytko -
R. Piec, Scherfke II, Peterek, Gad, Wodarz.
Hungary: Régi - Kovács I, Berta - Lágler, Von Bohus, Király -
Scheidl, Kiss, Klauber (cap), Bérczes, Csutorás.
NB: Bérczes withdrew injured after 70 minutes;
Dutch and German newspaper reports gave the attendance as 6,000.
5 August 1936 - Mommsenstadion - Berlin - Att: 5,000 [estimate; IFFHS: 6,000]
Ref: Jimmy Jewell (Eng) - Lin: A. Barton (Eng), M. Hamus (Lux)
AUSTRIA 3 (Steinmetz 5, 66, Laudon 8)
EGYPT 1 (Kerim 85)
HT: 2-0; missed penalty: Mahmoud (Egy, 45+2)
Austria: E. Kainberger (cap) - Künz, Kargl - Krenn, Wahlmüller, Hofmeister -
Werginz, Laudon, Steinmetz, Kitzmüller, Fuchsberger.
Egypt: Mansour - El-Kaf, Halim - El-Far, Youssef, El-Kashef - Latif,
Kerim, Taha, Mokhtar (cap), Mahmoud.
NB: the official report lists A.M. El Sayed instead of (A.M.) El-Kaf and
H.A. Hassanein instead of (H.A.) El-Far;
Mokhtar withdrew injured after 65 minutes;
Dutch and German newspaper reports gave the attendance as 5,000.
6 August 1936 - Hertha-Sportplatz - Berlin - Att: 4,000 [estimate; IFFHS: 2,500]
Ref: Rinaldo Barlassina (Ita) - Lin: P. Hertzka (Hun), G. Scarpi (Ita)
PERU 7 (T. Fernández 18, 35, 47, 49, 70, Villanueva 22, 67)
FINLAND 3 (Kanerva 42pen, Gronlund 80, Larvo 82)
HT: 3-1
Peru: Valdivieso (cap) - A. Fernández, V. Lavalle - Tovar, S. Castillo, Jordán -
T. Alcalde, Magallanes, T. Fernández, Villanueva, Morales.
Finland: Salminen - Karjagin, Närvänen - Kanerva, Malmgren (cap), Lahti -
Weckström, Gustafsson, Larvo, Grönlund, Lehtonen.
NB: German newspaper reports gave the attendance as 4,000.
6 August 1936 - Mommsenstadion - Berlin - Att: 8,000 [estimate; IFFHS: 8,000]
Ref: Helmut Fink (Ger) - Lin: W. Peters (Ger), K. Weingärtner (Ger)
GREAT BRITAIN 2 (Dodds 54, Finch 65)
CHINA 0
HT: 0-0
GB: Hill - Holmes, Fulton - Gardiner, Joy (cap), Pettit - Crawford, Kyle, Dodds,
Edelston, Finch.
China: Pau Ka-ping - Lee Tin-sang, Tam Kong-pak - Chui Ah-pei, Wong Ki-leung,
Chan Chan-ho - Tso Kwai-Shing, Fung King-cheung, Lee Wai-tong,
Suen Kam-shuen, Ip Pak-wah.
NB: Dutch and German newspapers reported attendances between 9,000 and 10,000.
Quarter-Finals
7 August 1936 - Mommsenstadion - Berlin - Att: 4,000 [estimate; IFFHS: 8,000]
Ref: Otto Olsson (Swe) - Lin: F. Hafiz (Egy), M. Badr el-Din (Egy)
ITALY 8 (Frossi 13, 74, 77, Biagi 33, 55, 81, 84, Capelli 89)
JAPAN 0
NB: other sources credited the sixth goal to Marchini instead of Biagi.
HT: 2-0
Italy: Venturini - Foni, Rava - Baldo, Piccini, Locatelli - Frossi,
Marchini, Bertoni I, Biagi, Capelli (cap).
Japan: Sano - Suzuki, Takeuchi (cap) - Tatsuhara, Oita, Kim - Matsunaga, Ukon,
Kawamoto, T. Kamo, Sh. Kamo.
