Wonder team

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Wunderteam is a name given to the Austrian national soccer team from 1931 to 1933, which caused a sensation with high victories over top European teams. The wonder team remained unbeaten in 12 games in a row; if you add in the two games before the “hour of birth” of the wonder team against Czechoslovakia and Hungary, the Austrian national team remained unbeaten for 14 games in a row. The name first appeared in the headlines of the German press in 1931, which reported on the 6-0 defeat of the German national team in Berlin against Austria.

The hour of birth of the wonder team

Game against Scotland

The game against Scotland is said to be the hour of birth of the wonder team . Scotland, along with England, was considered the motherland of football and was still unbeaten on mainland Europe. The fact that Austria was allowed to play against Scotland was considered an honor, especially since Scottish football had a lot of fans in Austria. They adopted the Scottish 2-3-5 system for their own team and tried to practice the Scottish style of play with short flat passes. The Austrian national team was completely reshuffled before the game and sometimes played with debutants. The Austrians won the first game of the newly formed, without exception, players from Viennese clubs with 5-0 against the favored Scots on the Hohe Warte in front of 37,000 spectators on May 16, 1931. This was the beginning of the most successful triumph in the History of the Austrian national team.

prehistory

There are numerous stories about the creation of the wonder team and its line-up, which most Austrians interested in football still know today. Association captain Hugo Meisl was under pressure from fans, journalists and sports experts, who vehemently demanded that the national team be changed, particularly Matthias Sindelar . Matthias Sindelar flew on January 7, 1929 after a 5-0 defeat in a friendly against a South German selection from the team. Back then, the Austrian team tried their “Scheiberlspiel” (quick, short, tricky combinations with “ Viennese Schmäh ”) on the snow-covered ground, but got confused again and again. Sindelar thought he knew the reason for the defeat: One would have had to “shit” even more, an answer that the raging Hugo Meisl disliked.

The smear team

During a verbal argument in the Wiener Ring-Café on the Stubenring , Meisl finally gave in to the sports journalists who were present and threw them a piece of paper with the words “There you have your lubricantsite team!” With the line-up they wanted for the upcoming Scotland game. This anecdote, which is still not one hundred percent verifiable, contributed significantly to the creation of legends about the wonder team. For the upcoming game Sindelar returned to the position of center forward, Friedrich Gschweidl played as a right connector. Karl Zischek , who had never been on the national team, was sent to him as his right wing partner . The left wing pair was formed by Anton Schall and Adi Vogl . Both played together at the Admira , whereby the young Vogl made his first team assignment and had only been used occasionally with the Admirans. Rudi Hiden was allowed to play in goal instead of the more experienced Friedrich Franzl . In the game against Scotland, the goalkeeper was able to distinguish himself through several parades and the storm series shone through numerous combinations.

Notes on the hour of birth of the wonder team

A look at the line-ups for the international matches before 1931 shows that some well-known players who later formed the wonder team, among other things, were already in action in this season before the Scotland game, which was seen as mixed. The later regulars Rudolf Hiden, Karl Rainer , Leopold Hofmann and Friedrich Gschweidl already played in the 1: 2 away defeat against Hungary on June 1, 1930. In the 2: 1 home win over Czechoslovakia on April 12, 1931, Rudolf Hiden, Roman Schramseis , Josef Blum , Johann Mock , Leopold Hofmann, Karl Gall and Walter Nausch are already seven regular players in what would later become the legendary national team. It thus shows that naming a specific hour of birth for the wonder team turns out to be difficult if one only looks at the stakes of the players involved. The fact that the Scottish game is named as the hour of birth of the wonder team is probably due to the prestige of the encounter with the European soccer superpower Scotland and the surprising clarity of the result as well as the legendary formation through anecdotes such as that of the "Schmieranski" team. At the same time, the successful return of the striker Sindelar, who was mystified during his lifetime, also contributed retrospectively to the emergence of a founding myth of the wonder team. The fact is, however, that the game against Scotland was the start of a remarkable series of successes with sometimes extraordinary results.

