THE BEST FOOTBALL AWARDED
— Lucien Gamblin | 20/06/1938 —

The World Cup held by Italy will remain in its possession for another four years following the victory that its team won yesterday in Colombes over the national team of Hungary.

A very deserved victory, let us say it straight away, the regularity of which cannot be disputed, and the very mark of which is absolutely fair and perfectly represents the physiognomy of the game.

It is the team which provided the best football, the one which most frequently exhibited its mastery and which raised its game to the level closest to perfection which triumphed, in the course of a match, which was always interesting, and often remarkable by the overall performance of the teams, by the finesse and speed of the actions of the Italian players and the powerful reactions of the Hungarian footballers, who for a moment seemed overwhelmed and tired, but who knew how to pull themselves together and give back the game looked like a real match, even though they gave the impression of accepting defeat.

We will long remember in Paris the magnificent openings of Meazza and Ferrari, keystones of their team, who despite the handicap of age, in such a fast match, were tireless suppliers of their young comrades Biavati, Colaussi and Piola, the phenomenal Piola, who only yesterday showed himself in the most beautiful way.

By series of passes on the ground, precise, clean and fast, Meazza and Ferrari moved up the field passing through the Hungarian lines and the ball, with an exact and sharp kick of the boot, went towards Biavati, a fine winger at pleasant style, or towards Colaussi extremely enthusiastic whose shot is excellent. Piola's long legs had led him to the same line as his wingers and the shot was fired as soon as the retreating center arrived at him, and we know Piola's shot.

But, one might say, what were the Magyar players doing?

Hungarian footballers were floating. Slower than their opponents, both in running with the ball and in getting rid of it, they also made the serious mistake of not marking their opponents. This is the reason why they were most often dominated, and the cause of the numerous escapes by the Italian wingers who constantly had free rein. Meazza and Ferrari had noticed the Hungarians' lack of marking from the first minutes of the game, and they exploited the situation artfully.

We do not understand why old hands like Lázár, Szalay, Polgár and Bíró have not been able to remedy the serious defect that we have just exposed.

SÁROSI: DISAPPOINTMENT. PIOLA: LONG SATISFACTION.

The famous Hungarian centre-forward Sárosi greatly disappointed yesterday in Colombes. He was extremely timid and so obviously slow in execution that even in the most favorable situations for him, he was held back by an Andreolo who was always a devil, but who practiced marking the adversary with an exceptional decision, a supple Rava, skillful and remarkable in interception, a diligent and wise Foni, which reduced to nothing the undertakings of the one considered to be one of the best footballers on the continent.

Is Sárosi no longer Sárosi? We are not far from thinking so, because throughout the tournament, he only justified his reputation by acts of finesse which were not frequent, and at no time against Sweden and Italy he did not give the impression of still being the leader of the attack that we liked to see evolve.

Italian centre-forward Piola, on the contrary, continues to progress by leaps and bounds. Constantly in action, fast, powerful, he never hesitates to take his chance, not only to shoot on goal, but to seize the ball, and yesterday, in Colombes, his boundless activity was a continual source of worry for the heavy Hungarian defenders whose heavy play was a stark contrast to Piola's supple manner, his ability to start quickly and his ease of shooting on goal from all positions.

But why should Piola allow himself to imitate some of his partners in the practice of incorrect play? Yesterday he was seen hitting two Hungarian players, then faking a injury. A player like him should not act like this. Let him take as an example his two elders, Meazza and Ferrari, who were remarkably correct against Hungary.

HUNGARY HAS ALREADY PLAYED BETTER.

We found only very rarely the Hungarian team which had won the admiration of the English in London. Some of their players, Polgár, Szalay, Vincze, and even Zsengellér were weak, ill-inspired, hesitant, and desperately slow. Lázár himself disappointed. This classy footballer made numerous errors of judgment and his serve was imprecise. Bíró lacked mobility and Szűcs, who faced an overwhelming task, had great difficulty imposing his presence. On the other hand, Szabó, in the Hungarian gate, played a good match, and Titkós was undoubtedly the best forward of his team. It would have been even more brilliant if it had had the services of a quality interior. Sas was good, but also poorly served.

The Hungarian team often played better than yesterday in Colombes, and it was painful, at the start of the second half, to see these eleven guys with obvious possibilities, literally "swimming" in the middle of the blue jerseys of the squadra which seemed to flutter around them, and rendered them powerless in the face of daring counterattacks, feints executed without slowing down their course and giving a lesson whose leitmotif was to take the ball from one goal to another by playing with all the difficulties.

But fortunately the Magyars recovered and the match started again.

IT’S IN THE HALF-LINE WHICH THE ITALIANS ARE CURRENTLY THE LEAST BRILLIANT.

We have said all the good things we think of the Italian forwards, let us add to them the three defenders Olivieri, Rava and Foni who follow in the footsteps of the famous trio Combi, Rosetta, Caligaris. But the intermediate line of the transalpine eleven did not seem to us to be of the same class as the other parts of the team.

Certainly Andreolo performed well to the wing half-backs, Locatelli and Serantoni were very active and sustained the shock in defense without weakening from the start to the end of the match. But in attack they were simply average and the game of the Italian team would not have reached the level to which it rose yesterday, if Meazza and Ferrari had not provided the remarkable match they played while holding frequently the role of their halfbacks, when it came to building offensives.

FINALLY A HIGH-CLASS REFEREE.

Mr. Capdeville led the World Cup final as a high-class referee and yesterday declared himself the best of the referees who officiated during the tournament.

In good physical condition, authoritarian and clear-sighted, he knew how to repress all mistakes by precisely observing the rule of advantage, and the bad guys did not have a good time with him.

The linesmen provided him with effective assistance through the clarity of their decisions. Let us not be afraid to congratulate MM. Capdeville, Wutrich and Krist, we don't often have the opportunity to highlight the refereeing of a match.