WHEN HIDEN RECOUNTS HIS MEMORIES
Jean Eskenazi | 23/11/1933

Eyes more mischievous than ever, Hiden strolled peacefully last night on the boulevards, with as much ease as if he had found himself on the famous Rink, glory of any Viennese who respects himself.

— Well done Rudi, you did very well against Arsenal.

Hiden: Yes, it's fine now, I'm suitable. But the public, which often judges harshly, does not consider how hard it is to play a team like Arsenal, each individual player of which knows his job as a footballer inside and out.

— Have you been approached for Glasgow?

Hiden: No. They consider me undesirable in Vienna because I play abroad. Ah! If it was up to Jimmy Hogan.

— Would you mind playing this match?

Hiden: Yes indeed.

— What did you think of the two matches of the Austrian team in British territory?

Hiden: I think Wunderteam will do much better against Scotland than against Arsenal.

— On what do you base your assertion?

Hiden: Arsenal play an economical and tight game. It's very hard to beat them.

Hiden pauses for a second to daydream.

Hiden: Oh! This Wunderteam! How many splendid matches I saw it do. It flourished in Berlin and Basle, when we won 6 to 0 and 8 to 1, I believe.

» Gschweidl, who was the brain behind it, was in great form at the time. The combinations of Fritz and Sindi were something incredible.

» You see, the strength of the Wunderteam is that the eleven players are perfect comrades. It has often been compared to a club team, it was true, the Wunderteam had become one by force of circumstance.

But Hiden quickly finishes the evocation of these beautiful and recent memories to become cheerful and smiling again. He makes the audience happy by telling that his predecessor at the W. A.C. was so much of a comedian that he grimaced and made himself before playing a game!

Hiden: If I'm a little theatrical from time to time you have to excuse me. When I came from Grazer to the W.A.C., and saw that the starting goalkeeper was acting like this, I thought that I, too, had to perform some rolls and contortions before seizing the ball.

The conversation could have gone on for a long time. This atmosphere of Bavarian brasserie where we discuss for hours in front of mugs, seemed to please Hiden. But when you are a suburbanite, nothing should be left to chance. Rudi, after telling us one last time about his admiration for Delfour, left us to head for the Gare Saint-Lazare, so as not to miss the last train for Colombes.