No one is a prophet in his own country
Garcia Cueto | 26/03/1937

There are excellent French footballers... in Argentina — Peucelle, the soul of River Plate.

Yes, as incredible as it may seem in Paris, there are great footballers of French origin in South America. While in France, the stars of French football are very nice Hungarians, Austrians, and other Yugoslavs.

Other Latin countries where football did not exist eight years ago have sought on the contrary to create a national football with the elements of their own race. Thanks to its South American nationals, Italy took the lead in the sport, winning the 1934 World Cup.

Unity of design, the first element of the homogeneity of a team, is easier to achieve with eleven players of the same race. The French qualities: spontaneity, speed of reflexes put the players in a constant state of innovation, a new illustration of the “system D”, perhaps more logical for them than the “system W. M.”.

The “French Peucelle”, as he is called in Buenos Aires, is the soul of the famous River Plate team, champion of Argentina. Creator of a style (we say playing the Peucelle), he has an indefatigable and communicative dynamism. The limits of a single place in the team are too narrow for his extraordinary mobility. In possession of the ball, his dribbling, surprisingly safe, allows him a speed that gives rise to disconcerting maneuvers for the opponent. His passes, unexpected and extremely precise, build a formidable and spectacular game.

Not to mention Chifflet, the excellent centre-forward of Nacional. and J. Ferou, half-back of Penarol, whom everyone knows, we can cite as great star of French origin A. Willemsens, of Belgian father and Parisian mother, the prestigious centre-forward of the famous club Flamengo of the Brazilian Dissident League which, with Fluminense, is considered to have in its ranks the best players in the country. Willemsens' score for 1936, 28 goals in 14 matches, gives an idea of ​​the finish and precision of his shot.

Rosario, the important Argentinian football center, a big supplier of internationals, and, this year, architect of the Argentinian victory, referees an important French colony. In the first team of Gymnase et Fencing, we meet as French the centre-half I. Orléans, and the inside right M. Fidèle. The champion club of the Rosarina League, Central Cordoba, to the right wing of its attack line, has the fast Baffallu, born in Paris.

A very great hope of Argentine football is the young Servetti, French born in France, whose services are requested this year by several first division clubs.

Seeing the evolution of French players, we quickly find the qualities and characteristics of these great stars, speed and capacity for innovation. On the other hand, the import "systems", by neglecting these advantages, do they not seem rather to slow down the creation of a typical French football?