THE FIRST ITALIAN VICTORY AT THE OLYMPICS
— Vittorio Pozzo | 26/05/1924 —

The Italian flag rose to the top yesterday for the first time since the flag was designed to signal the winners in the stadium prepared for the Olympics in Colombes. It took place amidst a riot of applause, amidst the frenetic joy and irresistible emotion of the thousands of Italians present. The tricolor flag paid homage to a handful of footballers who were in every respect worthy of the honor.

The match played at the Stade de Colombes had the rare merit of immediately overshadowing every other match established on the football calendar for the same day.

THE IRRESISTIBLE MATCH.

Footballers of the caliber of the Czech-Slovaks played on other grounds, several other nations that occupy a prominent place in the speeches of international sports played, but all of Europe is proud of its experts when it comes to football, all of whom deal with sports in Paris, they had abandoned the other events and decided to gather en masse for the Spain-Italy match, the match of temperament as the match with irresistible appeal was defined.

Just to confirm the extent to which our meeting in Paris was considered the highlight of the football Olympics, we will say that outstanding personalities of the International Football Federation such as the president of F.I.F.A. and of the French Federation, Mr. Rimet, Hugo Meisl, the dictator of Austrian football, Johanson, the secretary of the Swedish Federation, the new Dutch referee, several full Olympic teams, were on site. Káďa, the famous centre-half of Czechoslovakia today as a reserve, in his team, had preferred to abandon the colors of his nation to follow the clash of the two fiery Latin countries. Thirty thousand people were thus crowded into the popular seats of the new Stadium which, it must be said in parentheses, represents a small masterpiece of organization and sporting equipment.

With perfect punctuality the two teams appear on the pitch under the orders of the French referee Slawick, the same one who was the referee two years ago in Milan in the match between Italy and Switzerland. We will immediately say that the refereeing fully satisfied the needs of a match of which the previous Italian-Spanish match had marked the "type". The two linesmen are also two official referees supplied by France.

The first to enter the field was the Spanish team greeted by their national anthem. The Spaniards, in grenade jersey, positioned themselves in the following formation: Zamora; Vallana and Pasarín; Gamborena, Larraza and Peña; Piera, Samitier, Monjardín, Carmelo and Aguirrezabala.

A minute later the Italians, in blue costumes, made their expirations, greeted with hearty applause and the sound of the Marcia Beule. They arranged themselves in the following formation: De Prà; Rosetta and Caligaris; Barbieri, Burlando and Alberti; Conti, Baloncieri, Della Valle, Magnozzi and Levratto.

AN ACT OF VIOLENCE AGAINST DE PRÀ.

The match began without delay. The kick-off was given by the Spaniards who attacked immediately, the first five minutes saw the game stopped at half the pitch, without the two defenses being called upon to do a demanding job. After these five minutes, however, a period of Spanish dominance began to take shape, due to which De Prà and Caligaris and Rosetta had to do their best to defend the Italian fortress from capitulation. It was the prodigious speed of our opponents, the momentum, the enthusiasm that we had the opportunity to experience in Milan, a few weeks ago, that embarrassed our defense.

At this point the game took on a character of fantastic speed. The Italian attack began to bring a lively advance, also seriously endangering Zamora's goal. The whole team immediately felt effective relief from the good work of its attackers and Magnozzi was now the first to call the famous Zamora to work.

EXPULSION OF THE OPPOSING CENTRE-HALF.

The match started again at around 16:40 and resumed this time with the clear Italian supremacy. As soon as the game began, Baloncieri had and missed an opportunity to score, very similar to the one he had already had in Milan against the same opponents. In fact, one meter from the edge of the opponent's goal, he stumbled and fell between Zamora or Pasarín, without being able to divert a ball into the net that seemed ready to tear the cry of victory from the Italians' throats. The counter-offensives carried out by the Spanish immediately demonstrated, in this second half, that they were far from possessing the efficiency and speed developed at the beginning of the game. Our defense was like a closed surface, almost a wall that blocked grenade attacks.

Conti, meanwhile, on the Italian right wing, had completely recovered and beat the half-back Peña with ease, giving Della Valle the opportunity to fire a formidable shot that hit an opponent right in the stomach. Shortly afterwards Alberti called Zamora into action with a shot that was not strong, but very precise, high up in the left corner. After 25 minutes of play a second minor accident occurred. Della Valle bumped into in a melee, fell sedately to the ground. The Spanish centre-half hit him without reason, violently, with a kick in the face. The referee, who was just a few steps away, did nothing but send off the Spaniard without delay, despite the fact that the latter, to avoid the deserved punishment, pretended to be injured himself. After telling us again, the Spaniards played with renewed energy, better than with eleven players and managed to keep the Italians' hearts anxious for long minutes. De Prà had to save several very difficult shots, each time charged with great determination and violence from an opponent's post.

THE EXCITING VICTORY.

Thus the decisive moment of the race was reached. A nice pass from Baloncieri to Conti beat the Spanish left back and took out the left half-back.

Conti passed to Baloncieri who in full swing sent the ball in front of the goal. Magnozzi arrived at full speed, giving the clear impression of scoring. The Spanish full-back Vallana, to prevent the Livornese from achieving a magnificent success, rushed to deflect the ball into a corner. It was a desperate effort to prevent what now looked like a sure Italian goal. But the momentum with which the Spaniard had started and the pressure that the small and energetic Livorno placed on him meant that the attempt to deflect the ball for a corner was transformed into a formidable shot into the high goal, in the left corner. The shot itself completely beat Zamora, despite him late making a spectacular flight through his own goal.

It was the Spaniard who scored for Italy! On the ground lay the great Zamora, whose name alone releases sparks of glory. The captain of his team, Vallana, was kneeling in front of him, tearing his hair out desperately. Around them, players from Milan, Turin, Bologna, Livorno, Genoa, in blue shirts, kissed and hugged each other, joyful or mournful at the same time. It was the most moving sight imaginable. The scream that came from the throats of the Italians at the long-awaited success was of such strength that it rose to the stars!

There were still five minutes to go. The Spaniards went on the offensive with desperate fury, squeezing our men in such a formidable grip that the outcome of the match was uncertain until the last second. A corner against us two minutes from the end, a free kick on the edge of the penalty area in the penultimate minute, a courageous save from De Prà, his exit from the goal, a sudden shot, saved by a nice header from Barbieri and another subsequent good save by Caligaris closed the match. On the antenna overlooking the Colombes Stadium, the Italian flag rose for 30 seconds, while Italian players and managers erupted in a blaze of joy and emotion. The Spanish managers hoped to overcome the bitterness of the defeat suffered by coming to present their congratulations to the Italian players in the locker room, immediately after the match, in such terms as demonstrated their recognition of the superiority of our colours, superiority and result which they represent for everyone the winners of this magnificent Italian day, the greatest, the most desired, the most significant satisfaction they have ever had in their football career.