NB: left half Kim Yong-sik (known as Kin Yōshoku in Japanese) would also play
two Olympic matches for his native Korea in 1948;
the IFFHS attendance figure of 8,000 is certainly too high; Dutch and German
newspaper reports gave the attendance as 4,000.
7 August 1936 - Poststadion - Berlin - Att: 55,000 [estimate; IFFHS: 55,000]
Ref: Arthur Barton (Eng) - Lin: M. Hamus (Lux), J. Jewell (Eng)
NORWAY 2 (Isaksen 8, 83)
GERMANY 0
HT: 1-0
Norway: Johansen - Eriksen, Holmsen - Ulleberg, Juve (cap), Holmberg -
R. Kvammen, Frantzen, Martinsen, Isaksen, Brustad.
Germany: Jakob - Münzenberg, Ditgens - Gramlich (cap), Goldbrunner, Bernard -
Lehner, Siffling, Lenz, Urban, Simetsreiter.
NB: German newspapers gave the attendance as 35,000 or 40,000; however, given
the overall attendance for the five matches at the stadium as indicated in
the official report, 55,000, as listed on the official site of the stadium,
must be much closer to the truth.
8 August 1936 - Poststadion - Berlin - Att: 6,000 [estimate; IFFHS: 6,000]
Ref: Rudolf Eklöw (Swe) - Lin: O. Olsson (Swe), M. Hamus (Lux)
POLAND 5 (Gad 35, Wodarz 42, 49, 55, R. Piec 58)
GREAT BRITAIN 4 (Clements 25, Shearer 72, Joy 78, 81)
NB: other sources credited the last goal to Shearer instead of Joy.
HT: 2-1
Poland: Albański - Martyna (cap), Gałecki - Kotlarczyk II, Wasiewicz, Dytko -
R. Piec, Scherfke II, Peterek, Gad, Wodarz.
GB: Hill - Holmes, Fulton - Gardiner, Joy (cap), Sutcliffe - Crawford, Shearer,
Clements, Riley, Finch.
NB: German newspapers gave the attendance as 4,000.
8 August 1936 - Hertha-Sportplatz - Berlin - Att: 15,000 [estimate; IFFHS: 5,000]
Ref: Thoralf Kristiansen (Nor) - Lin: P. Hertzka (Hun), E. Pekonen (Fin)
PERU 4 (T. Alcalde 75, Villanueva 81, 119, T. Fernández 115)
AUSTRIA 2 (Werginz 23, Steinmetz 37)
NB: all contemporary reports described the first Peruvian goal as an own goal
(either by Kargl or Künz).
AET; FT: 2-2, HT: 0-2
Peru: Valdivieso (cap) - A. Fernández, V. Lavalle - Tovar, S. Castillo, Jordán -
Magallanes, J. Alcalde, T. Fernández, Villanueva, Morales.
Austria: E. Kainberger (cap) - Künz, Kargl - Krenn, Wahlmüller, Hofmeister -
Werginz, Laudon, Steinmetz, Kitzmüller, Fuchsberger.
NB: Laudon withdrew injured after 64 minutes after a brutal foul by Lavalle, returning
briefly (for 4 minutes) at the start of extra time;
Peruvian fans and officials repeatedly invaded the field; after their third goal,
one Austrian player (Krenn) was kicked by one of them; upon a protest by Austria,
the Jury of Appeal of the F.I.F.A., in a session which no Peruvian representatives
attended in spite of having been invited to do so, ordered a replay behind closed
doors on the ground that "there existed factors hampering the normal course of
events during the match"; see also below;
the IFFHS attendance figure of 5,000 is undoubtedly far off; newspaper reports
suggested attendances between 10,000 and 20,000.
Quarter-Final Replay
10 August 1936 - Poststadion - Berlin - Att: 0
Ref: Rinaldo Barlassina (Ita) - Lin: G. Scarpi (Ita), R. Scorzoni (Ita)
AUSTRIA won by walk-over.
