Left Turn at Albuquerque

8/4/2019 Left Turn at Albuquerque

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TOMASZ MORTIMER >

As the 1966 World Cup approaches,

we at the BBC have decided to pro-

duce a special mulmedia supple-

ment, looking back on Hungarys

great successes from the past four-

teen years. We will aempt to piece

together what has made the Mag-

yars so successful, not just on the in-

ternaonal stage, but also in club

football. Well also try to predict

how theyll fare at this years com-

peon, at last taking place in the

cradle of the game, England, and

whether the more distant future is

as bright for the World Cup holders.

The upcoming bale for the Jules

Rimet Cup cannot come soon

ISSUE ONE -- FEATURE #2 1 DOWNLOAD LATEST ISSUE >

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enough for the English populaon,

but as you dust down your Union

Jacks and polish your rales, pause

for a moment to think what this

tournament means to the people of

Hungary. Runners-up in 1954, and

winners in 1958 and 1962, the na-

on at the centre of the fledgling

Eastern European Union is looking to

set an incredible record, by reaching

four World Cup finals in a row.

Moreover, they could become the

first team to win three world tles in

succession, as incomprehensible as

that sounds. Such an achievement

could not be exaggerated. Real

Madrid and Budapest Honvds

three European Cups in three years

is a triumph for all to behold, as we

will discuss later, but to be able to

dominate the world for more than a

decade would be truly remarkable!

Can they do it and at the expense of

the country which gave birth to the

sport?

This supplement will also be the first

of its kind; a feast for all the senses.

You will be guided through our mini

history lesson with a combinaon of

the wrien word, radio commen-

taries and television footage. There-

fore, to fully enjoy the experience

you will need access to the follow-

ing:

Videotape player: Ampex 2-inch

Quadruplex VR1000, VR1200 or

VR2000

Cassee player: Philips EL 3300 or

similar

1952: Olympics

The journey started in 1952. Na-

onal team coach Gustav Sebes had

set up a scoung network which

scoured the country for the best tal-

ent available ahead of the upcoming

Olympics in Helsinki, Finland. Differ-

ent taccs were tried and tested,

but thanks to the pioneering meth-

ods of Englishman Jimmy Hogan, al-

most 40 years earlier, Hungary

already knew the way they were

going to play.

Their system was completely differ-

ent to anything that had ever been

seen before and their fluidity, both

with and without the ball, con-

founded everyone they came up

against. For the most part, the stars

of the team hailed from Budapest


LEFT TURN AT ALBUQUERQUE TOMASZ MORTIMER >


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Honvd, the dominant club in the

Elit Bajnoki. There was Zoltn Czi-

bor, Ferenc Pusks and Sndor Koc-

sis, with other superb talents like

Nndor Hidegku thrown in for

good measure.

Hungary easily beat Italy 3-0, Turkey

7-1 and Sweden 6-0 before coming

up against friendly rivals Yugoslavia

in the Olympic Final. The Magyars

won it at a canter, with the 2-0 score

very flaering to the Slavs. The

Hungarians were happy just to re-

turn home with gold medals, how-

ever much to the delight of

friends, family, and an adoring pub-

lic. The world had been given their

first glimpse of the Mighty Mag-

yars. Much more was to come.

1953: Match of the Century

A year later, Hungary lined up

against England at Wembley, on a

cold November night. It was a game

readers will no doubt remember,

and probably never forget.

Since the formaon of the FA, Eng-

land had been comfortable in its su-

periority with regards to the game it

invented. Its governors saw no need

to become too involved in any foot-

ball affairs beyond the home na-

ons. Nor did the FA or club

chairmen see any need to evolve

our basic taccs or training meth-

ods. Our posion as founders would

carry us through any challenge. As

a result, innovave thinkers, such as

Jimmy Hogan, were more welcome

in the cafes of Budapest and Vienna

than they were at the local pub.

The Three Lions had never been

beaten at Wembley by a foreign

team, but nothing lasts forever.

Sebes men relished the chance of

becoming the first visitors to come

away from the cradle of the game as

victors.

[Play first video reel]



BBC video transmission.

