How Uruguay won the 1930 World Cup: Home advantage, breathing exercises and a final of two halves

Uruguay captain Jose Nasazzi: ‘The Grand Marshal’
“When Uruguay won the right to host the inaugural World Cup — partly based around the fact they were celebrating their centenary as a nation, and partly because they were considered the strongest side around after winning the 1924 and 1928 Olympic football tournaments — it was both a blessing and a curse. The curse was that they were handed only a year to put together a tournament of unprecedented size for a single sport. The inevitably-named Estadio Centenario, where Uruguay would play all their matches, was only declared ready five days into the tournament after three teams of workers constantly rotated around the clock on eight-hour shifts, so the hosts started later than everyone else. The 100,000-capacity arena was temporarily capped at 80,000, with scaffolding around the outside showing how recently the project had been finished. …”
NY Times/Athletic – Michael Cox 

The French team pictured on their way to the tournament in Uruguay.