On Wednesday, October 31, 1973, a unique match was played at the Camp Nou. Organized by FIFA and named the First World Football Day, it pitted the teams from Europe and America against each other, two star teams that offered a spectacle of open play and goals. The president of FIFA, the Englishman Sir Stanley Rous, assumed the leadership of the organizing committee and for a couple of days he wanted to explain that Barcelona was the world center of football, although in reality, in addition to the presence of some ball stars, It all came down to a couple of conferences and the exhibition, at the Palau Blaugrana, of the stamp collection of the then president of the Barcelona Provincial Council, Juan Antonio Samaranch.
Rous considered that a match with charitable purposes and big stars in action could be the best vehicle to showcase spectacular football, far, he said, from “the violence of the killers” that was spreading. It didn't serve much purpose, as could be seen just a few months later, in the legendary European Cup clash between Glasgow Celtic and Atlético Madrid. And still in 1977, in the historic meeting between Yugoslavia and Spain, with qualification for the World Cup in Argentina at stake, played at the Little Maracana in Belgrade.
Barcelona's festive match was played in an atmosphere of football euphoria in the city, just three days after Cruyff's debut, and was widely promoted in the press. The television images reached half the world through Eurovision and the OTI, seats were offered at very affordable prices and the names of the selected stars were widely disseminated, although then the inevitable and very notable last-minute cancellations arose. Perhaps for this reason the attendance of the public was scarce and the desolate image of a much more than half-empty Camp Nou (around 15,000 spectators) also went around the world.
Finally, the European starting eleven, with Kubala on the bench, was little more than a mix of footballers from the Spanish League, some famous elements and players now quite forgotten. Starting out, Viktor (Czechoslovakia), Krivokuka (Yugoslavia), Sol (Valencia), Fachetti (Italy), Asensi (Barcelona), Pavlovic (Yugoslavia), Bene (Hungary), Keita (Valencia), Cruyff (Barcelona), Eusebio ( Portugal) and Jara (Valencia). Then Iríbar, Pirri, the Swede Edström, the Swiss Odermatt, the Portuguese Nené and the Greeks Kapsi and Dimitriu entered. With the players announced and never seen before, a much more attractive block would have been formed. Madrid and Atlético, who faced each other the following Saturday, claimed discomfort for not giving up Netzer and Ayala. And promoted stars such as Jennings, Bobby Moore, Beckenbauer, Müller, Krol, Gigi Riva, Neeskens, Hulshoff... were also missing.
The American team was led by Argentine Enrique Omar Sívari (Brazilian Mário Zagallo was also supposed to appear, but didn't). Argentines Santoro, Wolf and Brindisi, Brazilians Pereira, Marco Antonio, Paulo César and Rivelino, Uruguayan Esparrago and Peruvians Cubillas, Chumpitaz and Sotil lined up. Then came Carnevalli, Caszely, Arrúa, Fernando Morena, Mexican Enrique Borja, Colombian Willington Ortiz and Ecuadorian Felix Lasso.
Where there were no last-minute casualties was in the Camp Nou box, this one with the sign full. The leaders of world football were able to enjoy a spectacular match, with casual attacking play and outstanding individual actions. It ended with a four-goal draw. Sotil (0-1), Eusebio (1-1), Keita (2-1), Cubillas (2-2), Asensi (3-2), Jara (4-2), Brindisi (4-3) and Chumpitaz, from a penalty (4-4). To determine who would keep the trophy, the work of the Barcelona jeweler Puig Doria, penalties were taken, in which the Americans won 2-3. It was announced that the second edition would take place in 1974, in Lima. But there was no other World Football Day.