First aired 14.12 16.04 GMT,

Wednesday 25 November 1953.

England versus Hungary.

Empire Stadium, Wembley,

London. Attendance: 105,000.

Commentator:Kenneth Wolstenholme.

Broadcasting House.


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14.14: England, then, defending

the goal to our right, and now

there's an exhibion of ball control.

Just look at that from the inside le,

Puskas. Well, we see a great deal of

that, I think we're gonna have an

awful lot of trouble holding these

unbeaten Hungarians. Lined up in

their usual formaon, with a front

five of Budai, Kocsis, Hidegku,

Pusks and Czbior.

14.15: Well, everybody has always

said, these connentals can't shoot,

but if that's a sample of what we're

going to have this aernoon, then

England are going to be in dire trou-

ble. 1-0 aer 45 seconds, then, for

Hungary.

14.54: And that was Puskas, the in-

side le and captain, who scored

that one, and my goodness, if he can

turn on tricks like this, we ought to

have him on the music hall. I've

never seen such tremendous ball

control as that exhibion of that

back-heel and the quick shot. 3-1,

then, for Hungary.

14.57: Well, before the game,

everybody was telling me that it was

a lot of ballyhoo about these Hun-

garians, England would win. Well,

here we are, 27 minutes gone, 4-1

down.

15.36: They seem to play football

as the Harlem Globetroers play

basketball, this Hungarian side.

16.02: So thats it. Six goals to

three, all the goals coming within

the hour. An expectant crowd of

over 100,000 has been shell-shocked

today. England looked to be rallying

when Mortensen got the score to 4-

2 but Puskas, the Galloping Major

they call him, and I can see why,

pranced through the England de-

fence all aernoon, and Hidegku

scored three. Englands long and il-

lustrious home unbeaten run against

non-UK opposion has come to a

sudden end. These Mighty Magyars

have sent shivers down the spines of

so many footballing naons here.

[ENDS]

1954: World Cup

Hungary went into the Swiss World

Cup as massive favourites. They

were on a 31-game unbeaten run

which stretched back all the way to




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1950. This included wins over Italy,

East Germany and Austria among

many other naons, and they had

just beaten England 7-1 in their last

warm-up game before the finals.

Aer cruising through a group in-

cluding West Germany (8-3) and

South Korea (9-0), the Magyars pro-

ceeded to beat both Brazil and

Uruguay by four goals to two (the

laer aer extra me), to set up a

rematch with West Germany in the

final.

On 4 July 1954, under heavy rain,

the stage was set. Aer taking a

knock in the first game against the

West Germans, Pusks was not

quite fully fit, but Sebes decided to

field his star man nonetheless. The

decision looked jusfied as Pusks

put Hungary ahead aer just six

minutes. When Zoltn Czibor added

the second goal two minutes later

the favourites seemed desned to

ease to victory - just as they had in

the group stage - and thus take the

trophy.

However, West Germany would not

lie down, and quick-fire goals from

Max Morlock and Helmut Rahn had

them level. Hungary were stunned

but managed to reach half me at

22, both teams having missed sev-

eral promising chances to take the

lead. The second half connued

where the first had le off, with

both teams were pouring forward,

desperately trying to nab a goal to

no avail unl

With six minutes remaining, disaster

struck for Hungary. Rahn reached

the ball 20 yards from goal, deceived

the Hungarian defender by feigning

a right-foot shot and scored with his

weaker le. An equaliser from the

supposedly under the weather

Pusks was ruled offside by the

Welsh linesman.

It all seemed unreal for Hungary.

Pusks goal wasnt offside and they

should even have had a penalty in

the last second, but at the end of

the day Hungarys unbeaten run had

come to an abrupt end in one of the

biggest upsets in the history of foot-

ball.

It would be difficult for the Mighty

Magyars to bounce back from such

an emoonal defeat and two years

down the line, the side had fallen




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into disarray. In the summer of 1956

Sebes was sacked, and then came an

event which could have ended Hun-

garys footballing system altogether.

1956: Revoluon

The stunning success of the Hungar-

ian revoluon was pivotal to the na-

ons footballing revival. Under

communist rule, Hungarian football

had flourished but just prior to inde-

pendence, Magyar Foci was on the

decline. The players were being

treated like second-class cizens.