Gate
Rudolf Hiden
Right back
Roman Schramseis
Karl Rainer 		Left back
Josef Blum
Karl Sesta
Right half / runner
Georg Braun
Johann Mock 		Center half
Josef Smistik
Leopold Hofmann 		Left half / runner
Karl Gall
Walter Nausch
Right wing
Karl Zischek 		Legal connector
Friedrich Gschweidl 		Center forward
Matthias Sindelar 		Left connector
Anton Schall 		Left wing
Adolf Vogl

Association captain: Hugo Meisl , trainer: Jimmy Hogan

The games of the miracle team

Big wins over Germany

Just one week after the sensational victory over the Scots, which caused quite a stir in the international sports press, the team drove to Berlin , where they were to meet the German national team on May 24, 1931 in the Grunewald Stadium . With their tough game against the “soft Austrians”, the Germans expected themselves to have good chances. Just two minutes after kick-off, Matthias Sindelar scored 1-0, the final score was 6-0. In Berlin, people spoke for the first time of the "miracle team" that played. The German media also reported on the "embarrassing end of Germany" and the "greatest embarrassment of the DFB ".

The Austrians invited to Vienna in September 1931 to take revenge. Before that, the wonder team won over Switzerland , but only competed with a B-team, as Austria's stars were needed by their clubs in the Mitropacup . The second leg against Germany in Vienna should be given additional importance, as it was the first international match in the newly built Vienna stadium, now known as the Ernst Happel Stadium . Again there was an embarrassment for Germany. In the 5-0 victory in Vienna on September 14th, Matthias Sindelar met three times and also played for his connectors Gschweidl and Schall.

Duel with the "arch rival" Hungary

Another highlight in the era of the miracle team was the game against the “arch rivals” from Hungary , a country that had been part of the Austrian Danube monarchy a good decade ago . At that time Hungary, like Austria, was still one of the best teams in the world - the duels between the two teams were particularly known for their toughness. In Budapest the miracle team “only” achieved a 2: 2 on October 4, 1931, but had to play with only 10 men because the Austrian Karl Gall was seriously injured by a Hungarian and could no longer play. In Vienna on April 24, 1932 there was an enormous crowd. Before the second leg against the Magyars, the team around captain Sindelar had beaten Switzerland 8: 1 in Basel and Italy . The game against Hungary in 1932 is now considered one of the best Matthias Sindelars. The center forward scored three goals himself at 8: 2 and prepared all five other goals. Anton Schall was also able to score four goals, Friedrich Gschweidl scored 6: 2 for Austria.

European champion

Headlines in the Austrian daily press in 1932

During the era of the wonder team, the European Cup was also played. This is the forerunner of today's European Championship , whereby the European Champion at that time was not determined in a tournament, but was played in a championship mode over several years. Several games of the 2nd European Cup, which was played from 1930 to 1932, took place during the time of the wonder team. After Austria had again victorious against Switzerland in 1932, Hugo Meisl was the new European champion. This was the only title win that an Austrian national soccer team has ever achieved.

Game against England

The only defeat of the wonder team brought the national team at that time the greatest international recognition. After victories against Hungary in Budapest and Sweden in Stockholm , the team around captain Sindelar traveled by train to London to take on the English national team on December 7, 1932 . England were unbeaten at home and should remain so for another 20 years. So far, no team from mainland Europe had managed to score more than one honorary goal against the English at home. The reception of the game also showed how far the development of football in Austria into an absolute mass phenomenon had already progressed:

(...) the live radio broadcast from London was a sensation. The reporter was the man who had scored the only goal for the Austrians in 1908 [in the 1: 6 home defeat against England in Vienna note] : Prof. Willy Schmieger , supported by Balduin Naumann. Schmieger, and this was considered a technical miracle by contemporaries, spoke to Vienna via submarine cable, his reportage was taken over by all Central European and some Eastern European broadcasters. In Vienna, thousands upon thousands of people gathered in inns, cafes and cinemas, on soccer fields and in indoor swimming pools or on the Engelmann open-air ice rink to listen to soccer. The largest such event took place on Heldenplatz , where Winterhilfe installed an oversized loudspeaker system and organized collections among those present. In Parliament, the Finance Committee suspended its session for the duration of the broadcast, (…).

At the Stamford Bridge Stadium , however, the Austrians were already 2-0 down at the break and played nervously before they played their famous combination game in the second half. Hugo Meisl sent his team back to the field with the words “Spüts euer Spüü!” (“Play your game”). The national team made three goals, but lost in the end 3: 4, although Adolf Vogl missed the chance to equalize shortly before the end. The technically high-quality game of the Austrians was praised above all by the British journalists:

The Daily Mail recognized "players of genius", a "revelation" in the Austrian attack and counted Sindelar, Smistik, Nausch and Vogl among the "greatest players in the world", while the Times raved about the "talent for combination" and speed "of the Austrian team to the wonder team "full honor" of the game and also argued about the fact that the time of English hegemony in world football was over.

