The 1922 King Alexander's Cup () was the first edition of the Friendship Cup. It was a single-game tournament in 1922 and the first official match of the national

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

team of

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

Pre-match

The trophy was named after

Alexander I Alexander I may refer to: * Alexander I of Macedon, king of Macedon from 495 to 454 BC * Alexander I of Epirus (370–331 BC), king of Epirus * Alexander I Theopator Euergetes, surnamed Balas, ruler of the Seleucid Empire 150-145 BC * Pope Alex ...

, the

King of Yugoslavia This article lists the heads of state of Yugoslavia from the Creation of Yugoslavia, creation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (Kingdom of Yugoslavia) in 1918 until the Breakup of Yugoslavia, breakup of the Socialist Federal Republic of ...

. The match was organized to celebrate the wedding of

King Alexander I of Yugoslavia Alexander I Karađorđević (, ; – 9 October 1934), also known as Alexander the Unifier ( / ), was King of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes from 16 August 1921 to 3 October 1929 and King of Yugoslavia from 3 October 1929 until Alexander I of Y ...

with the

Princess Maria of Romania Maria of Romania may refer to: * Marie of Romania (1875–1938), queen of Romania from 1914 to 1917 as the wife of King Ferdinand I * Maria of Yugoslavia Maria (born Princess Maria of Romania; 6 January 1900 – 22 June 1961), known in Serbian ...

, the event being announced by the Romanian newspaper, ''Ecoul Sportiv'' on 28 May 1922: "On the occasion of the marriage of His Majesty King Alexander I with Her Royal Highness Princess Maria of Romania, His Majesty was pleased to donate a cup that will bear his name, to encourage the progress of the football-association sport in his country and in the country of his wife. This cup will be a challenge and will go definitely to the country which will win it three times in a row or five times in total." The game took place at Stadion SK Jugoslavija in

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

, Kingdom of SCS (today part of

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

), and ended with a 2–1 win for

. Three kings were at the game:

Alexander I of Yugoslavia Alexander I Karađorđević (, ; – 9 October 1934), also known as Alexander the Unifier ( / ), was King of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes from 16 August 1921 to 3 October 1929 and King of Yugoslavia from 3 October 1929 until his assassinati ...

Ferdinand I of Romania Ferdinand I (Ferdinand Viktor Albert Meinrad; 24 August 1865 – 20 July 1927), nicknamed ''Întregitorul'' ("the Unifier"), was King of Romania from 10 October 1914 until his death in 1927. Ferdinand was the second son of Leopold, Prince of Hoh ...

and

George II of Greece George II (; 19 July ld Style and New Style dates, Old Style: 7 July1890 – 1 April 1947) was King of Greece from 27 September 1922 until 25 March 1924, and again from 25 November 1935 until his death on 1 April 1947. The eldest son of King ...

. Romania's equipment for that match was bought by one of its players, Elemer Hirsch and it was black and white, it is believed that the reason those colors were chosen is that Hirsch was a fan of

Universitatea Cluj Asociația Sportivă Fotbal Club Universitatea Cluj (), commonly known as Universitatea Cluj or simply U Cluj, is a Romanian professional association football, football club based in the city of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj County, that competes in the L ...

who had the same colors.

Match

Post-match

The Romanian newspaper, ''Ecoul Sportiv'' wrote after the game: "The Romanian representative team wins the Golden Cup of His Majesty King Alexander, beating Jugo-Slavia 2–1. King Alexander's Cup will be exhibited for a week in Bucharest and then it will be sent to Transylvania to be seen by all sportsmen". Ecoul Sportiv also wrote: "The game of the Romanian national team was a true masterpiece, all the players without exception were good, they combined beautifully with a lot of precision, no shot was taken without thought". The Yugoslavian newspaper, ''

Politika ( sr-Cyrl, Политика, lit=Politics) is a Serbian daily newspaper, published in Belgrade. Founded in 1904 by Vladislav F. Ribnikar, it is the oldest daily newspaper still in circulation in the Balkans. Publishing and ownership is publ ...

'' wrote after the game: "Yesterday's international match between the Kingdom of Romania and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, counting for the Cup of His Majesty King Alexander I surprised not only the host players, but the entire sports world, which did not doubt the success of our national team".

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:King Alexander's Cup, 1922

1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic), Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éirean ...

1921–22 in Yugoslav football 1921–22 in Romanian football Romania–Yugoslavia relations Debut matches of association football national teams