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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
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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
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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]
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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
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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.
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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.
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[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
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Gustv Sebes.
Interviewed by Imre Olh.
First published in Nemzeti Sport,
6 July 1958. All rights reserved.
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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
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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.
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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
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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.
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[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.
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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.
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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
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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,
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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
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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.
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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.
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