|
The 1950 European tour was an episode in the history of Clube Atlético Mineiro in which the club played a series of friendly football matches in Europe, becoming the first club of Minas Gerais and also the first Brazilian at professional level to compete in the continent. Atlético Mineiro played ten matches on European soil from 1 November to 7 December, touring through Germany (where it took part in a Winter Tournament), Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg and France. The team won six matches, lost two and tied the remaining, scoring 24 goals and conceding 18. At a time when neither national competitions in Brazil nor continental in South America exist, and in the wake of the traumatic Maracanazo, the tour and Atlético's results, many of which achieved under adverse weather conditions and snow, were seen by national sports media as a historic achievement for Brazilian football. == History == In 1950 a commission formed by the German Football Association traveled to Brazil to choose a football club to a series of friendly matches in Germany against some of the country's club sides. The proximity to both the Maracanazo, a traumatic event for Brazilian football, and World War II, in which Germany and Brazil were at opposite sides, may have made clubs from Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, then the footballing centres of the country, refuse participation in the friendly tour. Eventually Atlético Mineiro, then state league champion of Minas Gerais, was selected, with Canor Simões, a journalist and sports director of the time, being credited as influential in the choice. Atlético Mineiro's delegation arrived in Frankfurt on 27 October, where it was welcomed by German sports media, as it was the first time a Brazilian club played in the country. From there, the team traveled to Munich, where it played 1860 München from Oberliga Süd on 1 November, winning its first game 4–3 under a misty and cool weather at the Grünwalder Stadion with 35,000 spectators. Hamburg was the team's second stop, where it defeated Hamburger SV 4–0 in front of 20,000 people at the Rothenbaum on 4 November. Only 24 hours later, Atlético Mineiro traveled to Bremen, and was defeated by Werder 1–3 at the Weserstadion, the tour's first defeat, with an attendance of 26,000.〔 A one-week rest followed, after which the team traveled to Gelsenkirchen, where Schalke 04 was defeated 3–1, in what was a farewell match for Ernst Kuzorra and Fritz Szepan, attended by 30,000 at the Glückauf-Kampfbahn on 12 November. From Germany Atlético followed to Vienna, where 60,000 saw the Brazilians lose 0–3 to a strong Rapid Wien side, which would form the backbone of the Austrian national team in the 1954 FIFA World Cup, the tour's worst result. Viennese press reported that Atlético Mineiro's players complained about refereeing (a supposed offside goal and a non-existent penalty to Rapid), as well as about the crowd's behavior, which they saw as menacing even though the home team's supporters were only raising their arms to applaud the visitors. On 20 November, the team played 1.FC Saarbrücken, then out of the German Football Association and playing in the French football league system because of Saarlands's French protectorate status, a match won by 2–0. A trip to Belgium followed, where 40,000 watched Atlético beat Belgian First Division champions Anderlecht, led by Joseph Mermans, by a 2–1 score on 22 November. On 26 November the club returned to Germany, where they tied with Eintracht Braunschweig 3–3 at Eintracht-Stadion in front of 30,000 people. Another 3–3 tie followed, this time in Luxembourg against Union, increased by players from some other Luxembourger sides, on 5 December. The tour ended in Paris with a match against Stade Français on 7 December at Parc des Princes with a 4,000 attendance. Atlético won 2–1 under an extremely low temperature, which made goalkeeper Kafunga play some parts of the match with his hands in a hot water bottle and caused hypothermia in midfielder Barbatana.〔The tour ended in some turmoil at European soil, however, as a disagreement between the club's board members and the German tour manager Eden Kaltenecker resulted in the disappearance of the latter and a shortage of money for the return trip to Brazil, which had to be ultimately funded by Minas Gerais state government.〔 A match against French champion Lille, to be played on 10 December, was also cancelled because of intense cold. Brazilian press, however, anticipated the return of the club's delegation, which was honored by the Brazilian Sports Confederation and received a standing ovation at the Maracanã before a Campeonato Carioca match. The team was welcomed by over 50,000 people upon its return to Belo Horizonte, in what was described as an "apotheotic" celebration in the city streets.〔 Despite not having an unbeaten run, sports media lauded Atlético Mineiro's tour as a historical success for the country's football,〔 which had suffered a major setback with the Maracanazo in the same year, and the results achieved under adverse conditions and snowy grounds led to the dubbing of the team as ''Campeões do Gelo'' (Portuguese for "Ice Champions"), a feat remembered in the club's official anthem. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「1950 Atlético Mineiro European tour」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|