FIFA World Cpo 2018: When Szabo ‘saved’ Italian lives

After they went down 2-4 in the final against

Italy

, Hungarian goalkeeper

Antal Szabo

said that “I may have let in four goals, but at least I saved their lives”. Before the final a rumour was doing the rounds that Italy, had received telegrams from

Benito Mussolini

which read, “Vincere o morire!” (Win or die!). ‘Win or die’, in fact, was a very common slogan during fascist Mussolini regime, meaning ‘Do your best to get victory’.


After successfully using sporting heroes in their propaganda machinery during the 1934 World Cup and 1936 Summer Olympics, the fascist rulers would never have imagined punishing their stars for a loss so an act like the one suggested by Szabo seemed unreal. That said, there were chaos everywhere in 1938 including sporting activities.

The threat of another world war was looming and the problems of the 1938 World Cup began with the hosting rights. The decision by

Fifa

to hold the event in France saw the South American countries Uruguay and Argentina boycott the tournament. Spain too had to stay out of WC due to Spanish civil war. Austria’s famous ‘’Wunderteam” which had registered a series of convincing wins before the tournament suffered a huge blow as the country had been conquered by Adolf Hitler in the “Anschluss”. Now a defunct country, Austrian players were recruited into the German side and four among them played against Switzerland in Germany’s opening match of the tournament.

Italy, wearing a provocative all-black ‘fascist’ strip in the tournament, defeated Brazil 2-1 in the semis while

Hungary

thrashed Sweden 5-1 in the other last-four clash to book their final showdown with the Italians.

The final, which took place at the Stade Olympique de Colombes in Paris, saw Italy and Hungary fighting neck-and-neck in the initial moments of the match but playing under their famous coach Vittorio Pozzo, the Italians ended the first half at 3-1. The final score was 4-2 and that allowed Italy to become the first team to successfully defend the title. Due to World War II, the World Cup would not be held for the next 12 years until 1950, thus making Italy the reigning world champions for 16 years, from 1934 to 1950.