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Match
Summary |
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Officials |
Italy |
Type |
England |
Referee
(black blazer) - Pedro
Escartín Morán
45 (8 August 1902), Madrid, Spain.
Linesmen -
tbc
The FIFA ruling of allowing a substitute to replace an injured player prior to the 44th minute, and a goalkeeper at any time, is in place. |
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Goal Attempts |
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Attempts on Target |
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Hit Bar/Post |
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Corner Kicks Won |
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Offside Calls Against |
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Fouls Conceded |
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Possession |
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Italy
Team |
|
Current World Champions since 1938 |
Colours: |
Dark blue crew necked jerseys, white shorts. |
Rank: |
No official ranking system established; ELO rating 2nd |
Capt: |
Victor Mazzola |
Manager: |
Vittorio Pozzo third match, W 2 - D 0 - L 1 - F 6 - A 6 |
Italy
Lineup |
1 |
Bacigalupo, Valerio |
24 |
12 March 1924 |
G |
AC Torino |
3 |
6 GA |
2 |
Ballarin, Aldo |
26 |
10 January 1922 |
RB |
AC Torino |
7 |
0 |
3 |
Eliani, Alberto |
26 |
14 January 1922 |
LB |
Fiorentina |
2 |
0 |
4 |
Annovazzi, Carlo |
22 |
24 May 1925 |
RHB |
AC Milan |
3 |
0 |
5 |
Parola, Carlo |
26 |
20 September 1921 |
CHB |
Juventus FC |
6 |
0 |
6 |
Grezar, Giuseppe |
29 |
25 November 1918 |
LHB |
AC Torino |
8 |
0 |
7 |
Menti, Romeo |
28 |
5 September 1919 |
OR |
AC Torino |
5 |
4 |
8 |
Loik, Ezio |
28 |
26 September 1919 |
IR |
AC Torino |
8 |
4 |
9 |
Gabetto, Guglielmo |
32 |
24 February 1916 |
CF |
AC Torino |
6 |
5 |
10 |
Mazzola, Valentino |
29 |
26 January 1919 |
IL |
AC Torino |
10 |
3 |
11 |
Carapellese, Riccardo |
25 |
1 July 1922 |
OL |
AC Milan |
4 |
4 |
unused substitutes: |
- |
team notes: |
Bacigalupo, Ballarin, Grezar, Menti, Loik, Gabetto and Mazzola would
all be dead within a year, following the Turin Air Disaster. |
|
2-3-5 |
Bacigalupo - Ballarin, Eliani - Annovazzi, Parola,
Grezar - Menti, Loik, Gabetto, Mazzola, Carapellese. |
Averages: |
Age |
26.8 |
Appearances/Goals |
5.6 |
1.8 |
|
|
England
Team |
|
Rank: |
No official ranking system established; ELO rating 3rd |
Colours: |
The 1946 home
uniform -
White collared jerseys, blue shorts, red socks |
Capt: |
Frank Swift, first captaincy. |
Manager:
Member-in-charge: Arthur Drewry.
Trainer: Jimmy Trotter (Charlton Athletic FC) |
Walter Winterbottom, 35 (31 March 1913), appointed as FA national director of coaching/team manager on 8 July 1946;
14th
match, W 11 - D 2 - L 1 - F 53 - A 12.
Original Party chosen by Selection Committee headed by Arthur Drewry on
Sunday, 25 April 1948. Team chosen Saturday, 16 May. |
England
Lineup |
|
Swift, Frank V. |
34 |
26 December 1913 |
G |
Manchester City FC |
14 |
12 GA |
2 |
Scott,
Lawrence |
31 |
23 April 1917 |
RB |
Arsenal
FC |
14 |
0 |
3 |
Howe, John R. |
32 |
7 October 1915 |
LB |
Derby County FC |
1 |
0 |
4 |
Wright, William A. |
24 |
6 February 1924 |
RHB |
Wolverhampton
Wanderers FC |
14 |
0 |
5 |
Franklin,
Cornelius |
26 |
24 January 1922 |
CHB |
Stoke
City FC |
14 |
0 |
6 |
Cockburn,
Henry |
26 |
14 September 1921 |
LHB |
Manchester
United FC |
5 |
0 |
7 |
Matthews, Stanley |
33 |
1 February 1915 |
OR |
Blackpool FC |
25 |
9 |
8 |
Mortensen, Stanley H. |
26 |
26 May 1921 |
IR |
Blackpool FC |
7 |
11 |
9 |
Lawton, Thomas |
28 |
6 October 1919 |
CF |
Notts County FC |
22 |
22 |
10 |
Mannion,
Wilfred
J. |
30 |
16 May 1918 |
IL |
Middlesbrough FC |
13 |
8 |
11  |
Finney,
Thomas |
26 |
5 April 1922 |
OL |
Preston
North End FC |
12 |
11 |
unused substitutes: |
Jack Aston (Manchester United),
Alf Ramsey (Southampton),
Bill Nicholson (Tottenham Hotspur),
Stan Pearson (Manchester United),
Bobby Langton (Blackburn Rovers).
Ted Ditchburn (Tottenham Hotspur FC) was a home reserve. On
standby in case of injury to Swift. |
team notes: |
Frank Swift was chosen to captain England on Thursday, 13 May. The
England team trained in Stresa, overlooking Lake Maggiore, before
setting up in the Hotel Piedmonte in Turin the day before the match.