Sebes was first undermined by the

government and then removed

when results went against him.

Hungary fell into Russian hands at

the end of the War. The USSR took

every penny that Hungary had and

managed Budapests affairs from

Moscow. In 1953, when Joseph

Stalin died, the people of Hungary

were given some hope that they

might be free from Soviet rule.

Alas, life only became worse for

Hungarians as the new Soviet Pre-

mier, Nikita Khruschev, turned the

screw (or the sickle, for the poec

among you). Many Hungarians

were out of pocket, barely able to

survive.

On 23 October 1956 students and

workers took to the streets of Bu-

dapest and issued their Sixteen

Points, which included personal

freedom, more food, the removal of

the secret police, and the removal of

Russian control.

At first, Kruschev was content to let

the protest be handled by local au-

thories. Within a fortnight, it be-

came apparent that the movement

was gaining momentum and Bu-

dapest might fall. Russian forces

mobilised. Amazingly, students and

tradesmen in both Czechoslovakia

and Poland, the laer dissasfied

with Moscows interpretaon of the

Warsaw Pact, launched protests in

support of their Hungarian brethren.

Kruschev suddenly had brushfires to

put out in three cies.

Then the supposedly non-aligned

Marshal Tito took a hand, offering

encouraging words and calling on

western countries to offer support.

Kruschev, unfazed, simply called up

reinforcements.

England and the US were content to




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stay out of the fray. Not only were

the Soviets now also a nuclear

power, but the US would look fool-

ish, to say the least, if they con-

demned Soviet intervenon in

Hungary while supporng Brish

and French intervenon in the on-

going Suez crisis. In London, how-

ever, ex-Prime Minister Winston

Churchill was meeng with former

US President Harry S. Truman. Very

much against the wishes of their

governments, the two somehow

managed to fly into Budapest.

Once there, the pair announced

their presence to the press and on

the radio, insisng that they would

not leave unl Kruschev himself ar-

rived to negoate a peaceful end to

the uprising. Suddenly, with two of

its iconic leaders in the thick of the

uprising, NATO was intensely inter-

ested in the fate of Hungary. With

grudging Soviet permission, NATO

emissaries arrived in Budapest to es-

cort Churchill and Truman to safety.

The old men refused to depart, in-

sisng upon negoang a lasng

peace and an independent Hungary.

A month-long stalemate ensued,

with Yugoslavias Marshall Tito, long

a thorn in the side of Moscow, vol-

unteering, as a neutral party, to air-

li supplies into the besieged city.

Kruschev was incensed at the cheek

of Tito but, with Truman and

Churchill on the ground, he was un-

able to refuse without sparking an-

other war. With the frightening

spectre of nuclear conflict the likely

result, neither side was willing to fire

the first shot.

Finally, with no other alternave, Kr-

uschev arrived to negoate. The

talks lasted another month but

when all was said and done, Hun-

gary, Czechoslovakia, Poland and Yu-

goslavia each signed new

non-aggression and mutual defence

treaes with both the Soviet Union

and NATO. Under the Budapest Ac-

cord, which usurped the more So-

viet-biased Warsaw Pact, the

Eastern European Union was

founded, with the four naons

forming an economic partnership,

which Romania, Albania and, finally

East Germany joined.

The EEU served as a buffer between

the democracies of the West and

the totalitarian USSR. The twin mu-

tual defence pacts kept either side

from encroaching on the fledgling




8/19

states, enabling them to develop in

a peaceful, if tense, environment.

When the East Germans joined the

Budapest Accord in 1958, Bonn wasunhappy, as it prevented re-unifica-

on, and NATO and the Soviets were

upset that they were politely but

firmly asked to leave Berlin.

In 1959, Churchill and Truman, the

man who dropped the first atomic

bomb, were awarded the Nobel

Peace Prize. Ten years, later, the

EEU is a thriving industrial bloc and

the Mighty Magyars, who were on

the brink of oblivion, along with the

rest of Hungary, are the dominant

force in football.

