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The Italians hoist coach Vittorio Pozzo after winning the final. HULTON/Allsport |
For the only time the holders declined to defend the trophy in a 17-nation knockout tournament, which was won again by the hosts.
Italy's triumph, to the delight of Benito Mussolini, left both Argentina and Brazil disenchanted after they traveled 13,000 kilometers for just one game each in the first round.
In the final, Italy beat Czechoslovakia 2-1 in extra time after trailing 1-0 until the 82nd minute.
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Italy played five matches, winning four and drawing one, scoring 12 goals and giving up three. In the preliminary round, Italy eliminated the United States 7-1 on May 27, with Angelo Schiavio hitting a hat trick. In the quarterfinals, Italy and Spain drew 1-1 on May 31, forcing a playoff match a day later, which Italy won 1-0. Italy earned a berth in the final with a 1-0 win on a wet pitch over Austria's famed "Wunderteam" 1-0 in Milan.
In the final in Rome, Laslo Puc gave the Czechs an early one-goal lead, but Raimondo Orsi scored with eight minutes left to send the match into overtime. Angelo Schiavio's goal nine minutes into extra time gave Italy and Europe their first World Cup title.
Squad: Giampiero Combi, Eraldo Mozeglio, Luigi Allemandi, Attilio Ferraris IV, Luis Monti, Luigi Bertolini, Enrique Guaita, Guiseppe Meazza, Angelo Schiavio, Giovanni Ferrari, Raimundo Orsi, Felice Placido Borel II, Armando Castelazzi, Attilio Demarin, Anfilogino Guarisi (Filo), Mario Pizziolo, Virginio Rosetta. Director: Vitorio Pozzo.
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In its second edition, the World Cup became a worldwide event. Thirty-two of FIFA's 50 affiliated member nations took part in the qualification rounds, with 16 gaining berths in the finals. Unlike the 1930 tournament, where teams participated by invitation, even host nation Italy had to qualify in 1934. Held from May 27 to June 10, the purely single-elimination tournament was considered more encouraging than its predecessor. But as a retort to the many withdrawals of European teams four years earlier, several South American nations, such as Argentina and Brazil, did not send their best teams to Italy. Uruguay declined to participate and defend its title. A third-place match was held for the first time.
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The second World Cup was held in eight cities across Italy: Bologna, Florence, Genoa, Milan, Rome, Turin, Naples and Trieste. Four of the host's players were actually Argentine, the Oriundi including De Maria, Orsi and Guiata. The Italians survived a grueling run to the final, but the second World Cup's soccer went down in history as technically lacking, and the tournament was marred by its use as a propaganda tool by Benito Mussolini and his government.
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In order of finish: 1. Italy, 2. Czechoslovakia, 3. Germany, 4. Austria, 5. Spain, 6. Hungary, 7. Switzerland, 8. Sweden, 9. Argentina, 10. France, 11. Holland, 12. Romania, 13. Egypt, Brazil, Belgium, United States.
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As in 1930, 70 goals were scored, this time in 17 matches, including the preliminary round.
Quarterfinals: Germany 2, Sweden 1; Austria 2, Hungary 1; Czechoslovakia 3, Switzerland 2; Italy 1, Spain 1 (playoff: Italy 1, Spain 0)
Semifinals: Italy 1, Austria 0; Czechoslovakia 3, Germany 1
Final: Italy 2, Czechoslovakia 1, after extra time
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Czechoslovakia's Oldrich Nejedly was the tournament's leading scorer with five goals, and Angelo Schiavio was second with four. The final also featured a matchup of two of the greatest goalkeepers of all time in Gianpiero Combi and Frantisek Planicka. Meanwhile, Italy midfielder Luis Monti featured in his second straight final after having played for Argentina in 1930, a unique achievement in World Cup history. This time, however, he was a winner.
The physically imposing Nejedly was a scourge of defenses in the pre-war era, forming a deadly partnership with Antonin Puc that fired Czecholsovakia to the final in 1934. In the semifinals, Nejedly was far too clever for the German defense, collecting a hat trick in a 3-0 win.
Schiavio scored the goal that won the World Cup. Just five minutes into extra time Guaita crossed and Schiavio found time and space in the penalty area to beat his marker and shoot home Italy's winner. He had opened the tournament with a hat trick in a 7-1 win over the United States
His strike partner Giuseppe Meazza was a deadly goalscorer, scoring 33 career goals in 53 games for Italy. In 1934 he was on target in a 7-1 win over the United States in the first round in 1934 and scored the winner in Italy's 1-0 win in the second-round replay with Spain which followed their tough 1-1 draw the previous day. But Meazza's most telling contribution was saved for the final. A late, freakish equalizer had denied Czechoslovakia a deserved victory, and in extra time Meazza laid on the cross from which Schiavio grabbed the winning goal.
Italy goalkeeper Combi became the first European to lift the World Cup in 1934 and he remains one of only two keepers to achieve that honor. The other -- Dino Zoff in 1982 -- was also Italian, creating an intractable decision for anyone drawing up an all-time Azzurri XI. Combi retired immediately after the final, as he had vowed.
Combi's opposite number, Planicka, was arguably the better player of the two.
An outstanding shot stopper, Planicka had also been a courageous and inspirational captain as Czechoslovakia advanced to the final with close wins over Romania, Switzerland and Germany.
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Luis Monti played for Argentina in 1930 and for what team in 1934?
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CNNSI.com wire services contributed to this report.
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