In the 1920’s and 30’s, Argentina were the only team who could hope to match the might of neighbours Uruguay, putting the continent on notice when they won their first South American championship in 1921. They won all their games in the tournament, without conceding a single goal thanks to the excellence of their goalkeeper, Americo Tesoriere. Another notable member of the squad was Pedro Calomino, credited with inventing the bicycle kick. Julio Libonatti was the tournament’s top scorer, who would later help Italian club Torino to their first Scudetto. In 1924, Argentina took on Uruguay in a friendly at Sportivo Barracas stadium. Just 15 minutes into the match, Argentine winger Cesareo Onzari scored directly from a corner kick. Nobody was quite sure what to do as this had never happened before, but the goal stood, and was christened Gol Olympico – a taunt to Uruguay due to the fact that they were the Olympic champion. Argentina’s players later complained about Uruguay’s tough play during the match, while the Uruguayans complained that the home fans had thrown bottles at them towards the end, and thus the rivalry was born.

 

Argentina hosted the South American Championships again in 1925, and again they ended victorious with no losses, including a 4-1 beating of Brazil. They won a consecutive South American title in 1927, again undefeated, following a 7-1 caning of Bolivia, beating rivals Uruguay 3-2 and then defeating the hosts Peru 5-1 in the final. In 1928, Argentina travelled all the way to Amsterdam to compete in the Olympic Games. This was the first international tournament they had ever played in. Prior to the creation of the World Cup, the Olympic football tournament was the absolute pinnacle of world soccer. The problem was, all athletes competing in the games had to be amateurs, and professionalism had permeated football years before. FIFA got around this by instigating what was known as ‘broken time payments’ to players, but the writing was on the wall, and a proper football world championship allowing professionals was necessary.

 

Amongst all this controversy, Argentina performed very well in the 1928 Olympics, thrashing all three of their first round opponents, the US, Belgium and Egypt, 11-2, 6-0 and 6-2. Interest in the gold medal match between two South American powerhouses was immense, with Dutch Olympic officials receiving 250,000 requests for tickets. It was a close-run affair. Two matches had to be played to find a winner, the first ended in a 1-1 draw, and Uruguay’s Scarone scored the only goal in the replay. Their rivals had won, and were voted to host the first World Cup two years later. After winning another South American Championship in 1929, most of Argentinas silver medallists from 1928 returned to the team for the 1930 World Cup. They defeated France, Mexico and Chile, then met the United States again the semi-final, winning by five clear goals. They then met Uruguay in the final, and the rest, as they say, is history, with Argentina losing 4-2.

Achievements: South American Championship – Champions x4
                        Olympic Games – Silver medal x1
                        Copa Newton x3

​

Star player: Luis Monti DOB 15 May 1901, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Nickname: Doble Ancho

Montis uniqueness stems from the fact that he is the only to player to play in two consecutive World Cup finals for two different countries. Known for being a rugged and ruthless player, he also had good technical skills in addition to his strong tackling. Monti went by the nickname Doble Ancho (Double Wide) due to his solid build and coverage of the pitch. During Argentine football’s amateur era, he played for Huracan, Boca Juniors and San Lorenzo, winning three league titles. He was called up to play for Argentina at the 1927 South American Championships, which they won, and he gained a silver medal at the 1928 Olympic Games. He was a key component of Argentina’s 1930 World Cup squad which reached the final. Before the that game, Monti received a death threat against his family if Argentina won. They lost. He then immigrated to Italy and was picked for their national team due to his dual citizenship – only to receive another death threat, this time from one of Mussolini’s henchmen, if Italy lost the 1934 World Cup final. Luckily for him, they defeated Czechoslovakia 2-1. Monti played in the infamous and violent “Battle of Highbury” match between Italy and England in 1934. Or at least he did for the first 15 minutes, as he had his foot broken thanks to a rough tackle from Englands Ted Drake. In the days before substitutes, Italy had to play on with 10 men. Other injuries suffered by players in the game were a broken nose, a twisted ankle, a black eye from a punch and fractured arm. Monti later became a manager of various Italian clubs. He died aged 82 in 1983.