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It Was What It Was : The Football History Podcast

Imre Hirschl: The Hungarian Trailblazer of South American Football | Part Two

It Was What It Was : The Football History Podcast

The Overlap

History, Rob Draper, Jonathan Wilson, Football, It What Was What It Was, The Overlap, Football History, Premier League, Four Four Two, When Saturday Comes, English Football, The Blizzard, Stick To Football, Sports, Soccer

4.9667 Ratings

🗓️ 18 November 2025

⏱️ 54 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Welcome back to It Was What It Was, the football history podcast. Co-hosts Jonathan Wilson and Rob Draper continue the extraordinary story of Imre Hirschl, the Hungarian who revolutionised South American football. In this second part, we look into Hirschl's impact on Uruguay's historic 1950 World Cup victory and his innovative tactics at Club Atlético Peñarol and River Plate. Discover how Hirschl's genius and controversial methods shaped football history, transforming teams and leaving a lasting legacy on the footballing world. 


00:45 The Tactical Mastermind Behind Uruguay's Success

01:55 Controversial Matches and Referee Decisions

05:20 The Dominance of the Big Five in Argentinian Football

08:37 Hirschl's move to River Plate 

11:59 Tactical Evolution and Direct Play

16:55 Hircshl’s Downfall and Match-Fixing Allegations

21:06 Return to Coaching and Success in Uruguay

28:22 Strict Discipline and Unique Methods

29:09 Young Players and Team Dynamics

31:14 Campaign for National Coach

31:59 Political Disputes and Appointments

33:22 World Cup Preparations and Chaos

35:43 Uruguay's Tactical Genius

37:11 The Shocking World Cup Final

43:48 Aftermath and Legacy

44:58 Hirschl's Influence and Final Years


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Transcript

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0:00.0

Hishel came to us from Juanisari's. He was a real expert. He understood the language of

0:11.7

footballers. He was very prepared. He knew everything about football. He was an intelligent man and

0:16.4

we loved him very much. Well, welcome back to it was what it was. And this is the second part of the life story of Imre Hirs. You'll do go back and listen to Part 1, if you haven't done that. And that quote was from Alcili Chis, Chisier, the scorer of the goal against Brazil that wins Euroguider World Cup in 1950. I'm talking about Imre Hirschula, who was, what was he, Jonathan? Was he the coach of that famous World Cup winning team?

0:40.6

You'd be delighted to know this is complicated, Rob. No, he wasn't. Juan Lopez was the coach, but I think it's fair to say that Hirschel was a tactical mastermind because he was in regular consultation with Abdullahio Varela, the captain, who really seems to control things.

0:54.6

We'll get on to that.

0:55.7

So no, he's not technically the coach, but he clearly has a huge influence on how Uruguay set up for that last game against Brazil when they play a very unusual formation.

1:05.6

Right.

1:05.7

So in the first part, I mean part one of this story, we learned how Hishul, who really is just a salami salesman, a butcher

1:13.2

we think in Hungary. He has no real football credentials, ends up in South America, has bluffed

1:19.3

his way into the job at Gymnasia in La Plata, one of the, not one of the big five teams in

1:24.4

Argentinian football, but a major top flight club and he's transformed the

1:29.6

football they're flying in the league when we left them in the end of part one they were two

1:35.1

points clear at the top of the table with this completely with his coach you no one knows anything

1:39.6

about Jonathan would you want to pick up the story from there so they play away at boccaocca, who was second at the time. And Bocca, obviously, one of the granders, one of the huge cloaks. At half time, Jimnasia were two one up. So you think they're going to beat the team second in the league. We're going to go four points clear. In the second half referee, Angale de Dominicus awards a very, very controversial penalties of Bocca.

2:02.6

A few minutes later, Bocca had a third.

2:05.0

Gymnasia claim it's offside.

2:06.8

Now, obviously, we can't tell.

2:12.3

But I think what's interesting is the magazine La Cancha publishes a verse,

2:13.9

which says, But doca too in a case at all the loca,ca, loggarone an angelito Bombeiro Voluntario de la Boca. For blowing his whistle so well on that mad evening they nominated Little Angel a volunteer Bomberro for Boca. Now Bomberro literally means a fireman but it's also used to mean a bias referee.

2:35.4

So it's a 12th man referee, isn't he, basically?

2:37.8

It's what they're saying in that verse.

2:39.4

And what we should, you should put this in the context to say, the argument in the media,

...

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