It was a match in which it was not about points, promotion or even money. And yet it is referred to as the football match of the century. They don’t exist like that anymore.
England celebrated the centenary of their association and invited a selection of “the rest of the world” to Wembley. Only sixteen footballers received an invitation to this exceptional team.
Among them are three from Czechoslovakia: Josef Masopust, Svatopluk Pluskal and Ján Popluhár. 60 years have passed since the extraordinary football event that went down in the history of the most popular game.
The only Slovak who played in this match was declared the best Slovak footballer of the 20th century 37 years later. When the world stopper took stock of an extraordinary career, he put the participation in the final of the 1962 World Cup first.
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“The invitation to the world selection for a prestigious match that was watched by the whole world was a huge honor for me. Appreciation of my entire career up to that point. For me, it was the same success as the silver medal from the championship in Chile,” claimed Ján Popluhár.
What will I play in tomorrow?
A trio of Czechoslovak footballers shone a year earlier at the World Cup. She played the full number of minutes in the tournament, including the final match against Brazil. The huge success of the team in this championship was also a ticket to Wembley.
Only Spain had three representatives in the selection of superstars: Alfredo di Stéfano, Francisco Gent and the naturalized Hungarian Ferenc Puskás.
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It was known for several weeks that an extraordinary match was coming, but for a long time it was not known who would appear in the nomination of the Chilean coach Fernando Riera, who led the home team to the world bronze medal the year before. Teammates from Slovan teased Bimbo, as they nicknamed Popluhár, and constantly asked him whether he had received an invitation to London, whether he had already bought his tickets…
The native of Čeklís (now Bernolákovo) never dreamed of something similar and did not take his friends’ questions seriously. He concentrated on the matches of the Bratislava team. It was just getting ready for a match with Palloseure Helsinki in the new edition of the Cup Winners’ Cup. He learned the news that Riera had chosen him for the star team before his flight to the capital of Finland.
Events took a rapid turn. He didn’t even realize what was happening. The day after returning from Helsinki, he packed again and flew to London. Not long before, he celebrated his 28th birthday, he has already skipped a lot in football, but suddenly he felt like a student who is preparing for his first day at school.
Photo: Archives of the Ministry of Health
Ján Popluhár Ján Popluhár in a defensive tackle against Maurice Norman. Goalkeeper Lev Jašin ready at the back.
A complicated flight made the situation difficult for him. He had a transfer in Zurich, but the plane to the islands was delayed, the airline announced that it had a fault, which it was working on. Finally, with the time slip, they flew away.
He felt lost alone at London’s Heathrow Airport. He barely had enough to pack for the trip and had ten Swiss francs in his pocket…
Fortunately, when he was already standing at the baggage belt waiting for his suitcase, someone tapped him on the shoulder.
“Mister Popluhar? Welcome to London. The coach and teammates are already waiting for you,” said the unknown man who drove him to the hotel. But even before that, he helped Popluhár solve an unpleasant situation. His sports bag was lost at the airport. He had football boots in it.
“What am I going to play in tomorrow?” he asked worriedly as they filed a loss report at the airport.
Too big Jašin’s football boots
At the Kensington Hotel, he first looked for friends from Prague, but Masopust and Pluskal went to the city to discover the beauties of London. Coach Riera welcomed him at the reception. He recognized familiar faces behind him.
“I spotted the Portuguese Eusébio, the Spaniard Di Stéfan and gradually others. The German Uwe Seeler approached us. The Seeler whom I defended at the World Championships in Sweden in 1958.
It was my first ever match in the national jersey and on top of that at the world championship and against the world champions. Since then, the NSR team and I have not met, but Seeler remembered me and welcomed me as an old acquaintance. We share a room together, he told me,” recalled Popluhár.
Read also The famous scorer had fun with goals. He was angry when an ugly player was sent on him
Reira introduced his teammates one by one and handed him the cobalt jersey with the number three. And he remembered his words too.
“You will meet players whose native language you do not know. However, you are the best football players in the world and you will definitely understand each other on the pitch.”
“I can’t play, I don’t have football boots,” said the Slovak struggling with his luggage.
“Ján, don’t worry, I have two, I’ll lend you one,” said Soviet goalkeeper Lev Yašin. He ran into the room and in a moment he was already giving him his. He entertained the elite football society. He wore football boots number twelve, three sizes bigger than the Slovak football player…
However, this problem was immediately overcome. Adidas donated three pairs of football boots to each football player.
Photo: Archives of the Ministry of Health
Ján Popluhár, Svatopluk Pluskal, Josef Masopust A trio of Czechoslovak footballers in the jersey of the world selection. From left, Ján Popluhár, Svatopluk Pluskal and Josef Masopust.
“I definitely calmed down only a few hours later, when my lost bag appeared at the reception, someone brought it from the airport. I also found my Chilean soccer cleats in it, which I was used to.”
In the evening, they went to train in new tracksuits with the FIFA emblem. The dream team, which the English officially named Rest of the World, played two-goal football against each other in a good mood.
2023-10-21 03:20:00
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