VIII. — RIGHT WINGERS
— Gabriel Hanot | 30/06/1924 —

There was, at the Olympic tournament, a great abundance of international-class right wingers. Most of them had clearly defined qualities, an appearance, a tactic, a style which made it possible to identify them from their first action. Such was, for example, the athletic Braun, a sober player, fast, powerful, precise with his head and legs, the favorite of the Budapest crowd and also of all the Hungarians expatriated in Paris and who called him by his familiar nickname Csibi, clapping your hands rhythmically. Here again is the Czech Sedláček, the idol of Prague and Central Europe, who punctually accomplishes the tasks entrusted to him by his team. The Swiss Ehrenbolger, whose style, truly painful when he ran at a gymnastic pace, elbows on his stomach, fists at chin height, took off well. pace when he counters at full speed and just at the height of the goal line. The Dutchman Snouck Hurgronje, long and slender like a Cambridge student, several times put Uruguayans and Swedes in great danger.

The Spaniard Piera, the Italian Conti, the Egyptian El Sayed Ismail, the Uruguayans Urdinarán and Naya, practice finesse rather than strength; they bypass the adversary instead of overcoming him; they get the better of him more by feints and dodges than by shocks; they have wonderful sureness and elegance in controlling the ball. Urdinaran is impersonal to the point of avoiding shooting on goal even when he is clear and in a good position. Piera loves the ball so much that he only reluctantly gets rid of it. Conti lacks physical power.

Does this mean that the group of right-wingers mentioned first is better than the second? No. It also has its faults. Braun and Sedláček do not participate, body and soul, in the team's game; they sometimes lack initiative and allow themselves to be forgotten; Snouck Hurgronje only crosses and shoots with one foot; Ehrenbolger is only in the process of acquiring authority.

France has Devaquez, who has, over the right wingers of the Olympic tournament, the great advantage of an extraordinary penetrating force. Medium in size, but square, stocky, gifted with tremendous nerve impulses and muscular relaxation, Devaquez would have scored goals against Uruguay and outclassed his rivals from other teams if he had known how to finish his attacks, "conclude", as they say in sports language. He was unfortunately deprived of his slanted, low shot which caught the opposing goalkeeper at fault. He was unable to find the crowning achievement of the large-scale work he had undertaken.