WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ARGENTINA 1950
If the French performance was disappointing, what can be said about Spain and Yugoslavia? A
disaster. Apart from the political problems that led to the Yugoslav team not turning up against
Spain, neither team won a match. Spain, who had a good team, successively lost to Egypt (57-56),
Chile (54-40), Peru (47-30) and Ecuador (54-50). The Spanish press of the time blamed the
Spanish failure on a lack of acclimatization and fatigue after the long journey but in fact Spain
played their best match against Egypt when they had only been in Buenos Aires for a few hours.
There were some important figures in this expedition, not only on a Spanish but also an
international level such as Antonio Lopez (national team coach), the players Ignacio Pinedo and
Eduardo Kucharski and the young executive director Raimundo Saporta.
Yugoslavia finally left Buenos Aires with a baggage of five defeats and a forfeited match for the
non-show against Spain and their only claim to success was that the Yugoslav player Nebojsa
Popovic scored the first point of the tournament.
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FUNDACIÓN PEDRO FERRÁNDIZ