Der Papierene - A thread:

1931. Scotland were facing Austria in a football match. The Scots were acknowledged as arguably the toughest team in Europe of the day. Their hard tackling, physical style of play put the fear of God in opponents. That day though

the script unfolded quite differently. The Austrians literally toyed with their opposition. They scored 5 but more than the goals, it was their football which left everyone in awe. And the man at the center of it all was The Paper Man ~ Matthias Sindelar.

Called so because of his wiry build, Sindelar's cerebral style of play, with minimal physicality and delicate touches was so novel that he would soon earn the nickname "Mozart of Football." This victory marked the beginning of an amazing run for the Austrian

which earned them the title "Wunderteam." Germany were swatted aside 6-0, France humiliated 4-0, Hungary destroyed 8-2, Switzerland 8-1. Lee by Sindelar, the Austrians were playing a football never before seen by anyone. One journalist compared Sindelar's

football to a grandmaster plotting his moves on a chess board, so seminal was his style. The Wunderteam arrived in Italy 1934 for the world cup as firm favourites. They breezed through the opening encounter and squared off Vs the hosts in the semis. The

ground was in terrible condition by heavy overnight rain. The Italians were desperate to win to impress their overlord. They played an extremely physical game with Sindelar targeted for special violence. The referee chose to unsee most of it. With their main

man thus neutralised, Austria were knocked out, denying the Wunderteam a shot at glory. In the following years, Sindelar became a football celebrity, a rarity in those days. He was equally loved by the common man and the pundit. He lived a Bohemian lifestyle

with fondness for the best wines & the most beautiful women. But all this changed in 1938. Hitler's Germany annexed Austria. It was announced that the Austrian national football team will cease to exist with the best talent absorbed into the German side. Many

enthusiastically jumped on the bandwagon to please their German masters. Sindi, as he was lovingly called, wasn't one of them. He announced his retirement citing his advancing age. The Nazis wanted him to be the face of their sports development ventures.

Once again Sindelar opted out. On 3 April 1938, the German & Austrian national sides squared off in Vienna in what was to be the final appearance for Austria. The leadership had let it known that the match was to be played in "brotherly love." During the 1st

half of a strange game, Sindelar & other Austrian forwards toyed with the Germans but kept missing simple chances. The same continued after the break. But with 20 mins or so to go, something snapped. Sindelar took a loose ball and let fly a screamer that

settled in the German net sending the home crowd into ruptures. He got teammate Karl Sesta to hit one more. And on the final whistle, Sindi ran to the box where the leadership were seated and performed an impromptu waltz. His actions by now had made Gestapo

dub him an "unfriendly" & open a file on him. Players of FK Austria were ordered not to talk to the Jewish owner. Many complied. Not Sindi. When a Jewish owner of a café was being forced to sell his establishment at cut-rate, Sindelar stepped in & bought it

at bove-market rate. But he'd put a mark on his back with all of his "anti-national" activities. On 23rd January, 1939, Matthias Sindelar & his girlfriend Camilla Castagnola were found dead in Sindi's residence. The official cause of death was carbon

monoxide poisoning from a faulty gas pipe. Few Austrians had any doubt as to what really happened. Sindelar's funeral was attended by thousands, in what has been called the final act of independent spirit by the Austrians. Matthias Sindelar was born on this

day - 10th February, 1903. The most tragic hero of the beautiful game.