On 12/05/1925 the Club Nacional de Football arrived in Prague to face one of the Continents strongest clubs, AC Sparta. The Uruguayan club brought some stars of the Olympic Games 1924, including José Leandro Andrade who was already seen as the best player of that tournament.


Jósé Leandro Andrade

Andrade, the most popular player in the Paris Olympics and the best half-back of the Uruguayan team, enjoyed the sympathy of the audience everywhere on the continent. Even in Prague, he immediately became the center of the audience's attention. Andrade is aware of his popularity and therefore provides the audience with plenty of opportunity to express sympathy. On arrival he did not drive in the car but went for a free walk to the hotel. Even yesterday during the match on the Slavia pitch, he was the center of the audience's attention, especially the youngsters that accompanied him on the way from the pitch to the hotel.

SPARTA 1:0 NACIONAL

Scheduled for 18:15 and commanded by the referee František Cejnar, the match was a promise to be among the most spetacular ones. Club Nacional were speculated to be one of the best teams in the world, if not the best of all. The Uruguayans, led by captain Zibechi and Andrade, were carrying the Czechoslovakian flag, followed by other players with Uruguayan flags. They stopped in front of the grandstand and received lots of applauses from the Czechs.

The teams

Athletic Club Sparta

Hochmann

Hojer           Perner

Kolenatý              Káďa(c)               Červený

Rektorys           Poláček          Schaffer             Hajný            Šimonek

------------------------------------------------------------

Romano                Castro               Andrade             Scarone            Urdinaran

Bucetta                 Zibechi(c)               Carreras

Fiorentino           Arispe

Clavijo

Club Nacional de Football

Over 30.000 people welcomed the South American team to a match against Sparta. The team made a very positive impression in the first ten minutes, as they showed a lot of good ball technique, dribbling and tricks. However, their tactics could not beat Sparta's defense, and after ten minutes of fighting the scorching heat of the first minutes, Sparta took control of the match.

Despite the well-known energetic characterisct which the Uruguayans had, it was the Czech players who showed a constant and incredible focused game, especially their defensive system. However, due to the long trip and the lack of rest, the Uruguayan performance decreased, and, thus, they could not balance, nor take any advantage against the Czechs. Their most popular player, José Leandro Andraded, was improvised as their team's centre-forward. Nevertheless, he still managed to be the most praised opponent.

The second half was a reflection of what was the first one: Sparta dominating the whole pitch. In the first 10 minutes of the second half, due to the Czech's grandeur, Sparta found te only goal of the match which was scored by Ferdinand Hajný. 

It seemed that the Uruguayn team was already out of fuel. In the 30th minute, the veteran Zibechi swapped positions with Carreras and was replaced by Andrade, who was back to his natural field position.

Romano                Castro               Zibechi             Scarone            Urdinaran

Bucetta                Carreras               Andrade

Fiorentino           Arispe

Clavijo

However, it did not seem to improve the away team. Sparta kept their dominance and could have scored more goals. In the 41th minute of the second half, František Cejnar stopped the match due to darkness. The audience were going home and proud of Sparta's victory - Czechoslovakia's football victory. The Uruguayans declared that Sparta was a better team; Thus, according to them, their win was very well deserved. However, the Uruguayan wanted a rematch against Sparta. They claimed that it could be in Prague or Paris.

AC Sparta

The defensive system.

Sparta's defense was their main weapon against strong attacks. This time, in fact, it did not fail against the olympic players. Héctor Scarone had some great moments, but had a brilliant Jaroslav Cervený against him. Although Club Nacional had a strong inside trio combination, Káďa managed to get on top. František Kolenatý's performance was not on the same level of his half-back colleagues.

⇡ Červený              Káďa               Kolenatý

A not reached result.

Sparta could have ended the match with at least three or four more goals. However, their shots did not shake the net due to Clavijo's great moments. Regarding the right side – which was extremely better than the left one – they had great offensive plays led by Alfréd Schaffer. Rektorys and Poláček were a great combination. Schaffer's mastery was shown again in this match. 

Club Nacional

An improvised team.

The attack had no emphasis, and several times the play had to be rebuilt. Initially, it seemed that he would be able to break Sparta's defense, but during the game they did not get to the point at all, or perhaps to say, fell off.