The day it was played with 10-meter goals

The episode has been somewhat buried in time, but The Camp Nou witnessed on Christmas Day 1967 one of the most histrionic experiments in football history that did not take place, but he left a photo to remember, with 22 players lined up below a goal 10 meters long and 2.5 meters wide, dimensions much higher than the 7.32 meters by 2.44 established by the football regulations.

Under these parameters, a charity match was played organized by Radio Nacional de España. The then selector, Domingo Balmanya, made a call for players from Barça, Espanyol and Sabadell that had as a guest star Ladislao Kubala, that he was already 40 years old.

Thus, with a white shirt and blue pants they played: Reina, Isidro, Olivella, Torrens, Vall, Pereda, Fusté, Paláu, Re, Seminario and Camps. In red, they formed: Romero, Ochoa, Doménech, Montesinos, Moya, Ramírez, Endériz, Rifé, Kubala, Vidal and Pujol. The match was a festival of goals. The Blues won 9-6 with three goals from Re, three from Fusté, Pereda, Seminario and Camps. Kubala (3), Vidal (2) and Montesinos thrashed for the reds. The game was attended by 50,000 fans.

As explained in Cihefe Soccer Notebooks, the ideologue of the ten-meter goals was Georges Boulogne (1917-1999). And he explained his reasons like this: “It is difficult to score a goal from outside the area. For the teams, it is enough to gather players in their last 30 meters to prevent the opponent from getting into shooting position at the required distance. If the dimensions of the frame are increased so that the goal is possible from 20 or 25 meters, the defense will have to cover 40 or 50 meters “. The then president of FIFA, Sir Stanley Rous, showed his rejection of the invention. On the opposite shore, was, according to some chronicles, the great Sir Stanley Matthews, the first Ballon d’Or in history, who was for the work of extravagance

Cihefe Soccer Notebooks also explained that the match was scheduled for December 8, but that the rain postponed it and that that day, in addition to a castells show, a women’s soccer match was played between Picadero and CF Barcelona. Actress Mary Santpere did the honor roll.

The test had no route. In their statements after the game, the players were not enthusiastic about it and what to say about the goalkeepers, sold before the gigantic dimensions of the goals. Every shot ended in the nets. The ten-meter goals were the flower of a day, but their image is part of the history of the Camp Nou.