\nThe most important
\nfootball competition in the 1930s was the Central European
\nInternational Cup. Between 1927 and 1940 the competition brought
\ntogether elevens from Austria, Hungary, Italy, Yugoslavia,
\nSwitzerland, Czechoslovakia and Romania.
\n<\/p>\n
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\n
\n
\n<\/p>\n
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\nThe first edition
\nattended by a Romanian side was that in 1937 when Venus Bucharest was
\neliminated in the first round by Hungarian side Ujpest Budapest which
\nclaimed wins in both the first and return games. A year later,
\nRipensia Timisoara secured an aggregate win against Italian side AC
\nMilan, 3-0 and 1-3 in the return match, while another Romanian
\neleven, Rapid Bucharest outperformed Ujpest Budapest 1-4 in their
\naway game and 4-0 at home.
\n<\/p>\n
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\nRipensia was
\ndefeated twice in the quarter finals by Ferencvaros Budapest, 4 – 5
\nand 1 – 4, while Rapid was stopped in its tracks by Italian side
\nGenoa, which secured a 3-0 home win and lost in Romania 2-1. In order
\nto get a clear picture of the value of the opponents the Romanians
\nwere facing, we should mention that Italy became champion in 1938
\nafter defeating Hungary in the finals.
\n<\/p>\n
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\n In 1939, Romania
\nwas represented in the competition only by Venus Bucharest, which was
\neliminated in the very first round by Italy’s champions Bologna.
\n<\/p>\n
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\n
\n
\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\nA year later, in 1940, 8 sides were
\nvying for the title of the prestigious European competition, three
\nfrom Yugoslavia, three from Hungary and two from Romania, Venus and
\nRapid. Venus was eliminated in the first round by BSK Belgrade, which
\nwon both games, 1-0 and 3-0.
\n<\/p>\n
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\n
\n
\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n Rapid was up
\nagainst Hungaria Budapest in the first round. Rapid’s first game
\nwas away and the hosts were the first to get the upper hand. However,
\nthe Romanians made a comeback and Yugoslav international Vilmos Sipos
\nscored twice. At home, on the ANEF Stadium, the largest in Bucharest
\nat that time with over 20 thousand seats, the Romanian side clinched
\na 3-0 win allowing sports publications in Bucharest to headline
\n‘Rapid
\nRomped Home against Hungaria Budapest in a Boring Match’.
\n
\n<\/p>\n
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\n
\n
\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\nRapid’s away semifinals match
\nagainst Grajdanski Zagreb ended nil-all and so did the return game in
\nBucharest. A tie game was hosted by Subotica in Yugoslavia, and ended
\none-all. Romanian paper Universul headlined after the game: ‘A
\nthird draw – 120 minutes of tough lively play and only two goals
\nscored: one by Zimmermanncici and one by Bogdan. Rapid, playing
\nwithout its best players, and Grajdanski with a complete lineup, have
\nagain ended their game in a draw.’ Lots were drawn and Rapid
\nbecame the first Romanian finalist of a European cup.
\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nThe competition’s
\nfinals against the Hungarians from Ferencvaros scheduled for August
\n1940 was canceled amid huge political tensions between the two
\ncountries. Hungary’s territorial claims were eventually granted
\nunder German pressure through the Second Vienna Arbitration on August
\n30th
\n1940.
\n<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\n(translated by bill)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Rapid Bucharest 1940<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":93,"featured_media":120800,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[40940],"tags":[35980,41848,37140,41847],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-120799","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport","tag-ferencvaros","tag-grajdanski","tag-rapid","tag-subotica"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n