While Churchill, Truman and even-

tual Hungarian President Imre Nagy

were negoang with Kruschev,

most of the Hungary players were

stranded in Spain, being in Bilbao

with Honvd for a European Cup

match. Fearing for their lives, theywere reluctant to immediately re-

turn home. Le in limbo for weeks

as the Russians and Hungarians ne-

goated, Honvd lost the e, 6-5 on

aggregate, having to play the return

leg in Heysel. Finally, the Russian

troops and officials withdrew. The

players could fly home, be with their

families and play for the naonal

team, once more.

The whole episode couldnt have

gone much beer for Hungary. It

lied their morale, not just socially,

but in football terms too, which

most Hungarians lived for. Sebes

was back in charge and the 1958

World Cup was in their sights. Could

they rebuild in such a short me and

banish the memories from the

Nightmare of Bern?

1958: World Cup

Hungary entered the 1958 World

Cup in stark contrast to their previ-

ous World Cup campaign. They

were no longer favourites for the

tournament, no longer a communist

country, and had the best team in

the world to compete against, in

Brazil.

Nevertheless, Hungarys squad was-

nt too depleted for the tournament

and heroes from the Olympic side of

52, Pusks, Czibor and Kocsis were

all there to parcipate alongside

greats like Hidegku, Gyula Grosics,

and Lszl Budai.




9/19

The Magyars were in a group with

Mexico, Wales and host Sweden.

On paper, it seemed a simple

prospect but the hurried prepara-ons aer polical reformaon had

made everyone nervous.

Hungary only played one warm-up

game before the tournament,

against a poor Finnish side, whom

they managed to beat 2-1. The per-

formance was well below what was

usually expected of them and the

odds makers were unimpressed,

making the Magyars longshots to

win, at 11-1.

Aer the Finnish result, the Hungar-

ian FA panicked and reinstated

Sebes. As fate would have it, the

move turned out to be a stroke of

genius. Reunited with their mentor,

the squad suddenly looked like

themselves again, defeang Wales

(2-1) and Mexico (4-0) before draw-

ing to a fierce Swedish side deter-mined to defend their home ground

in front of a watching world.

In the quarter-final, Hungary drew

their former occupiers, the Soviet

Union. The match was a reflecon

of the Budapest Accord, with the

Magyars flexing their independent

muscle and the Soviets looking hes-

itant and unsure. At half me, ten-

sions boiled over, with the two sides

brawling on their way into the club-

house. Each side received two red

cards but luckily for the Magyars

both of theirs were incurred by re-

serves.

When the two sides returned, the

Russians were refusing to take the

pitch, down two men. Sebes hud-

dled with the match officials and

FIFA president Arthur Drewry andsporngly agreed to play with just

nine men. The match resumed and

the more skilled Magyars used the

extra space to effect, scoring twice

to claim a 2-0 victory.

Hungary then defeated old foes

West Germany (3-1), which went

some way to avenging their loss in

Berne. This set up a e against the

best team in the World: Brazil.

The Brazil side looked incredibly

strong on paper but so did Hun-

garys and importantly, the Mag-

yars had gained in confidence as the

campaign had progressed.




10/19

[See back of Gustav Sebes/Ferenc

Pusks poster]

IO: Congratulaons on your 2-1

victory Gusztv. How did the players

feel going into their second World

Cup Final in a row?

GS: Many of the players felt a

lot more nervous than last me ac-

tually. You could see in their faces

just before kick-off that they were

thinking of the game four years ago,

and it was up to me to li the spirits

in the dressing room. I started to

talk about how we convincingly beat

the World Champions in the semi-

final, and all the other fantasc per-

formances throughout the

tournament. Id like to think it reallyfired them up.

IO: What did you say to the

players at half-me when you were

leading by a goal to nil?

GS: Again, I had to make the

players believe in themselves so I

just told them to carry on playing

their game, and if they did that

theyd win the game. I was obvi-

ously nervous about some of the in-

dividual talent that Brazil had out

there, like Pele and Garrincha, but I

really believed my boys would bring

the trophy home.

IO: Explain your emoons when

Zagallo equalised in the last minute

for Brazil.

