|
"NOW
WE ARE THE LAUGHING STOCK OF
EUROPE"
Clifford Webb, Daily Herald |
Officials
from
Italy |
Portugal |
FIFA ruling on substitutes |
England
Party |
Referee
Giorgio Francesco Valentino
Bernardi
37 (16 May 1912), Bologna, Italy |
|
Linesmen |
tbc |
tbc |
|
|
Portugal
Team |
|
Rank |
No official ranking system established; ELO rating 34th to 31st |
Colours |
Maroon jerseys, white shorts, black socks |
Captain |
Manuel Passos |
Manager |
João Joaquim Tavares da Silva, 51 (29 November 1903) |
Portugal
Lineup |
|
Pereira, Alberto da Costa |
25
146 days |
23 December 1929 |
G |
Sport Lisboa e Benfica |
1 |
1ᵍᵃ |
2 |
Caldeira, Manuel António |
28
155 days |
14 December 1926 |
RB |
Sporting Club de Portugal |
3 |
0 |
final app 1954-55 |
3 |
Carvalho, Ângelo Ferreira |
29
288 days |
3 August 1925 |
LB |
FC do Porto |
15 |
0 |
final app 1950-55 |
4 |
Pedroto, José Maria Carvalho |
26
209 days |
21 October 1928 |
RHB |
FC do Porto |
3 |
0 |
5 |
Passos Fernandes, Manuel |
33
111 days |
26 March 1922 |
CHB |
Sporting Club de Portugal |
9 |
0 |
6 |
Juca |
26
125 days |
13 January 1929 |
LHB |
Sporting Club de Portugal |
2 |
0 |
Pereira,
Júlio Cernadas |
7 |
Dimas, José Roméo |
25
15 days |
7 May 1930 |
OR |
CF Os Belenenses |
1 |
0 |
8
|
Matateu |
27
296 days |
26 July 1927 in Mozembique |
IR |
CF Os Belenenses |
9 |
2 |
da Fonseca, Sebastião Lucas |
9
|
de Carvalho Santos Águas, José Pinto |
24
190 days |
9 November 1930 in
Angola |
CF |
Sport Lisboa e Benfica |
6 |
4 |
10 |
Barreto Travassos, José António |
29
85 days |
22 February 1926 |
IL |
Sporting Club de Portugal |
28 |
6 |
11 |
Bilãu, José Pedro, injured off 36th min. |
23
38 days |
10 April 1932 |
OL |
Lusitano FC |
1 |
0 |
Portugal Substitute |
scoreline:
Portugal 1 England 1 |
|
Martins, João Baptista, on 36th min. for José Pedro |
27
257 days |
3 September 1927 |
OL |
Sporting Club de Portugal |
7 |
0 |
result:
Portugal 3 England 1 |
unused substitutes: |
not known |
team : |
"Portugal had won only one of their
previous 19 internationals, and that was against the amateurs of South
Africa." - Clifford Webb. In fact, Portugal had not
won for six years, since they beat Wales in May 1949 |
|
2-3-5 |
Pereira - Caldeira, Carvalho - Pedroto, Passos, Juca -
Dimas, Matateu, Águas, Travssos, José Pedro |
Averages:
(start) (finish) |
Age |
27 years
80 days
27 years
233 days |
Appearances/Goals |
7.1 |
0.8 |
|
|
England
Team |
|
Rank |
No official ranking system established; ELO rating 5th |
Colours |
The 1954 Umbro
home uniform -
White v-necked short-sleeved continental jerseys, blue rayon shorts,
black socks with white tops.
