This article is part of some columns regarding the Mitropa Cup 1933 events according to Prof. Willy Schmieger. This collection of columns presents some of Schmieger's experiences and insights from the tournament. Click here to view all the columns written by Schmieger regarding the topic.

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AUSTRIA'S BRAVURA PERFORMANCE
— Prof. Willy Schmieger | 03/07/1933 —

It really cannot be said that Austria has been a popular team in the large football community so far. It has always been regarded as an ensemble of stars. The mass of football lovers were indeed pleased when the team showed one of the excellent games it is capable of, but were not overly sad when it was the turn of one of the not too rare failures. The crowd — I am always talking about the large crowd here and not the few immediate club fanatics — never quite went along with the team. 

I can't remember a time when an Austria victory caused such boundless jubilation as this time the great success against the Slavia.

Many years ago, the Amateure, today's F.K. Austria, once won 5:3 against Sparta at the Hohe Warte. At that time there was a similar enthusiasm, even if it did not come close to that of this time, but this was only recognition for the truly classic performances offered at that time by Schaffer, Konrád II., Cutti, Wieser and others. It lacked that undertone of cordiality that could be felt this time. The Sunday before yesterday was one of those days when the audience, without exception, feels united with the representative of the city and the country.

F.K. Austria was Austria, it played itself into the hearts of the thousands.

And therein lies an even greater significance of the game for Austria than advancing to the second round of the Cup of Central Europe. It is now in their hands to maintain this so suddenly acquired popularity and the favour of the masses. It will not be very difficult for them to do so, if they do some things they have not done before and refrains from doing some things they have done before. That sounds very dark, but Pepi Blum will know what it means. He has the right feeling, and besides, after a very short period of effectiveness, he has already achieved great success for himself. But on Sunday evening, despite all his joy, he may have been a little saddened by the failure of his old club Vienna in Milan. A love as old as that which unites good Pepi with the blue and yellow colours does not rust in a few weeks.

Basically, one was not particularly surprised by Vienna's defeat, even if the goal difference had become a bit large. Anyone who has ever been a football player knows what influence a sudden change of climate has on performance. First Vienna came from the constantly cool Vienna to a tropically hot Milan, to a temperature to which the Italians were naturally much more accustomed. Add to this the support of the locals by the public, a better performance by the Italians, who had not been at all outstanding in Vienna, an almost complete failure by the Viennese forwards, and disaster struck. Vienna once again had to bury their hopes in the Central European Cup and wait for next year, when it would be a rather convoluted affair to gain the right to take part in the big competition.

So, Vienna are no longer to be reckoned with and we are left with Austria as our only hope. They have to play Juventus from Turin in the second round.

There is no doubt that the two strongest teams of the whole competition will meet here.

Neither Prague's Sparta nor Milan's Ambrosiana are capable of the kind of performance that Austria and Juventus offer on good days. The whole of Italy swears by Juventus' final victory, and Austria has thus been given an opponent that is truly worth beating. The two matches are to take place, as the Italians have requested, in the month of July. The Italians have to play in Vienna first, probably on 16 July. One week later, the return match is to take place in Turin. Well, servus, it's going to be a whirlwind there! For now, let's keep our fingers crossed for the first match, the one in Vienna!

Austria had had enough to worry about before the match, because Nausch was not quite well, and it was not until Friday that it was certain that he would be fit to play.

Without him it would probably have gone really wrong. When two teams of fairly equal strength play each other, the absence of a single player here or there can really make the difference. Nausch worked with the greatest bravura, which did not diminish even when he had been taken down in a rather painful way by a collision with an opponent.

Mock was healthy this time, so his performance could not be compared with that of Prague.

He kept his already very famous opponent Čambal safe and still had enough air in him to support his own attack in the most effective way. A further discussion of the Austrian team would result in a paean to every single player, starting with Sindelar, who scored the third and decisive goal in his own way, which no other player in the football world will easily imitate. And the second goal, which preceded the third, scored by Sindelar, was scored by Viertl, who is not always in the highest favour in the Domcafé either. They will now have reconciled with him.

I'll come back to Najemnik, whom I've already highlighted, with a few words. The man is becoming something. He was particularly noticeable this time, precisely because he plays so inconspicuously and without any pose.

Najemnik is one of the most useful players in his team today, a fully-fledged half-back who will also find himself in the national team in the not too distant future. The position of a right half-back is not quite filled there.

With Stroh and Spechtl at the inside position of the attacking line, things went much better than in Prague. One could ask why these two players were not used in Prague, but that would be doing an injustice to Austria's team management. At that time, both players were not in form. The rest was of use to them and so this time they were back at their posts. And besides, isn't it much nicer that Slavia came with a lead and were beaten here? Would one have been just as happy about Austria's victory if they had already won in Prague and if their players had now, in Vienna, in the full feeling of certain victory, brought out their old and seen to excess barren "Scheiberlepiel"? No, no, it was better the way it was.

Slavia said that they had not played as badly as this time for a long time.

That is certainly an exaggeration. You have to consider that this time the Prague team met an opponent who was in top form, and that every team plays as well as the opponent lets them play. The Slavians may also have been literally crushed by the elementary enthusiasm with which the audience of many thousands unanimously and unitedly backed Austria, and a serious reproach can probably not hit the Slavia players. Plánička and Ženíšek offered the expected heroic resistance, but the work of the defence, in which Fiala also excelled, was not enough. The half-back line was inferior to the opponent's and the attack? Certainly, the players played well and sacrificially, but they were only craftsmen and on the other side were artists. On the whole, however, Slavia, as always, made a good and sporting impression.

Without a doubt, they still enjoy the greatest sympathy of all Czech teams in Vienna.

The referee Barlassina: He often aroused the displeasure of the spectators and he probably hasn't heard so many whistles directed at him for a long time. And I think he was mostly in the right objectively and that the audience was rather annoyed by the somewhat very self-confident way in which he makes and announces his decisions. These sweeping gestures are not to our taste and with a little restraint Barlassina would have saved himself a lot of unpleasantness without having to change a single one of his decisions.