Italy's national team poses with the World Cup trophy, held aloft by manager Vittorio Pozzo, after beating Hungary 4-2 in the 1938 World Cup final in Paris.On June 19 at the Colombes stadium in Paris, Vittorio Pozzo's Azzurri 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.
The 1938 World Cup, perhaps more than any tournament, clearly demonstrated the powerful nature of soccer.
Spain was being ripped apart by civil war, Hitler and the Nazis were occupying Austria, and a crisis-ridden Europe was teetering on the brink of World War II. And yet, for 15 days in June, the World Cup beamed a powerful light of hope and friendship through the ominous clouds hovering over the continent.
In the end, France was lauded for its brilliant staging of the competition and Italy retained its title, but they would be denied the chance to win a third consecutive crown - the map of Europe was about to change, and the World Cup would go on a 12-year hiatus.
AND ANOTHER THING: The quarter-final between Brazil and Czechoslovakia on June 12 in Bordeaux was more of a rugby match than a soccer game. A physical encounter from the start, the game quickly boiled over.
Early in the contest, Brazilian defender Zeze hacked down Czech forward Oldrich Nejedly and was immediately expelled by the Hungarian referee. Just before the end of the half, Brazil's Machados exchanged punches with Czechoslovakia's Jan Riha and both were tossed.
By the end of the carnage-marred contest, three players were ejected and five were injured, including Nejedly (broken leg) and teammate Frantisek Planicka
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