IV.
— Dezső Schön | 26/07/1930, Milan —

As I come to the end of my article series, I must also touch on the Italian selection system, partly to dispel some misconceptions in the Hungarian sporting community, and partly to illustrate the advantages of the Italian system over the Hungarian one.

POZZO IS NOT A PAID NATIONAL TEAM CAPTAIN

I have to describe as criminal frivolity the statement made by a Hungarian leader, a member of the selection committee, before the Hungarian-Italian match, in which he said of Italian national captain Pozzo that, well, it is easy, Pozzo is a paid man, he only lives off his salary as national captain.

Well, that is simply not true. Pozzo, who speaks four languages perfectly well, is an official in a world-famous tyre factory in Milan and lives on his handsome salary here, not on the job of federal captain, which is also an honorary position in Italy. To make matters worse, Pozzo's family lives in Turin and Pozzo himself travels home from Milan every Saturday evening to be back in his office on Monday morning. Pozzo therefore never sees a match other than the Turin match all year round. Pozzo assembles the team without seeing many of the national team players.

Because there is no need to do so. The names of the national team players are in the air and Pozzo, as a good captain, is not interested in the momentary form of the players, which can sometimes be bad even for the most reliable players. Even if he missed a single match, he could still put the team together.

Italy is in the pleasant position, however, of having a national team match of serious national interest. Before a national team match, all club or personal interests must take a back seat. And already?

The importance of the match will determine whether one, two or three national team training sessions will be held by Pozzo, who, as it is a matter of national interest, will of course be given his company's leave of absence.

This year Italy has set its entire football programme on winning the International Cup. Not only the first team but also the second team were constantly employed, and Pozzo was in charge of the first team one week and the second the next.

For each of these training sessions he invited 15 players, no more than that, and the opponents were some light local team. The training sessions for the national team were also a propaganda exercise. In every town, the training match of the national team was made an event. On the day of the match, shops were closed and factories stopped working so that all citizens could enjoy and celebrate the azzurri's game.

SO HOW DID THE ITALIAN TEAM EMERGE AS THE CUP WINNERS?

The formation of this year's successful Italian national team is very interesting. Pozzo, like all new national team captains, had his own idea when he was chosen. He wanted to build the forward line of the national team from current and former Alessandria players (Baloncieri was also an Alessandria player), and naturally Orsi's place was up for grabs from the start. In the first training sessions, this was indeed the forward line.

But what does God do? While Pozzo experimented with the Alessandria forward line, Napoli beat Modena 5-0 at home. It was a huge sensation. Pozzo had suddenly sutbadobed the Alessandrians, and Baloncieri had been joined by Sallustro and Mihalic, Napoli's centre-forward and inside left. It was this forward line that played against Portugal in Milan, and Orsi's sensational play gave them a 6-1 win. But despite the big win, no one really thought this was the right line-up.

Pozzo was lucky, as he has been so many times before. Mihalic fell ill and Pozzo took the opportunity to leave out Sallustro and replace him with the second-string centre-forward Meazza.

Needless to say the result.

ITALIAN EXAMPLES, HUNGARIAN LESSONS

As I have explained in my articles, everyone can draw comparisons between the great Hungarian football and the great Italian football of the future. As someone who has been watching Hungarian football with a concerned eye from here on Italian soil, I myself have the courage to draw some lessons from the Italian example. What should we adopt from the Italians and what should we do in the wake of the tried and tested Italian example?

The first thing would be to abolish taxes, but let us not chase mirages. That is why I am not demanding that sport be considered a national interest in Hungary, as it is here, nor am I demanding that everyone, starting with the Prime Minister, to change their tickets and abolish freeloading. I am only expressing realistic wishes. 


1. the leaders of Hungarian sport - Karafiáth and Dréhr, for example - should immediately remove from their environment those who they are convinced have been misinformed, even once. Let the way of truth be open to the highest personalities.

2. The committee in charge of the affairs of each league and division should be composed of individuals who are knowledgeable in the affairs of their respective groups. Let the word of the referee and the federal inspector decide and that it should not happen that Braun slaps Fischer, the VAC goalkeeper, in front of 10,000 people and the committee acquits him because Fischer did not remember the slap on the wrist at the time of the hearing. And let it not happen that Turay and Fogl II.'s wrestling match is judged by the committee on the basis of the denials of the two players.

3. The ones without a field should be disbanded. Then there will be plenty of pitches.

4. All amateur teams must have a second team and a youth team. Those who cannot afford it should disband. I know that they will raise the money and play, but only the vital ones and they will then train new talent in droves.

5. Each team should hire a coach and a teacher, don't spare the money, because what you lose on the field, you get back on the toll. Avoid coaches who are not ideal, just as the former national team captain is not ideal.