Semifinalists of the First World Cup
The football world met the Yugoslav masters of the ball in 1930 at the First World Championship in Uruguay.
Yugoslav football players arrived to Montevideo by ship, after 18 days cruise. The only training they had was running around the board. Exhausted from the trip, and having no real trainings, the Yugoslavs created sensation by winning the Brazilian national team with 2:1. Aleksandar Tirnanic, who gave the first shot for Yugoslav team on world championships, entered the history.
Encouraged by great success, the "blue" declassed Bolivia with 4:0 and placed themselves into semifinals where they played a match versus host. In carnival atmosphere, in front of 100.000 supporters, the Yugoslavs announced another sensation with goal scored by Sekulic. But, the Uruguay players made tie in a short time scoring after that five additional hits, making final result 6:1. The crucial moment of the match happened at the result 1:1 when in one attack, after the ball went out-of bounds area, a police officer turned the ball back to the field. Uruguay didn't miss the chance to score the leading goal. The protests of the Yugoslav players were futile - the hit is recognized and Yugoslavia is defeated.
However, a live remembrance on Yugoslav team remained. The Yugoslav team had the best standing among the European teams in World Championship in Uruguay. The generation of Jaksic, Tirnanic, Bek, Marjanovic, Vujadinovic, Sekulic informed the world for the first time with knowledge of Yugoslav players.
