Peru 4–2 Austria (1936 Summer Olympics association football)


Peru v Austria was a football match played on 8 August 1936 during the Summer Olympics in Berlin.

Background

The Peru squad mixed members of Alianza Lima, Universitario de Deportes and 1935 league champions Sport Boys.

Pre-match

Austria

Austria had won its first-round match against Egypt with a 3–1 score.

Peru

In the first round, Peru had an easy win over Finland 7–3, with Teodoro Fernández scoring five Peruvian goals.

Match

First half

opened the scoring for Austria in the 23rd minute, to give the Austrian side a one-goal lead. Shortly after, in the 37th minute of action, Klement Steinmetz put a ball past Peruvian keeper Juan Valdivieso to double Austria's early lead. After 45 minutes of play, the scoreline was 0–2 in favour of the Austrians.
leaps in the air.

Second half

Trailing 0–2, with elimination from the tournament at stake, the Peruvians entered the second half with renewed determination to extend their Olympic stint. In the 75th minute, the Peruvians scored their first goal through Jorge Alcalde. Six minutes later, in the 81st minute of play, Alejandro Villanueva scored the equalizer. The remaining minutes of the match saw no further scoring, and the match went into extra-time.

Extra time

The match was highly contested, and the game went into extra time when the Peruvians drew level after being two goals behind. Peru scored five times during extra time, but three goals were declared not valid by the referee, and therefore won by the final score of 4–2.

Details

Post-match

Reactions

Austria protests

The Austrians demanded a rematch on the grounds that Peruvian fans had stormed the field, which then did not meet the requirements for a football game. Austria further claimed that the Peruvian players had manhandled the Austrians and that spectators, one holding a revolver, had "swarmed down on the field." Peru was summoned on this issue but were delayed by a German parade.

Controversial decision

The Peruvian arguments were never heard, the Olympic Committee and FIFA sided with the Austrians and a rematch on closed grounds was scheduled for 10 August and later rescheduled for 11 August 1936.

Peru withdraws

As a sign of protest against these actions, which the Peruvians deemed as insulting and discriminatory, the complete Olympic delegations of Peru and Colombia left Germany. Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, and Mexico expressed their solidarity with Peru. Miguel Dasso, a member of the Peruvian Olympic Committee, stated: "We have no faith in European athletics. We have come here and found a bunch of merchants." The game was awarded to Austria by default. When the Peruvian team and delegation came back to Callao, they were warmly welcomed by thousands of people that acclaimed them as the true champions.
In Peru, angry crowds protested against the decisions of the Olympic Committee by tearing down an Olympic flag, throwing stones at the German consulate, refusing to load German vessels in the docks of Callao, and listening to inflammatory speeches which included President Oscar Benavides Larrea's mention of "the crafty Berlin decision." It is popularly believed that Adolf Hitler and the Nazi authorities might have had some involvement in this situation, though this was not claimed at the time.
Peru was coached by Alberto Denegri, whereas Austria was managed by Englishman James Hogan.

Aftermath

Austria won silver in the tournament. Three years later Peru won the 1939 South American Championship.