This has been the BEST SUMMER EVER for International Futbol fans/supporters. Instead of a summer following transfer gossip and rumors, we had the Copa America and Euro Cup on the same year, and now come the next generation of footballers - Men and Women Olympic Teams. For all of us that have set alarms for 3 or 4 am in the morning over the years to watch international football, this year's matches have been timely, as you can catch at least a live half in the morning start game before work, and another half (or more) on your lunch break. Argentina opened up this morning with a shock loss to Morrocco and at lunch today, the US Team played well for 60 minutes before France went France. Have no doubt US Team will make it to the knockout stage. First time they have qualified since 2008, so I am hoping for a medal for the US Men's team and hoping for a gold medal for the Women's team. Looking for Sophia Smith to break out and the young Jaedyn Shaw to introduce herself to the futbol world in Paris the next few weeks.
Attached is my only (for now) Olympic futbol collectible. It is a postcard from the 1928 final featuring captain of Argentina Luis Monti and captain of Uruguay Jose Nassazi. The score was tied 1-1 after 90, but unlike nowadays, they did not go to overtime or pens. They played again 3 days later with Uruguay winning the second game 2-1. Two years later in 1930, the inaugural World Cup was held. Both teams made the final again, with Uruguay winning again 4-2. Really love these postcards. You can find them with folks writing notes to each other at that time, which I think is really cool. Here is a good link to the collection. https://www.classicsoccercards.com/post/1928-weenenk-snel-olympische-spielen-1928-amsterdam#google_vignette
Interesting article I came across yesterday regarding the mentioned period. Futbol always needs drama!! CONMEBOL, Uruguay, and the controversy over four stars - Bolavip US
((bio+art+story+create)/rarity) x passion = collect

Just arrived back from a family vacation in Lisbon and had a little bit of time for the hobby in Lisbon. On the way to check out the surf at Costa da Caparica, we stopped at Alamada Forum, where a collector Fernando C. from Porto had set up a collection of all the Euro Cup sticker collections. Very cool collection. I was impressed with the pristine condition of his collection and the effort to share his collection at this large mall. The collection was so well taken care of. Building friendship and community via swapping and set completing sets is a key factor in Portuguese cromos (stickers/cards) collecting. Had a couple of tables set up for swapping which were occupied by some young collectors (overhead pic). Had the chance to visit Dulce Guarda and Ivan Braz, founders of Splink, a top startup in Europe dedicated to collectibles. I had previously written a post here before regarding Splink, check it out. Splink - there it is. (onmantel.com). Dulce kindly gifted me a myjersey collectible of Eusebio from the 1961/62 season. That is when Benfica won the European Cup (now called the Champions league). Will post part 2 of the Lisbon story later this week regarding The Curse from that great team. By the way, I wanted to watch the France vs Portugal Euro quarter-final from downtown Lisbon and a friendly bartender told me the night before that the only way to get a good seat for the 8.00 pm game was to show up at the bar (The George) at 4.30 and eat and drink until 8 to hold the table. My family complied. Game went to overtime and pens, which when you do the math, is about 6-7 hours of eating and drinking - only to have Joao Felix hit the post in the penalty shootout for France to advance to the semifinals. C'est la vie!!

I, I wish you could swim
Like the dolphins, like dolphins can swim
We can beat them, for ever and ever
Oh we can be Heroes, just for one day
David Bowie - David Bowie - Heroes (Live Aid, 1985) - YouTube
Received this press photo on Friday.
Watched the movie last night. Young Woman and the Sea (2024) - IMDb
Take your daughter to see it.
Take your son to see it.
We all need a hero!
((bio+art+story+create)/rarity) x passion = collect

Congrats to Real Madrid for winning the trophy with the big ears (Champions League (European)) trophy for the 15th time. Attached is one of my favorite collectibles, a 100-year-old 1924 Chocolates Torras card of a Benfica vs Real Madrid game, as a tip of the cap to the amazing Real Madrid.
Coming in second is AC Milan with 7 trophies. Amazingly, Madrid's Dani Carvajal has personally won six European trophies, while fierce rivals Barcelona have won 5 as a team! Today, Mbappe announced he is formally joining Real Madrid for next season. On top of that, Brazilian phenomenon Endrick (will break out in a stadium near you as Brazil arrives in the US for Copa America in a couple of weeks) is now eighteen, and eligible to play for Real next season. My second card here is a new purchase arriving next week. This is a German WS-Verlag 1962 card of when Benfica beat Real Madrid in the European final of 1962. Real Madrid and Hungarian great Ferenc Puskas score a hat-trick that day, but Benfica overcame it for a 5-3 win. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOAIYoxYp3Y Maybe it will give the rest of Europe some hope for future European finals, but then again, Real Madrid have won 10 European Cups since 1962, Benfica have won ...... nada. Hala Madrid!

Tomorrow morning at 7.00 am PST (breakfast of champions) at Wembley, the United, and the Citizens of Manchester, battle for the FA Cup for the second year in a row. City, the heavy favorites, United desperate to take something from a tough year. For a Portugal National Team fan, I have the joy of watching Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Dalot have a go versus Ruben Dias and Bernardo Silva. Inspired here on Mantel by BenchMob and Sweetpea posts on type 1 collectibles a few weeks ago, I searched and acquired my first two press photos. First was a pic of Eusebio (story for another day) and received my second one this week of Bert Trautmann, which is a story for today about tomorrow.
After losing and receiving the runner-up medal in the 1956 FA Cup Final, Manchester City returned to beat Birmingham City in the 1956 FA cup final by winning 3-1 at Wembley. The attached press photo of Trautmann being introduced to Prince Philip is from that game. Incredibly, during that game, Trautmann dived into a bad collision with 15 minutes left in the game and seriously hurt himself. With no substitutions allowed in those days, a dazed and beat up Trautmann stayed in the game to make some big saves in the last 15 minutes. After the game, the Doctors determined that Trautmann had dislocated five vertebrae and cracked two in his neck. He could have died from that injury. Playing with a broken neck just takes playing hurt to another level. Great story about an incredible athlete and human being, but wait, there is more, much more.
Bert Trautmann was a German paratrooper who earned the Iron Cross during World War II. Trautmann was captured by the British and sent to a POW camp in England. At the end of the war, he decided to stay in England instead of returning home to Germany. He then started his football career in England, which led him to two FA Cup Finals with Manchester City. His incredible story has been featured in a movie called The Keeper. It will be an early breakfast for me tomorrow with the FA Cup Final early morning, then planning to have a late snack with The Keeper movie tomorrow night. Bert Trautmann - Wikipedia
 
This newcomer would love to hear some feedback from old pro Type 1 photo collectors on how I am thinking of this photo before considering sending to PSA for grading. I enjoyed tracking down the information on the picture as far as the date stamps on the back of the photo and the tags attached to the photo, in trying to put the history of the photo together. I did look up the history of Sport and General Press Agency in the UK and its address at that time. Interestingly there is also a Rogers archives sticker on it which I think would be the infamous John Rogers story of buying up photo portfolios from newspapers. Would love to hear and learn from your thoughts on provenance. Happy FA Cup Day!
((bio+art+story+create)/rarity) x passion = collect