PERU withdrew.
Semi-Finals
10 August 1936 - Olympiastadion - Berlin - Att: 95,000 [estimate; IFFHS: 95,000]
Ref: Pál Hertzka (Hun) - Lin: A. Birlem (Ger), H. Fink (Ger)
ITALY 2 (Negro 15, Frossi 96)
NORWAY 1 (Brustad 57)
AET; FT: 1-1, HT: 1-0
Italy: Venturini - Foni (cap), Rava - Baldo, Piccini, Locatelli - Frossi,
Marchini, Bertoni I, Biagi, Negro.
Norway: Johansen - Eriksen, Holmsen - Ulleberg, Juve (cap), Holmberg -
Frantzen, R. Kvammen, Martinsen, Isaksen, Brustad.
NB: an Austrian report gave the attendance as 90,000.
11 August 1936 - Olympiastadion - Berlin - Att: 82,000 [estimate; IFFHS: 82,000]
Ref: Arthur Barton (Eng) - Lin: O. Olsson (Swe), J. Jewell (Eng)
AUSTRIA 3 (K. Kainberger 17, Werginz 54, Laudon 88)
POLAND 1 (Gad 76)
NB: other reports credit the last goal to Mandl.
HT: 1-0
Austria: E. Kainberger (cap) - Künz, Kargl - Krenn, Wahlmüller, Hofmeister -
Werginz, Laudon, Mandl, K. Kainberger, Fuchsberger.
Poland: Albański - Martyna (cap), Gałecki - Kotlarczyk II, Wasiewicz, Dytko -
R. Piec, Musielak, Peterek, Gad, Wodarz.
Bronze Medal Game
13 August 1936 - Olympiastadion - Berlin - Att: 95,000 [estimate; IFFHS: 95,000]
Ref: Alfred Birlem (Ger) - Lin: W. Peters (Ger), R. Eklöw (Swe)
NORWAY 3 (Brustad 15, 23, 84)
POLAND 2 (Wodarz 3, Peterek 25)
HT: 2-2
Norway: Johansen - Eriksen, Holmsen - Ulleberg, Juve (cap), Holmberg -
Monsen, R. Kvammen, Martinsen, Frantzen, Brustad.
Poland: Albański (cap) - Szczepaniak, Gałecki - Góra, Cebulak, Dytko -
Kisieliński II, Matyas II, Peterek, Gad, Wodarz.
Final
15 August 1936 - Olympiastadion - Berlin - Att: 100,000 [estimate; IFFHS: 85,000]
Ref: Peco Bauwens (Ger) - Lin: O. Olsson (Swe), P. Hertzka (Hun)
ITALY 2 (Frossi 68, 92)
AUSTRIA 1 (Fuchsberger 79)
NB: most modern sources credit the Austrian goal to K. Kainberger, but contemporary
Austrian newspapers listed Fuchsberger, with Kainberger providing the assist,
which the latter confirmed in an interview in 1996 and can apparently be seen
on a video.
AET; FT: 1-1, HT: 0-0
Italy: Venturini - Foni (cap), Rava - Baldo, Piccini, Locatelli - Frossi,
Marchini, Bertoni I, Biagi, Gabriotti.
Austria: E. Kainberger (cap) - Künz, Kargl - Krenn, Wahlmüller, Hofmeister -
Werginz, Laudon, Steinmetz, K. Kainberger, Fuchsberger.
NB: Dutch and German newspaper reports gave the attendance as 100,000 (which, if the
totals for the semi-finals and the bronze medal match are correct, would fit the
aggregate total in the official report); an Austrian report suggested a crowd of
120,000 (way over the official capacity of the stadium).
FRIENDLIES
A number of teams played friendlies against regional selections after having been
eliminated from the Olympic tournament; the following list is under completion.
