“Three firefighters, three waiters, two porters, an engineer, an administrator and a baker are the eleven Swedish starters.” This is how he presented Mark on Sunday, November 8, 1953 to the Swedish team, which visited our country for the first time. The one there was amateur football, in which the players who stood out (Nordhal, Liedholm, Gren, Sokglund…) went to Italy, France and even in some cases (Carlsson) to Spain to gain fame and money. They would not return for the national team, except for the final phase of the World Cup.
So the rival didn’t seem like much, but there was an uncomfortable atmosphere. Spain had its new coach, Manuel Iribarren, moreover a professional dentist. It is true that he had played for Real Unión in the amateur era, but he had been away from football for 30 years. He was the dentist of the president of the Federation, Sancho Dأ،vila, a old shirtas the first-class Falangists called themselves to differentiate themselves from the careerists who emerged at the end of the War. Sancho Dأ،vila was a bullfighter from Jerez. The world of football missed him as the intruder that he was and his only reference was Iribarren, who between extraction and extraction told him little stories. Mark He did a survey to choose between Ricardo Zamora and Ramأ³n Encinas, but he leaned toward his trusted man. Ahead was the mission of getting Spain into the ’54 World Cup. We had just finished fourth in 1950, in Rio.
The evenings came tinged with controversy. A singular sensation occurred between Antonio Valencia, from Markand Monchأn, from The Mail. Valencia criticized the designation of San Mamés in November to receive Sweden, pointing out that a drier and more temperate climate would have been more advisable, which provoked Monchán’s reaction. The controversy lasted for days. It was also criticized that Iribarren did not give the lineup until the day before. Then it was common to give it as soon as the list appeared, and the delay caused him to be labeled as unresolved. Then it would be seen that the doubts were in the defense, where Navarro (recently returned, with Kubala, from a FIFA national team match), Campanal and Lesmes II were expected.
But I would choose Orأ؛e, Biosca and Garay. Biosca was in poor shape, Orأ؛e was a debutant, Garay was not a full-back, but a central or midfielder. It was assumed that Biosca left due to hierarchy or pressure from Ramallets and Kubala, and the other two left because of locals and to compensate for the fact that Madrid player Molowny, and not Bilbao’s Panizo, joined Gaanza. Furthermore, the two midfielders, Muأ±oz and Bosch, were attacking players, which further unprotected the experimental defense. Another bad surprise was that he announced Kubala as interior and Venancio as center forward, the opposite of what they did in their clubs. It was attributed to the comfort of Kubala, who was playing his third game with the national team and was seen as a demigod.
It was our fourth game with Sweden. The first was in 1920, in Antwerp, with a joyful victory thanks to Belauste’s famous goal. In 1950 they beat us 3-1 in the consolation final in Rio. And in 1951 we had tied there 0-0 in a friendly. They arrived on Saturday instead of Friday, after a night in Paris forced by fog in Sondica, which Antonio Valencia would exploit in his controversy. All very tall and very blonde except for the coach, George Raynor, a short, dark Englishman.
The game starts well, with a goal in the 11th minute by Molowny, who breaks several, reaches the photographers and gives way to Venancio, who scores. 1-0. But in the 16th minute, Biosca delayed a ball to Ramallets without realizing that striker Eriksson was there, taking advantage of the gift. 1-1. In the 22nd minute, chain failure by Orأ؛ey Biosca and goal by Johanson. 1-2. And in the 62nd minute, Molowny made it 2-2 with a high, skillful and placed shot into the far corner.
Conclusion, the defense was a disaster that did not save even a great Ramallets, which was enormous. The stocking was lost. At the top there were few and bad attacks, Miguel did the best, very isolated because Kubala ran to the left. We were saved by two sparks of class from Molowny, who did little else. Iribarren tried to justify his decisions, but it didn’t work.
A warning regarding the classification with Turkey, which we will play in Madrid, Istanbul and a tiebreaker in Rome. We were eliminated by Turkey, by draw, after tying the tiebreaker. The dentist, who in four games used 24 different players (only Venancio played all four) left with a fresh wind and his supporter returned to the world of bullfighting, where they understood him more.
That first visit from Sweden was a bad omen.