GS: I was shell-shocked. Aereverything that we had come

through to get to this point, I

thought that the Football Gods had

at last smiled upon us but, going into

extrat me, I had to tell the boys to

carry on believing. I believed that

one goal, if we could find it, would

be enough and thankfully it was.

IO: It was a fine winner from

Pusks. In your view, is he the best

players whos every played the

game?

GS: Without queson. The boy

can do things the likes of which Ive

never seen before. Hes transformed

the game into a modern age, almost



Gustv Sebes.

Interviewed by Imre Olh.

First published in Nemzeti Sport,

6 July 1958. All rights reserved.


11/19

on his own. He can do anything,

dribble past defenders, score from

range, pass, cross. Hes the perfect

player and a great friend. Even so,hell be the first to tell you to keep an

eye on that young Brazilian, Pele.

[ENDS]

Hundreds of thousands converged

on Budapest to celebrate the play-

ers incredible achievement. It was

not just a win for football, but it was

a win for freedom.

1959-61: Honvd Times

Honvd struggled to make as much

of an impact in the newly formed

European Cup following the Hungar-

ian Revoluon, only managing the

quarter-final on two occasions and

the last-16 on another. But with a

team full of players fresh from their

World Cup victory, it wasnt going to

be long before they made theirmark. In a bold move they replaced

their coach with the great Jimmy

Hogan, who had by then reached

the grand old age of 77. There was

a lot of excitement about the ap-

pointment of the former MTK Bu-

dapest boss, but also a lot of

scepcism: was he too old for the

job? Could he work his magic on a

new generaon of footballers?

These quesons were dismissed by

the majority though; Hogan had al-

ready been credited with the foot-

ball revoluon which lead to the

Hungarians demolishing England 6-

3 at Wembley, so if this was anything

to go by success was sure to come.

And success did come. 1958/59 was

the start of Honvds three-year

connental dominance. They began

the campaign with a tricky visit toPolish champions Polonia Bytom,

who they comfortably beat 6-1 over

two legs, before the compeon re-

ally started to hot up. They were

pied against the tle-holders from

England, Wolverhampton Wander-

ers, and lost the first leg at Molineux

3-2, thanks to a hat-trick from Peter

Broadbent. The second leg was built

up as the Game of the Decade, but

it sadly didnt live up to the hype.

Honvd strolled the first half, and

were 3-0 up aer just 20 minutes

thanks to goals from Kocsis and

Pusks. The second half didnt get

any beer for Wolves, who were

duly thrashed 6-0.




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The quarter-final was even easier for

Honvd: they beat Standard Liege 7-

2 on aggregate. Only Stade de

Reims stood in their way. Onceagain, however, they walked over

their opposion, winning 2-0 in

France and 3-1 back in Budapest.

The final was to be a much harder

task. Honvd were up against the

reigning European champions, Real

Madrid. While Hungary teetered onthe brink of obscurity, the Spaniards

had won the European Cup in the

first three years of its existence, but

they had not had an easy route to

the final this me. They squeezed

past local rivals Atleco Madrid in

their semi-final a play-off was re-

quired aer their two-legged e

ended 2-2. Real won 2-1.

[Play second video reel]

17.03: [FP] And thats the end of

the news summary. Now, unl a

quarter to seven, we have live com-

mentary from the fourth European

Cup final, contested between Real

Madrid, from Spain, and Budapest

Honvd, of Hungary.

17.04: [KW] Nearly 80,000 here in

Stugart, to witness these two playout the final. Real Madrid have won

the first three but Honvd, and Fer-

enc Pusks in parcular, will provide

sff opposion this evening. But its

already 1-0 to the Spaniards, Ma-

teos with the goal aer only one

minute was on the clock.

17.27: [KW] Here goes Di Stefano,

and Di Stefano, has kept up his

amazing record of scoring in every

single European Cup final. He scored

their first goal in 1956 against Stade

de Reims, he scored their first goal in

1957 against Fiorenna, he scored

their first goal against AC Milan last

year, and this year, hes had to be

content with scoring their second



BBC video transmission,in association with ARD

(German National Broadcasting).

First aired 17.03 18.47 BST,

Wednesday 3 June 1959.

