Coupe Internationale européenne

In terms of international competition at both national and club level, central Europe was very forward thinking. The  Coupe Internationale européenne was another of Hugo Meisl's contributions to the development of the game, and can be seen as a genuine  forerunner of the UEFA European Nations Cup.
In it's favour it was a credible competition that featured some of the strongest nations in continental football. On the negative side the home and away league format meant that the competition took three years to complete. In this, the first edition, begun in 1927 and completed in 1930, the last two matches were separated by 7 months!

Vittorio Pozzo began his second spell as Italy's manager in 1929, so the trophy was the first he won (followed by a further success in the Coupe Internationale européenne, an Olympic Gold Medal and two World Cup wins) . The trophy, made of Bohemian crystal, was dropped and smashed, but Pozzo  always carried a fragment of it with him.

Final Table

                    P  W  T  L   F  A  Pts   
1   Italy           8  5  1  2  21-15   11  
2   Austria         8  5  0  3  17-10   10  
2   Czechoslovakia  8  4  2  2  17-10   10  
4   Hungary         8  4  1  3  20-23    9  
5   Switzerland     8  0  0  8  11-28    0  

Libonatti and Gino Rossetti, both of Torino, were the competition's joint top scorers, with six goals each.