Hungarian football re-emerges out of obscurity

Anyone who flicks through a record book will see the name of the mighty Puskas. He is like Bradman or Babe Ruth or Eusebio -- it's hard to believe he existed, even though we have players like Messi and Ronaldo. Have only seen grainy films, but his reputation was fearsome, and his record amongst the best ever. Some may think the opposition was weaker, but it must be remembered that the grounds were not as good, footwear and clothing not as light, and the wet ball was extremely heavy (not too many spare footballs in that era, and plenty of wet weather in Europe in the 1950s) -- forget nutrition, people ate whatever they could get. In one sense, England never really recovered from the hammering they were given by Hungary. They played the game at a different level, and took away the sense of innate superiority the English had. England's players were professionals, but many Hungarian players were state-sponsored and trained non-stop. When England won the World Cup in 1966, there were still plenty of fans and players who remembered the Hungarians -- which is why it loomed so large in the English psyche. To j. binnie, how incredible to think there are still people who saw the team live and can remember match details -- thank you! Let's not forget that Sydney's own St. George Budapest was founded by Hungarians, and remained a powerful force in Australian soccer, their coach Frank Arok (of Hungarian descent), eventually managing Australia. I would be interested to know if there was a link between the expatriate Hungarians and the footballers of their homeland.

Anindya -I should have added the scoring rates achieved by Kocsis and Puskas when playing. Puskas played 355 games for Honved scoring 352 goals and with Real he played 230 games scoring 225 goals. With Hungary he played 85 games scoring 84 goals. His "partner in crime" Sandor Kocsis played 145 games for Honved scoring 153 goals.At Barcelona he played 75 games and scored 42 goals With Hungary he played 68 games scoring 78 goals. Has there ever been a "deadlier duo" Cheers jb

Anindya - If you are interested Goggle in "Scotland v Hungary 1954" and you'll get 7 minute film of the game with all the goals , Other things to note is the straw around the ground which had covered the pitch to prevent it freezing overnight,also some great shots of the 113,000 crowd,remembering it was a Wednesday afternoon,a working day in those days. jb

Anindya - Your uncle wasn't wrong in his player assessment. In the game I saw them play we were standing directly behind a goal with a galeforce wind blowing left to right across the field.The masterful Hidegkuti picked a ball up centre field and hit a long pass ,seemingly directed straight towards us and I kid you not, the ball actually swerved INTO the wind where the aerial master Kocsis met the ball with his head and directed it down to Puskas's deadly left foot. Luckily for the Scots keeper he sent his shot just wide,but this was skill we had never seen before,that's why it remains in the mind. Cheers jb.

Cheers guys....great to see a respectful and insightful exchange of ideas here on the site.

Anindya. Thanks for the reply. Actually the real roots of the term "Total Football" can ,as I said ,be traced back to the thoughts of Hugo Meisl who theorised that if it was possible to get 10 players all with exactly the same mental, physical and skill attributes then they could simply play the game by moving forward with the ball and stay where they were after they had passed the ball to a team-mate. The theory was christened the "Viennese Whirl" but of course was only a theory, Meisl himself admitting it would be impossible to get 10 players with exactly the identical attributes,however there are many football scholars who declare that since he introduced the idea into discussion football coaches the world over have tried to formulate system and fitness regimes that would take their teams a long way down the road to achieve Meisl's "Impossible Dream". The Russians (1940's),the Hungarians (1950's), the Brazilians (1960's) & the Dutch in the 1970's, have all been credited with "discovering " Total Football but it is a term that Michels,the Dutch coach,declared publicly ,he never used. Cheers jjb

Aninyda -A nice trip down memory lane and most of what you say re. the Mighty Magyars is true and accurate. I was fortunate enough to see them play Scotland at Hampden Park in 1954 in an excellent game which Hungary won 4-2 against a Scots team that was severely weakened by the absence of any Rangers and Celtic players. Your reference to their magnificence of playing the game is very accurate but your reference to "Total Football" is just a little "off beam" for although they did contribute to a change in "line up",, presenting a very fluid 4-4-2 when out of possession to a devastating 3-3-4 when on the attack.they accomplished this by modelling their game on a pre-war Austrian line up that first saw the use of a play-maker .SIndelar, as a deep lying centre forward. The Hungarians used the immensely talented Hidegkuti in this role while maintaining a two man threat to a defence with Kocsis and Puskas, and what a threat they were.The unsung heroes in the team were the work horses on the wings Budai and Czibor, who being very quick, provided the pace out wide when turnover gave them possession. "Total Football" is a misnomer used in Holland by journalists at the height of the Ajax /Netherlands domination in the game but actually is thought to have it's basis in a theory presented by the football theorist Hugo Meisl many years before in Austria. Cheers jb ps That Hungary v Scotland game I attended was held on a cold winter's Wednesday afternoon and was attended by 113,000 people None went away disappointed. Really the demise in Hungarian football was to have it's roots in the political uprising in that country some 3 years later when the likes of Puskas and Kocsis were to move to Spain to play with Real and Barcelona. jb