Real Madrid (ESP) versus Budapest

Honvd (HUN). Neckarstadion,

Stuttgart, Attendance: 72,000.

Commentators:Kenneth Wolstenholme, Walley

Barnes (Frank Phillips, introducing).

Broadcasting House, ARD.


13/19

goal. Its Real Madrid two, Honvd

nil, from Real Madrids favourite

player, and how well it was struck by

Di Stefano.

17.45: [KW] Three goals to one

Real Madrid lead at the interval

then, worth their lead.

17.46: [WB] Their English coach,

Honvds English coach, Jimmy

Hogan, will have a hard task genghis team back into this one. Very,

very tall order now for the Hungari-

ans.

18.05: [KW] Theyve really come

out of the blocks like Bobby Joe Mor-

row, and theyre deservedly level at

3-3. That goal from Budai and the

two from Pusks, the second from a

free kick, have all been top drawer,

really perfect. They were calling this

the Game of the Decade and its liv-

ing up to the billing this me, unlike

their e against WolverhamptonWanderers, in the, earlier in the

tournament.

18.05: [WB] Much beer game,

this. Much more enjoyable. So

much talent out there.

18.34: [KW] Mateos scores, andthats his second of the game and

Real Madrids fourth. Do the Hun-

garians have any punch le in them?

18.40: [KW] Pusks with his head,

and its in, theyre level, 85 minutes

played and were all square, 4-4.

What a player this fellow is, three

goals from him, what a me to

score.

18.44: [KW] Hungary not sure

what to do here, waing for some-

one to move into posion. Its

thrown in. Kocsis, sll Kocsis, andits there. Kocsis has scored, and

surely won the game for Honvd. All

his own work, Kocsis, le foot,

through the goalkeeper, 5-4. Won-

derful play from the inside forward,

Stanley Mahews would have been

proud of that play. Genius play.

[ENDS]

Honvd had well and truly Broken

Read Madrids spell, and with a side

that included Pusks, Kocsis, Czibor,

Jzsef Bozsik, Lszl Budai, Gyula

Lrnt and the naonal team goal-

keeper, Grosics, they won another

two European Cups, matching Di

Stefano and co.s record. In




14/19

1959/60, Hogan gracefully and

gratefully rered and Kroly Ss,

pried away from rivals Ferencvrosi,

took over. Honvd didnt miss astep, thrashing Eintracht Frankfurt,

7-3, in the final, with four goals com-

ing from the talismanic Pusks. The

hat-trick of tles was completed, fit-

ngly, against Real Madrid in 1960,

this me by a more comfortable 4-1

scoreline.

1962: World Cup

As the 1962 World Cup approached

the Mighty Magyars were an ageing

side, and arguably werent quite at

the peak of their powers but sll

boasted class acts from the great

Honvd side such as Pusks, Kocsis

and Czibor. They also included some

new names, like the highly talented

Flrin Albert and 22-year-old Ern

Solymosi . The Magyars went to

Chile with a lot of opmism and

were looking to become just thesecond naon to win back-to-back

World tles, aer the great Italian

side of the 1930s. Yet no European

side had yet won one the Jules

Rimet on South American soil.

The players arrived in South America

a month before the tournament wasdue to begin, which gave them a

long me to prepare, bond and get

used to the condions which the un-

familiar connent had to throw at

them. They scheduled warm-up

games against both club and inter-

naonal sides.

Things didnt begin well though, as

they lost their first two preparaon

matches. A Pel-inspired Santos

beat them 3-1, and they also fell to

another Brazilian team, Sao Paulo,

4-3. The team gradually started togel though, as they beat Argen-

nean opponents Estudiantes and

River Plate 2-0 and 5-1 respecvely.

As the team moved on to Chile, con-

fidence was brewing within the

Magyar camp and they were

greeted by a rapturous recepon as

they arrived in Sanago. TheChilean fans appreciate good foot-

ball, which was clear to see as the

fans lined the streets to welcome

the Hungarians into their country.




15/19

[Play second audio cassee]

DC: How have you enjoyed yourme in South America so far?