9 August 1936 - Wackerstadion, Halle - Att: 6,000
GAU MITTE 2 (Paul 31, Schipphorst ~40)
EGYPT 2 (Latif 18, Taha 60)
HT: 2-1
9 August 1936 - Köln
MITTELRHEIN 0
USA 1
HT: 0-0
9 August 1936 - Saarlautern (temporary name of Saarlouis)
SAARPFALZ 1
LUXEMBOURG 3
HT: 0-1
12 August 1936 - Essen - Att: 12,000
MITTELRHEIN 6
JAPAN 2
HT: 2-1
12 August 1936 - Hannover
NIEDERSACHSEN 4
USA 1
HT: 3-0
NB: see also the file on the Chinese Olympic team 1936.
Rk Country P W T L F A Pts GAvg
1 ITALY 4 4 0 0 13- 2 8 6.50
2 Austria 3 2 0 1 7- 4 4 1.75
3 Norway 4 3 0 1 10- 4 6 2.50
4 Poland 4 2 0 2 11-10 4 1.10
5 Peru 1 1 0 0 7- 3 2 2.33
Germany 2 1 0 1 9- 2 2 4.50
Great Britain 2 1 0 1 6- 5 2 1.20
Japan 2 1 0 1 3-10 2 0.30
9 Sweden 1 0 0 1 2- 3 0 0.67
Finland 1 0 0 1 3- 7 0 0.43
Egypt 1 0 0 1 1- 3 0 0.33
USA 1 0 0 1 0- 1 0 0.00
China 1 0 0 1 0- 2 0 0.00
Hungary 1 0 0 1 0- 3 0 0.00
Turkey 1 0 0 1 0- 4 0 0.00
Luxembourg 1 0 0 1 0- 9 0 0.00
NB: records do not include the annulled quarter-final between Austria and Peru nor the
Austrian win by forfeit in the replay;
after the medalists, teams are only ranked by the round in which they were eliminated.
7 Frossi (Ita) [scored in all four matches of Italy]
5 Brustad (Nor)
T. Fernández (Per) [without goal in annulled match against Austria]
Wodarz (Pol)
4 Biagi (Ita)
Gad (Pol)
3 Simetsreiter (Ger)
Urban (Ger)
NB: if one includes the goals of the annulled match between Austria and Peru, two
more players scored at least 3 goals:
4 Villanueva (Per) [includes 2 goals in annulled match against Austria]
3 Steinmetz (Aut) [includes 1 goal in annulled match against Peru]
The men in black at this tournament had a most ungrateful task, and
the Italian antics on the opening day (physically assaulting
German referee Weingärtner when Rava received his marching orders) did not help.
Perhaps influenced by that, no other
players were sent off during the competition, although such would have been
justified on more than one occasion. (In fact, Weingärtner would
have been well within his rights to send off several Italian players for
that incident alone, and newspaper descriptions of Lavalle's foul eliminating
Laudon suggest it certainly merited expulsion as well.)
However, the main talking point of the tournament did not concern the referees
but the decision of the F.I.F.A. Jury of Appeal to order a replay of the battle
between Austria and Peru. This is usually considered
scandalous and often assumed to have been influenced by Nazi pressure on the Jury,
but that judgment has to be qualified. The Austrians protested on two main
grounds, the inadequacy of the refereeing and the inadequacy of the venue
(its Unzulänglichkeit, not its size, as sometimes claimed), resulting
in spectators entering the field of play repeatedly and eventually injuring an
Austrian player (Krenn). The first ground was of course thrown out, but the second
led to prolonged discussions after the referee and linesmen had been heard.
(The jury meeting started on Sunday 9 August, the day after the match, and was
adjourned at one o'clock in the night to be resumed on the morning of 10 August;
the Peruvians were invited both for the original session and again for
the resumption the next day but failed to attend either meeting.) The
final decision (to replay the match on 10 August at five in the afternoon,
behind closed doors) was announced at noon.
