Excursão do Vasco da Gama a Europa em 1931

Vasco sail to Europe

In the northern hemisphere summer of 1931, Vasco da Gama became the first Rio club (and the second from 

Brazil) to travel to Europe. Under the management of former  Liverpool player Harry Welfare,  Vasco recruited the assistance of players from Botafogo (Nilo, Carvalho Leite and Benedito) and Fluminense (Fernando) for the 12 match tour of Portugal and Spain.

26.06.31	Barcelona	3	2	Vasco da Gama
28.06.31	Barcelona	1	2	Vasco da Gama
05.07.31	Celta	2	1	Vasco da Gama
07.07.31	Celta	1	7	Vasco da Gama
10.07.31	Benfica	0	5	Vasco da Gama
15.07.31	Lisbon Select	2	4	Vasco da Gama
19.07.31	Porto	1	3	Vasco da Gama
22.07.31	Varzim/ Boavista	2	9	Vasco da Gama
24.07.31	Ovarense	2	6	Vasco da Gama
26.07.31	Porto	2	1	Vasco da Gama
30.07.31	Vitória C Lisboa	1	1	Vasco da Gama
02.08.31	Sporting	1	4	Vasco da Gama

P	W	D	L	F	A
12	8	1	3	45	18

Squad:

Jaguaré, Valdemar, Brilhante, Nesi, Italia, Tinoco, Fausto, Mola, Bahianinho, Nilo, Carvalho Leite, Russinho, Mário Matos, Benedicto, Santana, Fernando, Rainha, Ghizone

Manager/coach: Harry Welfare.

Goals:
13	Russinho
8	Nilo
7	Carvalho Leite
3	Bahianinho, Mário Matos, Benedito ,Tinoco
2	Santana
1	Ghizone,  Fernando, og

Aside from Harry Welfare and Russinho there were a few other figures of note involved on the tour:

Jaguaré Bezerra de Vasconcelos 

Jaguaré was stevedore at the port of Rio. A typically eccentric goalkeeper, he delighted crowds but angered opponents and officials with his antics- throwing the ball at the heads of opponents, shouting 'chuta!' to strikers as they bore down on him, catching the ball acrobatically, and even using a bicycle kick to clear his lines. He was known as Dengoso or Araña Negra (The Black Spider). 

Jaguaré was offered a lucrative contract (and Spanish citizenship) by Barcelona. Jaguaré declined the offer and returned to Brazil, joining Corinthians. In 1935 however he set out for Italy with Fernando (see below). They decided to avoid Italy due to that country's invasion of Abyssinia, and Jaguaré joined Sporting Lisbon. In 1936 he joined Olympique Marseille, with whom he enjoyed success and cult status. 

Having returned to Brazil Jaguaré met a sad end. He died aged 41 after getting into a scrape with the cops (he hit his head).

Fernando Rubens Pasi Giudicelli

Fluminense's Fernando, who wore a sailor's cap on the pitch, played in the 1930 World Cup . After the tour he stayed in Europe, joining Torino. In Italy he was considered an oriundo. In 1933 Fernando returned to Rio and was actively involved in recruiting South American players to join European clubs. 
Fernando himself returned to Europe and played for Sportclub Young Fellows Juventus Zurich (1933-34),  Bordeaux (1934-35), Sporting Lisbon (1935), Real Madrid (1935) and Antibes (1935-37).

Fausto dos Santos 

Fausto  was another veteran of the 1930 World Cup who tried his luck in Europe. He also declined an offer from Barcelona, but later played with Sportclub Young Fellows Juventus Zurich (1933).  He was a halfback who delighted in the nickname Maravilha Negra.
Fausto died of Tubercerlosis aged 34.

When thinking of the lucrative professional contracts that these men were offered in Europe it is worth remembering that at the time football in Brazil was an amateur sport.

Harry Welfare

Liverpool born Harry Welfare started his career with Northern Nomads F.C. After getting 35 goals in a season he signed as an amateur for Liverpool, making his debut in 1913, scoring one goal in his 4 first team appearances. He was a centre forward, an impressive 1.91 m  (6 ft 3) and was renowned for his vigorous charges on goalkeepers.

In  July 1913 Welfare moved to Rio de Janeiro in order to become a teacher at an Anglo-Brazilian boarding school. One of his teaching colleagues,  J.A. Quincey-Taylor had connections with the rather swanky Fluminense Football Club.

Welfare soon joined  Fluminense and made his debut in Brazil for a Rio select XI against Corinthians (England), on their second tour of Brazil. He was one of the goalscorers as  Corinthians suffered their only defeat of the 6 match tour.

In 1914 Welfare  topped the  scoring in the Campeonato Carioca. The Liga Metropolitana questioned his amateur status, and Liverpool provided a testimony that he had never been a professional in England. 

Welfare scored 163 goals in 166 matches for Fluminense ( third leading scorer in the club's history), winning the Campeonato Carioca 4 times (1917, 1918, 1919, 1924). In 1927, aged 37, Welfare joined Vasco da Gama, a club that occupied the opposite end of  Rio football's social scale, being traditionally associated with poor working class and black players. He moved into coaching, and led Vasco on a tour of Spain , where two of  the black players (Fausto and Jaguaré)  were taken on by Barcelona. 
Welfare enjoyed ongoing success as manager of Vasco as Brazilian football moved into the professional era.