Football at the 1936 Summer Olympics

• Main article: Football at the 1936 Summer Olympics – Men's team squads

Peruvian goalkeeper Juan Valdivieso reaches out for the football during match between Austria and Peru.

The Italians, winners against the Austrians at the 1934 World Cup now found the Olympic side, with ten changes, a completely different proposition. The Azzurri included players such as Alfredo Foni, Pietro Rava and Ugo Locatelli, who would all play in their World Cup victory in Paris. That they eventually prevailed was due to two incidents: the first when their bespectacled forward Frossi scored, the second when Weingartner, the German referee, was literally restrained from sending off Archille Piccini after fouling two Americans. Italian players held both his arms and covered his mouth in protest. Piccini stayed on the park, Italy won.[3] This was something more than Sweden managed in their tie with Japan the next day in Berlin. Two-nil up within 45 minutes, their loss was recorded by the Swedish commentator, Sven Jerring, calling “Japanese, Japanese, Japanese, Japanese all over” (Japaner, japaner, japaner, ôverallt japaner.) during the final minutes as the Japanese defenders held out to run out as winners 3–2. It marked the first time an Asian side had participated in either the World Cup or Olympic Games football competition and the first time an Asian side emerged victorious. Their neighbours, China, lost 0–2 to Great Britain on the next day. Otherwise there were wins for Peru and the hosts, 9–0 versus Luxembourg.

The Italian squad that won the Gold Medal

A ball of the competitions is on display at the German Leather Museum.

Italy defeated Japan after Pozzo's decision to include Biagi, who scored goals. The same day at the Poststadion, Berlin before a crowd that included Goebbels, Göring, Hess and Hitler, Germany were knocked out 2–0 by Norway. Goebbels wrote: "The Führer is very excited, I can barely contain myself. A real bath of nerves." Norway, went on to draw with Italy in the first round of the 1938 FIFA World Cup. Germany lost 2–0 and Hitler, who had never seen a football match before, and had originally planned to watch the rowing, left early in a huff.[6]

The following day at the Hertha Platz, Austria played Peru. The match was highly contested, and the game went into overtime when the Peruvians drew with the Austrians after being two goals behind. Peru 'scored' five goals during extra-time, of which three were disallowed by the referee, and won 4–2.[7][8] The Austrians demanded a rematch on the grounds that Peruvian fans had stormed the field, and because the field did not meet the requirements for a football game.[8][9] Austria further claimed that the Peruvian players had manhandled the Austrian players and that spectators, one holding a revolver, had "swarmed down on the field."[10] Peru was notified of this situation, and they attempted to go to the assigned meeting but were delayed by a German parade.[8] At the end, the Peruvian defense was never heard, and the Olympic Committee and FIFA sided with the Austrians. The rematch was scheduled to be taken under close grounds on August 10, and later rescheduled to be taken on August 11.[9][10]

As a sign of protest against these actions, which the Peruvians deemed as insulting and discriminatory, the complete Olympic delegations of Peru and Colombia left Germany.[11][12] Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, and Mexico expressed their solidarity with Peru.[10] Michael Dasso, a member of the Peruvian Olympic Committee, stated: "We've no faith in European athletics. We have come here and found a bunch of merchants."[13] The game was awarded to Austria by default.[10] In Peru, angry crowds protested against the decisions of the Olympic Committee by tearing down an Olympic flag, throwing stones at the German consulate, refusing to load German vessels in the docks of Callao, and listening to inflammatory speeches, which included President Oscar Benavides Larrea's mention of "the crafty Berlin decision."[10] To this day, it is not known with certainty what exactly happened at Germany, but it is popularly believed that Adolf Hitler and the Nazi authorities might have had some involvement in this situation.[12]

In the last of the quarter-finals Poland, assisted by their forward, Hubert Gad, played out a nine-goal party to defeat the British side; at one time they were 5–1 to the better. The Casual's Bernard Joy scored two as Britain fought back gamely but they ran out of time. Prior to the Games Daniel Pettit received a letter from the Football Association which dealt mostly with the uniform he would wear. As he explained to the academic Rachel Cutler there was a handwritten PS that said: 'As there is a month to go before we leave for Berlin kindly take some exercise.' Pettit ran around his local park. [6]

August 7, 1936
17:30

Italy	8–0	Japan
Frossi  14', 75', 80' Biagi  32', 57', 81', 82' Cappelli  89'	Report

Berlin Mommsenstadion

Attendance: 8.000

Referee: Otto Ohlsson (SWE)

August 7, 1936
17:30

Germany	0–2	Norway
	Report	Isaksen  7', 83'

Berlin Poststadion

Attendance: 55.000

Referee: Arthur Willoughby Barton (GBR)

August 8, 1936
17:30

Poland	5–4	Great Britain
Gad  33' Wodarz  43', 48', 53' Piec  56'	Report	Clements  26' Shearer  71' Joy  78', 80'

Berlin Poststadion

Attendance: 6.000

Referee: Rudolf Eklow (SWE)

August 8, 1936
17:30

Peru	4–2 (a.e.t.) 1	Austria
Alcalde  75' Villanueva  81', 117' Fernández  119'	Report	Werginz  23' Steinmetz  37'

Berlin Hertha-BSC Platz

Attendance: 5.000

Referee: Thoralf Kristiansen (NOR)

¹ Due to a pitch invasion, the match was declared null and void, and ordered to be replayed on August 10. Peru objected to the replay decision and withdrew from the tournament.

Italy now overcame Austria in a match refereed by Dr Peco Bauwens; the Austrians having defeated Poland to attend the final. Not that there was much in it; Frossi again scoring for the Azzurri and getting the winner just as extra-time got underway.

August 15, 1936
16:00

Italy	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Austria
Frossi  70', 92'	Report	Kainberger  79'

Berlin Olympic Stadium (Berlin)

Attendance: 85,000

Referee: Peco Bauwens (Germany)

Team details

Italy Austria GK Bruno Venturini DF Alfredo Foni DF Pietro Rava MF Giuseppe Baldo MF Achille Piccini MF Ugo Locatelli FW Annibale Frossi FW Libero Marchini FW Sergio Bertoni FW Carlo Biagi FW Francesco Gabriotti Manager: Vittorio Pozzo GK Eduard Kainberger DF Ernst Künz DF Martin Kargl MF Anton Krenn MF Karl Wahlmüller MF Max Hofmeister FW Walter Werginz FW Adolf Laudon FW Klement Steinmetz FW Karl Kainberger FW Franz Fuchsberger Manager: Jimmy Hogan

7 goals

6 goals

5 goals

4 goals

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

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• Olympic Football Tournament Berlin 1936, FIFA.com
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