Much has been made of the
composition (five Europeans) of the Jury, but looking at the individual
members, only one (Giovanni Mauro of Italy, known for his laissez-faire
style of refereeing at another Olympic football battle, that between Spain and
Sweden in 1920) can possibly be considered
to have been politically biased towards Austria. Three of the other members
(Rodolphe Seeldrayers of Belgium, Rudolf Pelikán of Czechoslovakia, and
Jules Rimet of France) had no reason
whatsoever to feel particularly lenient towards either Germany or Austria
(after all, they all had lived through the Great War) and the fifth was
Anton Johanson of Sweden.
If Rimet and Seeldrayers were at all biased against Peru, this may
have had more to do with Peru having already shown the darker side of their
football at the first World Cup six years before, when ten minutes into
their first ever World Cup match, against Romania, Luis de Souza Ferreira
had broken Adalbert Steiner's leg, reducing the Tricolorii to ten
men (as substitutions were not allowed), before, still in the first half,
Alberto Denegri (who was Peru's trainer at the 1936 Olympics) rudely fouled
Constantin Stanciu, leaving him hobbling for the rest of the game. Neither
culprit was sent off by the Chilean referee (in the second half, De Souza
even scored Peru's only goal before being illegally substituted by Lizardo
Rodríguez Nue ten minutes before the final whistle, thus emulating Italy's
cheating at the 1912 Olympics),
but Peru nevertheless managed to obtain the doubtful distinction of being
the first country to have a player prematurely shown the showers at a
World Cup match after more misbehaviour by captain Plácido Galindo early
in the second half. Both Belgium and France had also been present at that
World Cup (not in the least because of Rimet being president and
Seeldrayers vice-president of F.I.F.A. at the time), played for a trophy
later (in 1946) named after Rimet, and memories may have lingered.
Finally, it must also be kept in mind that the kick against
Krenn was not an isolated incident; twice during the match Peco Bauwens,
president of the organising committee, had intervened in a futile attempt
to calm down both contestants and spectators. Ordering a replay behind
closed doors was doubtlessly controversial, but certainly not
the most scandalous jury ruling at the 1936 Olympics (that was the
decision to fine German (amateur!) cyclist Merkens for an illegal manoeuvre
in the first leg of the sprint final but homologate his ill-gotten win).
Full Name Country DoB DoD Matches Fin SF Arthur Willoughby Barton England 14- 9-1899 24- 8-1976 2 1 Pál Vitéz Hertzka Hungary 6- 1-1898 29-12-1978 2 1 Peter Joseph "Peco" Bauwens Germany 24-12-1886 17-11-1963 1 1 Rinaldo Barlassina Italy 2- 5-1898 23-12-1946 1 [*] August Robert Alfred Birlem Germany 10- 1-1888 13- 4-1956 1 Rudolf Emanuel Eklöw Sweden 15- 1-1904 29- 9-1986 1 Helmut Fink Germany 1895 1 Arthur James "Jimmy" Jewell England 2- 1-1898 21-10-1952 1 Thoralf Johannes Kristiansen Norway 22- 4-1900 2- 4-1954 1 Otto Rudolf Olsson Sweden 29- 9-1890 30- 7-1944 1 Wilhelm "Willy" Hans Chr. Carl Peters Germany 18- 3-1901 16- 2-1941 1 Giuseppe Scarpi Italy 25-12-1900 13-10-1952 1 Raffaele Augusto Giuseppe Scorzoni Italy 28- 4-1902 8- 7-1975 1 Karl Weingärtner Germany 11-1895 1971 1 [*] does not include the quarter-final replay forfeited by Peru.
Sources included: [IFF 00 (Band 2)], [Kol 09], Olympic Official Reports Collection, Linguasport (archived by the Wayback Machine), wikipedia, Austria Soccer, eu-football.info, various contemporary Austrian newspapers (available through ANNO), various contemporary German newspapers, various contemporary Belgian newspapers (available through Belgica Press), various contemporary Dutch newspapers (available through Delpher).
Thanks to Cris Freddi and Eduardo Mendoza for additions and corrections and to Macario Reyes for an earlier version of this file.
Prepared and maintained by Karel Stokkermans for the Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation
Author: Karel Stokkermans
(karel.rsssf@gmail.com)
Last updated: 26 Sep 2024
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