Even today, a memorial plaque and the painting The Wonder Team by Paul Meissner , which shows the team entering the stadium, reminds of the famous game. Before arriving in Vienna, the wonder team stopped in Brussels , where Belgium was defeated 6-1.

The end and the disintegration of the wonder team

The last game of the miracle team is generally seen as the match against France in Paris , which Austria could win 4-0. The Austrian team dealt with the French with goals from Sindelar, Zischek, Vogl and Weselik, in return Rudolf Hiden destroyed the few attacks of the French with spectacular parades and thus aroused the interest of the President of Racing Club de Paris , Jean-Bernard Lévy. He made an offer to the Austrian goalie, which Hiden immediately accepted. With this game he ended his career in the Austrian national team and moved from Vienna AC to Paris in 1933 for a transfer fee of 80,000 francs. This meant that an important pillar of the wonder team was lost, and several national players followed Hiden's example and went abroad, which resulted in significant losses in the Austrians' technical game, even though there was only one defeat against Czechoslovakia (1: 2) in the following 13 games .

Games of the "Austrian Wonder Team" 1931 to 1933

date place game Result Goal scorers
May 16, 1931 Vienna Austria - Scotland 5-0 Anton Schall, Karl Zischek (2), Adolf Vogl, Matthias Sindelar
May 24, 1931 Berlin Germany, Austria 0: 6 Anton Schall (3), Adolf Vogl, Karl Zischek, Friedrich Gschweidl
June 16, 1931 Vienna Austria Switzerland 2-0 Friedrich Gschweidl, Anton Schall
September 13, 1931 Vienna Austria Germany 5-0 Matthias Sindelar (3), Friedrich Gschweidl, Anton Schall
October 4, 1931 Budapest Hungary - Austria 2: 2 Karl Zischek (2)
November 29, 1931 Basel Switzerland Austria 1: 8 Anton Schall (3), Friedrich Gschweidl (2), Matthias Sindelar, Adolf Vogl, Karl Zischek
March 20, 1932 Vienna Austria - Italy 2: 1 Matthias Sindelar (2)
April 24, 1932 Vienna Austria - Hungary 8: 2 Matthias Sindelar (3), Anton Schall (4), Friedrich Gschweidl
May 22, 1932 Prague Czechoslovakia - Austria 1: 1 Matthias Sindelar
July 17, 1932 Stockholm Sweden - Austria 3: 4 Adolf Vogl, Matthias Sindelar, Georg Waitz, Josef Molzer
October 2, 1932 Budapest Hungary - Austria 2: 3 Borsanyi (own goal), Heinrich Müller, Georg Braun
October 23, 1932 Vienna Austria Switzerland 3: 1 Heinrich Müller, Anton Schall (2)
December 7, 1932 London England - Austria 4: 3 Karl Zischek (2), Matthias Sindelar
December 11, 1932 Brussels Belgium - Austria 1: 6 Karl Zischek, Franz Weselik, Anton Schall (4)
February 12, 1933 Paris France - Austria 0: 4 Matthias Sindelar, Franz Weselik, Adolf Vogl, Karl Zischek

statistics

Games Victories draw Defeats Goal difference
15th 12 2 1 62: 18

Goal scorers

Surname Gates
Anton Schall 19th
Matthias Sindelar 12
Karl Zischek 9
Friedrich Gschweidl 6th
Adolf Vogl 4th
Heinrich Muller 2
Georg Waitz , Josef Molzer , Franz Weselik 1

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Roman Horak , Wolfgang Maderthaner : More than a game. Football and popular cultures in modern Vienna. 1997: Vienna. Löcker-Verlag. P. 159 ff.
  2. ↑ See Horak / Maderthaner: More than a game. P. 162.
  3. ↑ Wolfgang and Andreas Hafer: Hugo Meisl and the invention of modern football. In: The elegance of the round leather. Edited by Wolfgang Maderthaner, Alfred Pfoser , Roman Horak. 2008: Vienna Library in the City Hall . Publishing workshop. P. 112.
  4. ↑ Horak / Maderthaner: More than a game. P. 174.
  5. ↑ Ibid. P. 176.