|
P fifth of 43, W 2 - D 1 - L 2 - F 12 - A 9. |
Captain |
Billy Wright |
Manager |
Walter Winterbottom, 42 (31 March 1913), appointed as FA national director of coaching/team manager on 8 July 1946; |
record 53rd of 90, W 30 - D 10 - L 13 - F 130 - A 84. |
P 71st of 139, W 43 - D 14 - L 14 - F 204 - A 105,
one abandoned. |
|
³ |
Team chosen by Selection Committee, headed by
Harold Shentall, on Saturday, 21 May. |
England
Lineup |
|
one change
to the previous match (Blunstone>Quixall) |
FINAL league positions
(5 May) |
|
|
Williams, Bert F. |
35
111 days |
31 January 1920 |
G |
Wolverhampton Wanderers FC (FL RU) |
23 |
32ᵍᵃ |
2 |
Sillett, R. Peter T. |
22
110 days |
1 February 1933 |
RB |
Chelsea FC (FL CHAMPIONS) |
3 |
0 |
final app 1955 |
3 |
Byrne, Roger W. |
25
256 days |
8 September 1929 |
LB |
Manchester United FC
(FL 5th) |
13 |
0 |
4 |
Dickinson, James
W. |
30
28 days |
24 April 1925 |
RHB |
Portsmouth
FC (FL 3rd) |
40 |
0 |
the fifth player to reach the 40-app milestone |
5 |
Wright, William A. |
31
105 days |
6 February 1924 |
CHB |
Wolverhampton
Wanderers FC (FL RU) |
68 |
3 |
most apps 1952-55 |
6 |
Edwards, Duncan |
18
233 days |
1 October 1936 |
LHB |
Manchester United FC (FL 5th) |
4 |
0 |
7 |
Matthews, Stanley |
40
110 days |
1 February 1915 |
OR |
Blackpool FC (FL 19th) |
45 |
9 |
oldest outfield player |
8
|
Bentley,
T.F. Roy |
31 5
days |
17 May 1924 |
IR/CF |
Chelsea
FC (FL CHAMPIONS) |
12 |
9 |
final app 1949-55 |
9 |
Lofthouse, Nathaniel, injured off 39th min. |
29
268 days |
27 August 1925 |
CF |
Bolton Wanderers FC (FL 18th) |
26 |
25 |
10
|
Wilshaw, Dennis J. |
29
72 days |
11 March 1926 |
IL |
Wolverhampton Wanderers FC (FL
RU) |
7 |
7 |
11 |
Blunstone, Frank |
20
217 days |
17 October 1934 |
OL |
Chelsea
FC (FL CHAMPIONS) |
4 |
0 |
England Substitute |
scoreline:
Portugal 1 England 1 |
|
Quixall, Albert, on 39th min. for Lofthouse |
21
286 days
|
9 August 1933 |
IR |
Sheffield Wednesday FC (FL 22nd rel.)
|
5 |
4 |
0 |
1 |
final app 1953-55 |
result:
Portugal 3 England 1 |
unused substitutes: |
not named, but certainly
Reg Matthews (Coventry City FC (FL3S
9th)) |
team notes: |
Billy Wright extends his record appearance tally. He also equals his
own consecutive appearance record of 33. Quixall becomes England's
second ever substitute in a full international, he did so after
Lofthouse was accidentally kicked in the head, giving him a nasty
facial injury. |
records: |
This defeat equals an England record of five away friendly matches
without victory, set in 1873-80. |
goalscoring
records: |
Roy Bentley ends the season as top goalscorer, scoring six goals in
six matches, including one hattrick. The oldest player to top the
chart since George Camsell (33) in 1935-36. |
|
2-3-5 |
Williams - Sillett, Byrne - Dickinson, Wright, Edwards -
Matthews, Bentley, Lofthouse (Quixall), Wilshaw,
Blunstone. : for the
second half, Bentley swapped positions with Quixall |
Averages:
(start)
(finish) |
Age |
28 years 206
days
27 years 297
days |
Appearances/Goals |
22.3 |
4.7 |
|
|
Match Report by
Mike Payne |
England, with a defeat in Paris and a draw in Madrid, tried to end their
1955 summer tour on a higher note against Portugal. But the dismal run
continued after Portugal registered their first victory over them.
To be fair, England
should never have lost this match. They had most of the possession, but
failed miserably in front of goal, showing a distinct, and annoying
reluctance to shoot. Coupled with this they then made two terrible
blunders in defence in the last ten minutes and consequently lost the
game.
Yet it had all started
brightly enough. In the 19th minute Roy Bentley gave England the lead with
a good shot following a delightful move involving Bentley, Jimmy Dickinson
and Dennis Wilshaw. Sadly, that turned out to be their only worthwhile
goal attempt of the opening half. After 24 minutes England's defence was
caught dreaming and the lapse enabled Portugal to level the scores with a
25-yard screamer by
Águas which flew into the top left-hand corner of Bert Williams'
goal.