Jack Howe was wearing contact lenses, becoming the first England
player to do so in an international match. This is the oldest and most-experienced post-war team England have
fielded so far. |
|
2-3-5 |
Swift -
Scott, Howe -
Wright, Franklin, Cockburn -
Matthews,
Mortensen, Lawton, Mannion, Finney. |
Averages: |
Age |
28.7 |
Appearances/Goals |
12.8 |
5.2 |
|
|
Match Report
by Mike Payne |
The scoreline does not reflect the closeness of this contest. A huge
crowd, mostly white-shirted and dotted with black umbrellas under a
blazing sun, gave the teams a tremendous welcome as they came out.
England won the toss but Carapallese and Mazzola were soon worrying
their defenders. After four minutes, though, it was England who took
the lead. Stan Mortensen took a clever through pass from Stanley
Matthews, cut past the Italian left flank and shot home from an
unbelievable angle. It was a great goal, typical of such a great
player.
For the next 20
minutes England were rocked back on their heels. The Italian forwards
and wing-halves pressed forward with metodical precision. Yet on 24
minutes, and completely out of the blue, England suddenly increased
their lead.
This time Neil Franklin found Matthews. Again, a
through-ball reached Mortensen, who then changed pace twice to leave
Grezar and Parola floundering before hooking the ball back for Tommy
Lawton to shoot home a thunderbolt.
Before that goal, Menti
twice had goals ruled out for offside and Swift had saved brilliantly
from a Gabetto close-range header. Lawrie Scott also had to save a
shot from Carapallese on the goal-line and then, after the second
England goal, the same Italian forced Frank Swift into another fine
save.
Immediately
after the interval, Mazzola was clean through and had a golden
opportunity but he shot straight at Swift.
On 59 minutes a header by
Gabetto rebounded from the crossbar and then Swift made yet another
brilliant save, diving full-length to stop the rebound from going over
the line.
Although England were now moving more comfortably
with Henry Cockburn coming into the picture more, Italy were still
very dangerous up front. Billy Wright was playing magnificently for
the visitors and he did particularly well to stop Mazzola and
Carapallese, Italy's best players.
With 19 minutes remaining,
England settled the match with two more fine goals in as many minutes.
A clever lobbed pass by WIlf Mannion was volleyed home by Tom Finney;
and the Preston player then netted again after good work by Cockburn
and Mortensen.
It was all over now and the game ended with
England giving Italy a football lesson. Their superior tactics,
individual brilliance and lethal finishing had won the day.
Swift, Wright, Franklin, Scott and Mortensen had all been outstanding.
|
Match Report
by Norman Giller |
Frank Swift
recovered from his rib injury against Scotland the previous month in time to
become the first goalkeeper to captain England, taking over from the
unfortunate George Hardwick. His first match as skipper was against the
two-times world champions Italy. Italy were stunned in the fourth minute when
Stan Mortensen sprinted 40 yards down the right wing before cutting in and
scoring with a screaming shot from an acute angle.
Following a series of stunning saves by skipper Frank Swift, Morty laid
on a second goal for Tommy Lawton, and two individual goals from Tom Finney
finished off the Italians late in the second-half. Derby County defender Jack
Howe, making his debut at left-back, was the first to play for England while
wearing contact lenses. There were tears among the shirt-sleeved 58,000
spectators in Turin's Stadio Communale as the Old Masters conquered the side
that had won the World Cup in 1934 and again in 1938. At the peak of Italy's
attempted revival in the first-half, it was Wright and Franklin together who
did most to repel the wave upon wave of Italian attacks, with Swift always
alert behind them as a magnificent last line of defence. He was so proud of
being made captain that he was going to refuse to let anybody put the ball
past him and spoil his big day. He saved at least half a dozen times when a
goal seemed certain. The Italian team included six of the gifted Torino team
that was tragically killed in an air crash a year later. Among the victims was
skipper Valentino Mazzola, whose two sons later went on to play for Italy. It
is chilling to think that both captains in the match against Italy, Frank Swift
and Mazzola, were later to die in air crashes. Big Frank died in the 1958
Munich air disaster when travelling with Manchester United as a newspaper
reporter.
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Source Notes |
"ITALIAN
SOCCER CHAMPIONS
"DIE IN PLANE WRECK ꟷ ONE ENGLISH VICTIM "Italy's champion Association
football team, the Torino F.C., with their English trainer, 38-year-old
former Manchester United star, Leslie Lievesley, were killed in a plane
crash near Turin on Wednesday evening. "The death-roll includes the
full team, at least three reserves, another trainer, three journalists,
the president of the club (Professor Agnesina), a masseur, and the crew of
the plane. In all the victims number 31. "The aircraft, which was
bringing the team back from a friendly match in Lisbon, was trying to land
on Turin Airfield in bad visibility when it struck the Superga hill and
burst into flames. "Fragments of wreckage were shot through the roof of
the famous Basilica of the Superga, a burial place of the Royal House of
Savoy. The plane's wing-tip is thought to have touched the tower of the
Basilica. "The Torino, five teams consecutively winners of the Italian
championship, included many internationals, some of whom played against a
British team in Turin last year. "A one-week 'blck-ou' of all Italian
football may follow the crash." - Thursday, 5 May 1949,
Belfast Telegraph
TheFA.com Original newspaper reports Rothman's Yearbooks
FIGC
Mike Payne's England: The Complete Post-War Record (Breedon Books Publishing Company, Derby, U.K., 1993)
Billy Wright's The World is My Football Pitch (Stanley
Paul Co 1953)
Norman Giller, Football Author
____________________
CG
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