FP: Very good. Here, it has

been unbelievable. These people

[the Chileans] treat us like we have

just saved the world from disease

and famine. We are greeted as he-

roes, not football players.

DC: And how do you think you

will do in your next match, against

Colo Colo?

FP: We played OK but lost twice[in Brazil]. Now we are geng used

to the weather here, the food, the

pitches. Now we win our next two,

so people start to talk about us

again. We dont worry too much

about the scores at the moment, so

I wont make a predicon. And for

me, personally, I am scoring so I amhappy.

DC: Youre always scoring.

Whats the secret?

FP: There is no secret.

(Long pause)

DC: So how do you see the

teams chances in the tournament,

can you emulate the Italian team of

the 30s and claim back-to-back

World Cup wins?

FP: I dont make promises, but

all I say is we are playing well and

we are experienced. We have been

in the last two finals and lucky

enough to win one, but there are a

lot of good teams this year. I am just

glad we are free to play football ifwe win, then all the beer.

[ENDS]

The first game in Chile was special,

as more than 50,000 fans flocked to

see Colo Colo take on the Hungari-

ans. The visitors ran out comfort-

able 9-2 winners, with Pusks

predictably scoring six on his own.



BBC audio transmission.First aired 14.30 14.34 BST,

Tuesday 8 May 1962.

Ferenc Pusks,

Interviewed by David Coleman,

Via translator Sndor Koman.

Broadcasting House.


16/19

Not worried by the result, the

Chilean fans connued their good-

will and Hungary le the field to a

standing ovaon. If their compe-tors didnt know it before, they now

knew the Mighty Magyars meant

business. They then moved on to

beat Everton (of Chile), prior to de-

feang the naonal sides of

Venezuela, Japan and the USA, be-

fore the real event began at the end

of May.

Many of the pundits had pped

Brazil to secure their first world tle.

They had a great side, including Gar-

rincha, Pel, Vav and Amarildo

plus, like Hungary, the backing of the

Chilean crowds. They could also

claim some form of home advan-tage, being familiar with the con-

nent, and this would give them an

edge over the European contenders.

Hungary cruised through the group

stage defeang England, Argenna

and Bulgaria, before knocking outCzechoslovakia in the quarter-final.

They defeated Yugoslavia 4-1 in the

semi-final thanks to braces from

Lajos Tichy and Albert, which set the

final everyone wanted (not least the

Chilean fans) a tasty affair with

Brazil.

With Pusks failing to recover from

an injury sustained against the

Czechs, the Hungarians task looked

a tricky one indeed. They may have

been expecng a good level of sup-

port from the Chilean crowd aer

their amorous welcome a few weeks

ago, but the fans inside the EstadioNacional gave their full backing to

Brazil, who had been even more

rampant than the Magyars on their

way to the final. Almost 70,000 peo-

ple were to be disappointed though.

Albert opened the scoring for Hun-gary inside of a minute, before Soly-

mosi added a second just two

minutes later. Suddenly, the match

was being played in a vast canyon

rather than a sfling cauldron.

Coming out in the second half, the

crowd tried recovered some of itsvoice and aempted to carry the

Brazilians back into the match. One

man, especially, picked up the ban-

ner for the Brazilians. Young Pele,

now twenty-one, showed the world

that Puskas was not the only foot-

baller who could take over a match.

Time and again, he made inroadsinto the Magyar box but Hungary

keeper Grosics held the game score




17/19

less for almost the enre half.

Finally, in the eighty-seventh

minute, Pele broke through, literally.

Shouldering off three defenders heweaved into the box and, leaning to

his le, sent the ball off the outside

of his right foot, deceiving Grosics

and bringing the Selecao to within

one.

Three minutes into stoppage me,

he was in clear again on a perfectthrough ball and buried his chance,

only for his joy to turn to despair

upon seeing the linesmans flag

raised high in the air. The Brazilians

surrounded the match official, iron-

ically a Soviet, but to no avail. The

call stood and, as the Magyars felt

they had been wronged eight yearsearlier, in Bern, it was now the

Brazilians turn. Hungary, not with-

out controversy, had conquered the

world for a second me in succes-

sion.

