Controversial Exit at the 1936 Olympics

On This Day in 1936, America's Olympic Dream Ends in Disagreement Against Italy

The United States Soccer Football Association faced a moral crossroads as Hitler's Germany prepared to showcase the supposed superiority of the Aryan race at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. While Jewish groups and others recognized the propaganda value these Games would provide the Nazi regime, lobbying hard for an American boycott, USFA president Joe Barriskill and his predecessor, Elmer Schroeder, ultimately decided that participation was justified. The decision split American public opinion and divided the U.S. Olympic Committee as fiercely as it did the nation itself.

The path to Berlin was fraught with familiar financial difficulties. Heavy snowfalls throughout the 1935-36 season had wreaked havoc with schedules, preventing the Olympic Committee from completing its fundraising program. With only three weeks before departure, the team's participation hung in the balance until Barriskill personally intervened, transferring $6,702.77 from the federation's "modest treasury" and pressuring individuals and stable clubs for donations.

Team selection centered around the nation's two most successful clubs. The Philadelphia German-Americans, winners of both the U.S. Open Cup and national open championship, provided nine of the 17 players selected. The Brooklyn German Sports Club, national amateur titleholders, contributed three more. The roster was completed with representatives from Boston, St. Louis, Trenton, and Castle Shannon, Pennsylvania. Three players carried World Cup experience from the 1934 tournament in Italy: captain Francis "Hun" Ryan, Peter Pietras, and William Fiedler, all of German-American descent. Fiedler had traveled to Rome as a reserve but never appeared in a match. Now, 14 of the 17 players were native-born Americans, with only three being naturalized citizens.

Final tryouts took place at Brooklyn's Grand Stadium, where 2,000 spectators watched the Philadelphia German-Americans defeat their Brooklyn counterparts 1-0. Fiedler scored the decisive goal after sixteen minutes, converting a pass from W. McEwan. With Francis Cavanaugh as coach and Schroeder as manager, the Americans departed for Germany without playing a single game together as a complete unit.  Their first practice session occurred in Berlin itself, where they managed draws against two local teams. The luck of the Olympic draw had once again paired the United States against Italy in the opening round—the same nation that had eliminated them from the 1934 World Cup. This Italian squad, while featuring a completely different lineup from their World Cup triumph, remained under the guidance of manager Vittorio Pozzo and arrived as tournament favorites.

On August 3, the same day Jesse Owens captured gold in the 100 meters and delivered his own blow to Nazi racial theories, 10,000 spectators gathered at Berlin's Poststadion for the soccer tournament's opening match. Among them sat Italian Crown Prince Umberto, lending royal gravitas to the proceedings. The Italians expected a routine passage to the next round, fielding a team of athletes who were amateurs in name only. Many competed for First Division Italian clubs but maintained official "student" status to preserve Olympic eligibility. 

However, the American team's physical strength and determination immediately disrupted Italian expectations, as the first half ended in a surprising 0-0 deadlock. The Americans' vigorous, straightforward approach—lacking subtlety in technique and tactics but abundant in strength and resolve—kept the favored Italians off balance. The second half saw increased Italian pressure and two near misses that threatened the American goal. One shot missed by inches, and another struck the post. But the match's defining moment arrived in the 53rd minute when German referee Carl Weingartner expelled Italian fullback Pietro Rava for a vicious tackle.

While the Americans attempted to capitalize on their numerical advantage, Italy's right winger Annibale Frossi struck the decisive blow. Charles Altemose, the American left halfback marking Frossi, later explained the crucial goal: "The grass was wet. There was a high ball coming toward our left fullback (Fred Zbikowski). He expected the ball to hit the ground and bounce, but instead it hit the ground and skidded. But the Italian outside right knew what was going to happen: he played the skip instead of the bounce. He went around our man, got the ball, and scored. It was a bad play by our fullback!"

The Americans pressed forward desperately, but injuries to key players undermined their efforts. Fiedler suffered a blow to the mouth, then another to the knee. George Nemchik, the Trenton native, was kicked in the stomach while trapping the ball with his chest, losing consciousness briefly before courageously resuming play. The brutality reached its climax when Achille Piccini's rough treatment of American players prompted referee Weingartner to order his expulsion. What followed shocked even the most seasoned observers of international soccer. "A half dozen Italian players swarmed over the referee, pinning his hands to his sides and clamping hands over his mouth," reported the Associated Press. Three times, Weingartner attempted to remove Piccini from the field, but finally surrendered to the Italian intimidation. The match concluded with Piccini still participating.

"It was one of the dirtiest games!" recalled Altemose years later. "The Italian team played very aggressively and dirty against us. We were a very young team. Our idea of the Olympic Games was the height of sportsmanship. Their play in the first half was to cripple as many players as they could, because there were no substitutions at that time. We were told later that was the European style of play. We, too, played a rough game in the States, but we never tried to cripple a guy."

Team manager Schroeder accepted the 1-0 defeat with remarkable grace. "Schroeder and the whole team took the incident good-naturedly and did not appear to be disturbed by how they were eliminated," observers noted. However, the physical toll was evident. Fiedler's right knee required extensive treatment and would likely prevent him from participating in the team's planned European tour, though he remained with the squad. Nemchik's stomach and lower ribs bore severe bruising, though team officials determined his injuries were not serious. Despite the controversy surrounding their defeat, American observers found reasons for optimism. The team had matched Italy's skill for significant portions of the match, demonstrating that American soccer could compete at the highest international level when properly prepared and organized. Their physical approach, while lacking the technical sophistication of European powers, had clearly troubled the eventual tournament winners.

Frossi himself acknowledged this reality: "Fortunately for us, the Americans showed that they had no first-class midfielders or forwards, because otherwise we would never have been Olympic champions!" Italy's path to gold validated Frossi's confidence, as they defeated Japan, Norway, and Austria in succession to claim the championship. For the Americans, however, the controversial loss would mark their only official international match of 1936 and their final competitive appearance before world events intervened. The escalating tensions in Europe, culminating in the outbreak of World War II, would force the United States to withdraw from international soccer competition. The national team remained dormant from 1938 to 1946, missing the 1938 World Cup in France, where Italy successfully defended its title. When FIFA canceled the 1942 and 1946 World Cups due to the global conflict, American soccer faced an extended period of isolation from international competition.

The 1936 Olympic campaign thus represented both an ending and a beginning for American soccer. While the defeat in Berlin marked the conclusion of the sport's brief pre-war international presence, the team's spirited performance against overwhelming odds established a template for future American success. Their refusal to be intimidated by superior opponents, combined with their commitment to fair play in the face of unprecedented gamesmanship, is a testament to their character. These embodied values would define U.S. soccer's identity for generations to come.

In 1945, as the world emerged from its devastating conflict, the governing body formally changed its name from the United States Football Association to the United States Soccer Football Association, symbolically marking a new chapter. When international competition resumed with the 1950 World Cup in Brazil, American soccer would carry forward the lessons learned in Germany—that courage and determination, while not always sufficient for victory, remained essential ingredients for earning respect on the world's greatest stages.