THE MATCH PARIS-URUGUAY
— Gabriel Hanot | 10/03/1925 —

Last year, in the quarter-finals of the Olympic football tournament, Uruguay eliminated France by 5 goals to 1 (halftime: 2 to 1). Yesterday, Uruguay beat Paris by 3 to 1 (half-time: 1 to 1). The capital thus repeated the feat of France which, in 1924, had been the only nation, with Holland, to score a point against the winner of the Olympic event.

The good resistance of ours yesterday at the Stade de Colombes leads us to think that the result would have been more honorable last season, in front of Uruguay, if Parachini, Crut and Boyer had not also fallen completely flat in the second half.

The pessimists will say: "In 1924, you did not count in your ranks the Swiss Pollitz, the Englishman Bunyan; the Paris team had a reinforcement there which cannot be considered negligible." I grant it. Pollitz gave confidence and security to the defense; Bunyan of drive, piercing, efficiency in attack. But we must not forget that, last year, Domergue held the position of Pollitz, Nicolas that of Bunyan, and that our two compatriots did a good job. The complete failure, the complete renunciation of three players out of eleven is an insurmountable handicap, especially in front of a formidable team eager to win like that of Uruguay. Yesterday, there was no total or even partial eclipse of our representatives: the appearance of the match was completely different and the final result quite different. If Cottenet had not lost some of his skills following a clash with Uruguayan centre-forward Petrone, it is almost certain that he would have stopped the second goal, scored by left winger Romano, from a sideways shot. So the difference in goals would have been even smaller.

The Parisians held on, without breaking apart at any moment of the game. The Uruguayans, who thought they had the easier task — hadn't they said that they wanted to open their tour with a bang and win by 7 goals to 0 — had to work hard to snatch victory and maintain their advantage. Urdinarán and Scarone exhausted themselves by attacking the Parisian goal; the Uruguayan defense was forced, on numerous occasions, to mass in front of their goal, and goalkeeper Mazali often saw Arispe and Foglino protect him with their bodies.

The Uruguayans, South Americans with ardent imaginations, believe too much in the invulnerability of their team, because they are Olympic champions. Last year, due to overconfidence, they were almost held in check by Holland. Yesterday, despite their good physical condition, their athletic value, their virtuosity in technique and tactics, their homogeneity, their national pride, they only narrowly achieved success. You should never believe a battle has been won in advance. Uruguay played in front of the Paris eleven as the team that arrived, which is why they were put in danger by a team which, having everything to gain and nothing to lose, had better morale, a greater ideal than them.