Footage of the play is grainy and one

is unable to simultaneously view the

ball being released and Pele spling

the defenders, so history will never

know whether the goal should have

stood. Regardless, Hungarys run in

the finals over the past three tour-

naments remains an astoundingachievement.

The players were greeted in Bu-

dapest by thousands lining the

streets, signing Ria Ria Hungaria.

The scenes were reminiscent of the

victory parade four years before, but

this me they had achieved great-ness with an unfancied, ageing side.

This proved to the world that the

Mighty Magyars should never be

wrien off.

1966: Three in a row?

Legends Hidegku, Pusks and Koc-

sis have all rered, and several oth-

ers will be joining them aer this

years World Cup. Young players

have come through to replace these

three, but this is no doubt a weaker

Hungary team than the one that haddominated world football over the

past decade. Sll, Hungary will be

the team to beat, no doubt about

that.

The Brazilians are of course always a

threat, and a repeat of the 1962

final looks a disnct possibility.

England will have home advantage,




18/19

and with a good, confident leader in

Alf Ramsey they will be looking to

get to the semi-final at least. The

former Ipswich Town manager pre-dicted an England triumph when he

took over the naonal team three

years ago, and well see if he can pull

it off.

This England team will have been

told the tale of the Magyars first

memorable victory and, should thetwo squads meet, will be movated

to redress that blemish on the Three

Lions record.

As well, the part played by Churchill

in securing Hungarys independence

has had an effect on the English

game. It is sll very rough and tum-ble, with players as happy to get a

boot in a players way as they do on

the ball, but the days when forward

thinking in taccs was scoffed at are

well and truly gone. It was late in

life but Jimmy Hogan was at lastgiven a top flight chance with Lon-

don side Toenham, and he made

the most of it with three runners-up

finishes in the league and an FA Cup

to put in his trophy case.

Hogan was said to have been consid-

ered for the England job, but whenWalter Winterboom was retained,

he went into rerement, unl that

one final swan song at Honvd.

So, there is a healthy mix of strength

and imaginaon within the England

side under Alf Ramsey and the

Three Lions are eager to take thetorch from the Mighty Magyars,

Future

With the Hungarian economy expe-

riencing something of a decline,aer its inial post-Soviet revival, it

is hard to think that a significant

amount of money will be injected

into the game. History has shown

that dominance within the sport

tends to be cyclical and Hungary

have been pedalling far longer than

anyone previously has. As men-oned, they have lost some truly

great players and only me will tell

whether their replacements can

match their feats.

As well, the younger stars are begin-

ning to be aracted by the money

on offer in Spain and Italy. Playing inforeign leagues may be the wave of

the future but one wonders how




19/19

much it will erode the unity that the

Mighty Magyars have always been

able to bring to bear?

The 1958 side, in parcular, was

such a special team, the likes of

which may never be seen again.

Taccally, they were revoluonary.

Under Hogan for one last season,

they perfected the old mans teach-

ings. The individual talent on show,

such as Pusks with his drag backagainst Billy Wright, was ingenious.

Yet, this sort of thing was seen as

commonplace within the Hungarian

side. They werent just a side of

great individuals, but they were a

team who played for each other and

blended magnificently well. The

Mighty Magyars will never be for-goen, and if this current crop are

half as good they may be waltzing

back to Hungary with an historic

third trophy.



This is an extract from Issue One of Man and Ball

magazine: Let Sleeping Gods Lie.

This issue introduces Nigel and features stories

on German football since reunification, African

Arsenal fans, an unsung Dutch legend, and

seven other intriguing articles.

It can be downloaded in its entiretyHERE >

Tomasz MortimerHUNGARIAN FOOTBALL >

@HungariaFootbal >

Currently on a one-man mission to educate the

masses on Hungarian football, past and present. Also

knowledgeable on Eastern European football in general.
http://manandball.com/#/download-pdf/4554959574http://manandball.com/#/download-pdf/4554959574http://hungarianfootball.com/http://twitter.com/#!/HungariaFootbalhttp://manandball.com/#/download-pdf/4554959574http://manandball.com/#/download-pdf/4554959574http://hungarianfootball.com/http://twitter.com/#!/HungariaFootbal

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