Top scorer: Brazil’s Leonidas (7 goals)
Number of games: 18
Total goals scored: 84
Average goals per game: 4.67
Highest scoring game: Brazil’s 6-5 win over Poland on June 5
Total attendance: 483,000
Average attendance: 26,833
As in 1934, the competition followed a knockout format right from the start, with replays employed when games finished tied after 90 minutes of regulation and 30 minutes of extra time. Austria qualified but withdrew (having been annexed by Hitler’s Germany) and was replaced by Sweden. Because there were 15, and not 16, teams in the competition, the Swedes received automatic entry into the quarterfinals.
THE FINAL
On June 19 at the Colombes stadium in Paris, Italy took to the field with only Hungary standing in their way to repeating as world champions. When the Italians scored six minutes into the contest through Gino Colaussi, the rout appeared to be on. Pal Titkos levelled the score two minutes later, but the goal proved to be only a brief respite for the Hungarians.
Giovanni Ferrari and Giuseppe Meazza, Italy’s dynamic inside-forward partnership, took hold of the game and set up Piola’s goal in the 15th minute. Ten minutes before half, Ferrari and Meazza worked their magic again, this time finding the unmarked Colaussi, who netted his second of the game. Hungary’s captain Gyorgy Sarosi scored in the 70th minute, but Italy put the game away with 10 minutes left in regulation when Amedeo Biavati back-heeled a pass to Piola, who beat goalkeeper Antal Szabo with a powerful left-footed shot: 4-2 to Italy.
No comments:
Post a Comment