Matthias Sindelar
April 3, 1938: The national soccer team of Austria, known as the Wunderteam, plays its last game before being absorbed by Nazi Germany. The result meant another kind of farewell, for its greatest player: Matthias Sindelar.
Matěj Šindelář was born on February 10, 1903, in Kozlov, in what was then Moravia, in the Austrian Empire. It is now in Czechia, a.k.a. the Czech Republic, and he was of Czech descent. But his citizenship was Austrian, so the name was Germanized as "Matthias Sindelar."
He remains the greatest soccer player in the history of the Austrian nation. A forward, he played for the country's most successful team, Fußballklub Austria Wien AG -- known in English as Austria Vienna, but so well-known in its own country that it is usually called by the name of the country: "Austria" (or, in German, "Österreich," meaning "Eastern realm," even though it's actually to the south of modern Germany proper).
In 1924, having won the 1st of what is now a record 24 Austrian Bundesliga (national league) titles, and also the Austrian Cup for a "Double," Austrian Vienna signed Sindelar from Hertha Vienna. At 21, he was already known for his ability "to dodge and dribble at will his opponents, and to squeeze with disconcerting ease within the opposing defenses.” He was nicknamed “Der Papierene”: “The Man of Paper.” That might not make sense to modern American eyes, although, if your team's defense is like a rock, then you wouldn't want to face him, because Paper covers Rock.
He led Austria Vienna to the league title in 1926. While they never won another with him -- their next title cam after World War II, in 1949 -- he also led them to the Austrian Cup in 1925, 1926 (another Double), 1933, 1935 and 1936. In 1933 and 1936, he led them to the Mitropa Cup, meaning "Middle Europe," probably the closest thing then available to a continent-wide championship that the European Cup would become in 1955 (its name changed to the UEFA Champions League in 1992).
Hugo Meisl managed the Austrian national team, known as the Wunderteam (Wonder Team), and, with Sindelar leading the way, they won the 1932 Central European International Cup, and reached the Semifinal of the 1934 World Cup, losing to Italy, when then won the Final on home soil. Like Hungary in the 1950s, the Netherlands in the 1970s, and both Brazil and France in the 1982 World Cup, they were hailed for attractive play but couldn't quite go all the way.
Meisl died of a heart attack in 1937, sparing him what was to come. Austria (the national team, not the Vienna club) qualified for the 1938 World Cup. But before that tournament could be played, Nazi Germany annexed Austria, birth nation of their Chancellor, Adolf Hitler, in what became known as the Anschluss. And a "farewell match," the Anschlussspiel (that's right: 3 consecutive S's), was set for April 3, 1938, at the Praterstadion in Vienna, against Germany. After this, Austria's players would play their international football for the Third Reich, or they wouldn't play at all.
Accounts of the game suggest that the Austria team missed some sitters on purpose. But in the last 20 minutes, Sindelar scored, and celebrated in front of the Nazi dignitaries. Shortly thereafter, Karl Sesta, an Austria Vienna teammate of Sindelar's, also scored. Austria went out on a high note, beating Germany, 2-0.
By this point, Sindelar was 35 years old. Even then, that was considered old for a forward. But he never played another international match. He had little choice: He either had to play for Germany, or defect to another country, and hope that FIFA, the governing body for world soccer, would allow him to play for his new home country.
At any rate, he refused to play for Germany, citing his age and his injuries. And he had already embarrassed the Germans in the Anschlussspiel. But he refused to leave his homeland, putting himself at risk for retribution by the Nazis. He also ran a small restaurant, and he didn't want to abandon it.
Of the 22 players on Germany's roster for the 1938 World Cup, held in France, 8 had previously played for Austria, and 9 were then playing for Austrian clubs. And yet, the addition of Austrian players did not help: They went out in the 1st round, losing on penalties to Switzerland -- a country whose majority speaks German. (As of 2022, 63 percent of Swiss residents speak German as their 1st language, 23 percent speak French, 8 percent speak Italian, and 6 percent primarily speak another language.)
Defending Champions Italy won. They beat Hungary, eventually a member of the Axis, in the Final. In the Semifinal, Italy beat Brazil, which then had a right-wing government, though not one officially allied with the Axis; and Hungary beat Sweden, who remained neutral through the conflict, as it had through World War I. In the Quarterfinals, Brazil beat Czechoslovakia, which Germany would take over within a year; Italy beat hosts France, which the Germans would take over a year after that; and Hungary beat Switzerland, which remained neutral, as it had through World War I.
So, if there had been a 1942 World Cup (with the last 2 having been in Europe, Brazil was considered the favorite to host it), both returning Finalists, 3 out of 4 Semifinalists, and 4 out of 8 Quarterfinalists would have been in the Axis. And with Britain's "home nations" refusing to play until 1950 due to a dispute with FIFA, it seems unlikely that England, or any other nation, would have been able to prevent a Germany-Italy Final, with Hitler and Mussolini both in the stands. I wonder if they would have sat in the same box?
On January 23, 1939, Sindelar and his girlfriend, Camilla Castagnola, were found dead in their apartment in Vienna. Officially, the cause was carbon monoxide poisoning, due to a defective chimney. Most people who knew him believed it was not an accident. A suicide was also unlikely. The Gestapo had a file on Sindelar, and kept him and his restaurant under surveillance.
In 1999, the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) ranked him 22nd on their list of the greatest soccer players of the 20th Century, and 1st among Austrians.
Karl Sesta was not punished by the Nazis. He remained with Austria Vienna until 1943, retired from the game in 1946, and lived until 1974.
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April 3, 1938 was a Sunday. Jeff Barry, who wrote several hit songs with his wife, Cythia Weil, in the 1960s, was born on this day.
Baseball and football were in the off-season. The National Basketball League season was underway, but getting scores for specific days from that league has proven difficult. NHL scores are easy to find, but only 1 game was played that day, a Stanley Cup Semifinal: The Chicago Black Hawks beat the New York Americans, 3-2 at Madison Square Garden. The Hawks thus advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals, where they beat the Toronto Maple Leafs.
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