De Fonseca, always dangerous, and Travassos
both went close afterwards but on the whole the half continued to favour
England. But despite their long periods of possession it could not be
turned into goals. Passos was a tower of strength for the home side and
the England forwards, although showing their undoubted skill, could find
little to encourage them.
There was a distinctly lethargic look
about the England players, although the irrepressible Billy Wright was the
exception. He was his usual immaculate self, inspiring his colleagues with
a fine performance. Wright covered the many errors of his teammates with
the minimum of fuss and yet still found time to urge on his forwards. The
rest of the team did not respond to their skipper's example as they should
have done.
The opening 25 minutes of the second half saw England
surging forward and in this spell they should have put the result out of
Portugal's reach. First Bentley and Wilshaw combined to create an opening,
but Bentley tried one pass too many and the chance was lost. Then Albert
Quixall, who had substituted for Nat Lofthouse, missed a sitter from close
in when he ought to have scored. Finally, Wilshaw saw a header rebound off
the crossbar when, again, he ought to have done better. Stanley Matthews
had set up that last chance with a typical piece of skill, but apart from
that, the Blackpool wizard was largely subdued by the hard-working
Portuguese defence.
With ten minutes to go, England made a fatal
error. They were pressing hard for a winner when Portugal made a rare
break from defence. When Roger Byrne gathered the ball to clear it seemed
the attack had broken down. But the ever alert de Fonseca chased Byrne and
challenged for the ball. In a flash the coloured striker robbed the
full-back before striding on to shoot past Williams. The crowd went wild
with delight as the possibility of a famous victory was sensed.
Four minutes later they were even more ecstatic as that possibility became
fact. This time, Wright, making his only mistake of the game, tried a
back-header that fell short of Williams. Águas nipped in smartly and once
again the goalkeeper was helpless.
At the end of the game the
scenes at the stadium were reminiscent of a team winning the World Cup!
|
Match Report by
Norman Giller |
England were disjointed from the moment Nat
Lofthouse went off injured with the score at 1-1. Albert Quixall came on
as substitute in what was his final England appearance. It was also Roy
Bentley's last match for England after twelve appearances in three
different shirts over a period of six years. His nineteenth minute goal
could not save England from their first defeat by Portugal. Defensive
errors let the Portuguese in for two late goals and a famous victory.
Stanley Matthews and Billy Wright were the only players on the pitch who
had featured in the 10-0 slaughter of
Portugal in Lisbon eight years earlier. Billy Wright owned up to being
responsible for Portugal's third goal. Trying to find our goalkeeper Bert
Williams with a back header, he misdirected the ball and it opened the way for
an easy goal. You would have thought Portugal had won the World Cup when the
final whistle went. thousands of spectators poured on to the pitch, and mobbed
their players. It just went to show that beating England was still counted as
the big prize.
|
Match Report
as appears in the F.A. Yearbook 1955-56 page 30 |
The third and final match of the tour was
played in Oporto, and England were unfortunately beaten by three goals to
one. It had been hoped that this last game would make up for previous
disappointments, but the
team as a whole again failed to rise to the occasion. The defence made
three costly mistakes, while the forwards wasted a number of good chances
to take the lead when the score was still one all. Bentley opened the
scoring with a fine shot at the 18th minute, but Portugal were level at
the interval (Aguas). England frittered away her opportunities in the
second half until in the final ten minutes two defensive lapses gave
Portugal a clear win (Matateu, Aguas). While the result will undoubtedly
do a lot of good to Portuguese football, it was a sad and dismal end to a
somewhat discouraging tour.
|
In
Other News....
It was on
21 May 1955 that the Prime Minister, Sir Anthony Eden,
presented a Conservative Election Broadcast on BBC
Television, five days before the General Election. His
confident speaking was felt to be a major factor in his
party increasing their majority in the House of Commons from
17 to sixty seats. He had called the election on becoming
Prime Minister following Sir Winston Churchill's retirement,
seven weeks earlier. |
|
Source Notes |
TheFA.com
Original newspaper reports FPF.pt
ZeroZero.pt |
|
Rothman's Yearbooks
Mike Payne's England: The Complete Post-War Record
Norman Giller, Football Author
The Complete Book of the British Charts |
|
cg |