1948 Summer Olympics / Soccer / Austria
At the XIV Olympic Games in London in 1948, an Austrian Olympic team took part in the soccer competition for the third time. It was the first participation since winning the silver medal in 1936, which, however, was won by an amateur selection. The ÖFB sent his this time national team , but the injury was not at full strength. Austria and Sweden were among the favorites, the Swedes were met promptly in the first game and clearly lost 3-0. The eventual 14th place out of 18 teams was the clearly worst performance of Austria at the Olympic Games, but the fact that the team could appear at an international tournament for the first time after the end of the war was in the foreground.
preparation
The preparations for the Olympic Games in London were roughly the same as for an away game. Austria had to do without its first goalie Walter Zeman and Turl Wagner , both of whom were injured in the last international match against Sweden. Edi Frühwirth should look after the team, before the round of 16 a first and last training session should take place on the Hayes football field . The course was what the players wanted, but on arrival in London it turned out to be a good five and a quarter hours from the hotel. However, the "hotel" was not a hotel in the traditional sense, the Austrian national team stayed in the old barracks of the former West Drayton air base , where no windows could be opened. Most of the players who had traveled with them complained after getting to know English cuisine that they had not taken a cook to England.
Austrian contingent
| Surname | Association at the time | birthday | Sp. | goal | red | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| goal | ||||||||
| Franz Pelican | SC Wacker Vienna | 11/6/1925 | 1 | |||||
| Josef Musil | SK Rapid Vienna | 7 August 1920 | ||||||
| Defense | ||||||||
| Karl Kowanz | SK Admira Vienna | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Ernst Happel | SK Rapid Vienna | 1 | ||||||
| Gustav Gerhart | SK Admira Vienna | |||||||
| midfield | ||||||||
| Leopold Mikolasch | FK Austria Vienna | 1 | ||||||
| Ernst Ocffekt | FK Austria Vienna | 1 | ||||||
| Siegfried Joksch | FK Austria Vienna | 1 | ||||||
| Theodor Brinek jun. | SC Wacker Vienna | |||||||
| Leopold Gernhardt | SK Rapid Vienna | |||||||
| attack | ||||||||
| Ernst Melchior | FK Austria Vienna | 1 | ||||||
| Erich Habitzl | SK Admira Vienna | 1 | ||||||
| Josef Epp | Viennese sports club | 1 | ||||||
| Wilhelm Hahnemann (C) | SC Wacker Vienna | 1 | ||||||
| Alfred Koerner | SK Rapid Vienna | 1 | ||||||
| Ernst Stojaspal | FK Austria Vienna | |||||||
| Josef Stroh | FK Austria Vienna | |||||||
| Ludwig Durek | SK Sturm Graz | |||||||
| Trainer | ||||||||
| Eduard Frühwirth (team manager) | ||||||||
| Franz Putzendopler (supervisor) | ||||||||
Games
Round of 16
Austria drew Sweden in the round of 16, one of the big favorites in the battle for Olympic gold. The red-white-red team had been defeated by the Scandinavians 2-3 weeks earlier in Stockholm. The game, which looked like an anticipated final, was attended by around 15,000 spectators on the Tottenham Hotspur pitch . The round of 16 match began with a bang: the Swedes kick off, pass, cross, goal. Just four minutes later, the Swedes were leading 2-0. Austria was so taken by surprise by this blue-yellow lightning start that they had little to do with their opponents in the period that followed. In addition, the players were dissatisfied with the English referee, who played very hard. After the defender Kowanz was sent off by repeated foul play, the game was finally decided, shortly before the final whistle, the Swedish 3-0 fell. Austria was eliminated in its first game, and the Swedes subsequently won the tournament.
| Austria - Sweden 0: 3 (0: 2) | |
|---|---|
| Data | 210th international match on August 2, 1948, White Hart Lane , London |
| Austria | Pelikan - Kowanz, Happel - Mikolasch, Ocffekt, Joksch - Melchoir, Habitzl, Epp, Hahnemann, Körner II |
| Sweden | Lindberg - Nordahl I, Nilsson - Rosengren, Nordahl II, Andersson - Rosen, Gren, Nordahl III, Carlsson, Liedholm |
| Gates | Nordahl III (2), roses |
aftermath
The Olympic soccer tournament of 1948 had little impact on Austrian soccer history. The elimination was not seen as a shame, they were more pleased about their first appearance at an international tournament after the Second World War. The line-up of the team was hardly changed in the following international matches, only Zeman and Wagner were brought back into the team.
