Montevideo (AFP)

A player threatened by Benito Mussolini, the visit of singer Carlos Gardel, the rivalry with Argentina: Uruguay celebrates Thursday the 90th anniversary of the final of the first World Cup in football history.

Fifa had three good reasons for choosing Uruguay as the host country for this inaugural "Mundial": the selection was double Olympic champion (1924, 1928); the year 1930 marked the centenary of the country's constitution; "Finally, the most important reason, Uruguay had promised to pay the travel and expenses of all those who came," sports journalist Alfredo Etchandy told AFP.

The small South American country succeeded in building a stadium, "El Centenario", in record time: just six months, in a country in full effervescence nicknamed at the time "the Switzerland of America" ​​and in search of 'a world title to top it all off, explains sociologist Leonardo Mendiondo.

Thirteen selections made the trip to Montevideo, all invited without going through a qualifying phase, which has never happened since. From July 13 to 30, France, Belgium, Romania and Yugoslavia met, all from Europe by ocean liner. On the Americas side, there was Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Paraguay, Mexico, the United States and, therefore, Uruguay.

- A predictable final -

Uruguay and Argentina qualified safely for the final, revenge of the Olympic tournament won two years earlier by the "Celeste" in Amsterdam.

"There were traditional rivals there who had won all the major competitions since 1900, whether at club or national level," said Etchandy.

Many anecdotes made this match memorable, including the visit to both teams, the day before the final, by Carlos Gardel, the legendary Argentine tango singer ... born in Toulouse.

According to the newspapers of the time, of the 70,000 spectators who entered the Centenario that day, nearly 15,000 had come from Argentina by crossing the Rio de la Plata in a steamboat.

"We did not treat the Argentines well," admitted Etchandy, "it was a very tough game". One of the Argentinian players, Luis Monti, was even threatened with death and "ended the match disturbed, playing very badly", recalls the journalist.

According to some versions, Monti was threatened by two Italians sent by Benito Mussolini himself, who wanted Argentina's best player to wear the Italian jersey. Naturalized in 1932, Monti played and won the 1934 World Cup for the Azzurri.

Another anecdote, there was no official ball yet and each finalist wanted to play with his own.

The referee Jean Langenus was "a Belgian a little worried about the situation. He had asked for a pass to start again as quickly as possible", remembers Alfredo Etchandy.

Langenus therefore decided that the match would be played with two balls: that of the Argentines in the first period, they led 2-1 at the break; that of the Uruguayans in second, they won this final 4-2, and therefore the first FIFA World Cup.

- A Mundial "too distant" -

This historic final did not mark the start of the rivalry between the two countries separated only by the Rio de la Plata, which had already lasted for three decades, but it was an important step, according to Leonardo Mendiondo.

"It is part of everything that has cemented the Uruguayan identity around football," summarizes the sociologist. Since then, it has disappeared in the shadow of the mythical final of 1950, at the Maracana in Rio, won 2-1 by the "Celeste" against Brazil: the famous "Maracanazo".

"All the players of 1930 are dead, while those of 1950 continued to participate in the celebrations until very recently", smiles the journalist.

"People need emotions that are closer to their time," adds the sociologist. The 1930 World Cup "is now part of history", but it is "too far away, people have not experienced it".

© 2020 AFP