HUNGARY’S MISSED CHANCE
The pain of 1954 final defeat
IT WAS a rainy day in the Swiss capital of Berne on Sunday, July 4, 1954 but surely nothing could dampen Hungary’s chances of lifting the Jules Rimet Trophy? They were the red-hot favourites to win the World Cup having not lost a game in nearly four years. Their last 32 matches had resulted in 28 victories and four draws.
The sequence included the Olympic title of 1952 and two crushing defeats of England (6-3 at Wembley and 7-1 in Budapest).
In contrast, their opponents West Germany were unfancied and had enjoyed an easier route to the final.
Indeed, the opening few minutes seemed to confirm Hungary’s superiority. On six minutes, Jozsef Bozsik cut through the German defence with a beautifully weighted pass to Sandor Kocsis.
Veering to his right, Kocsis shot but the ball was blocked and spun out to the Hungarian captain Ferenc Puskas. The skipper made no mistake as his low strike settled in the far corner of the Germans’ net.
Just two minutes later, the Magyars scored again. Under pressure from Kocsis, German defender Werner Kohlmeyer got into a muddle with his goalkeeper Toni Turek and Zoltan Czibor gratefully nipped in to steal the ball and take advantage of the empty net.
Why had the Hungarians been so dominant in the early 1950s? Well, under manager Gusztav Sebes they had developed a new style of play. For the sake of convenience, it was called the 4-2-4 formation but was actually far more subtle.
Unlike England who were fixed rigidly to 2-3-5 system, the Magyars did not care much about the numbers on the back of their shirts and moved around the pitch looking for space.
Their system involved a deep-lying centre forward, in this case Nandor Hidegkuti, and the half-backs moving forward when necessary.
Of course, nothing could be achieved without high-class players. Hungary were lucky that several stars came together at the same time.
Puskas, affectionately nicknamed ‘the Galloping Major’, made up for his somewhat unathletic, stocky build by possessing a fine footballing brain by which he could direct the play.
Then there were the likes of Hidegkuti, Kocsis, Bozsik and goalkeeper Gyula Grosics, who were all highly talented.
Furthermore, over the course of Hungary’s winning streak, nine of the players were almost always on the team sheet. The advantages of a settled team were not lost on their manager.
The opening rounds of the tournament had been easy for Hungary. Placed in Pool 2, they mercilessly despatched South Korea, scoring nine goals. Next up were the West Germans. It was another massacre. Hungary were 3-1 up at half-time and went on to win by the amazing margin of 8-3. The Germans were completely outclassed.
However, all was not as it seemed. Realising he had little chance of defeating the much-vaunted Hungarians, the German manager ‘Sepp’ Herberger put out a weakened team.
He knew his team could qualify by
beating the other group members, Turkey and South Korea. Eight of his first-choice players were missing from the line-up.
If Germany finished runners-up in the group they would have an easier route to the final than Hungary by avoiding Brazil and Uruguay.
Yet even more significant was an injury to Puskas in this game. He was a great leader on the pitch but, with the score at 5-1, he received a bad injury. He was caught from behind by the German centre-half Werner Liebrich.
Puskas had to leave the field and it later transpired he had a hairline fracture of the ankle. He was forced to miss the next two games.
Sebes and others claimed the injury was intentional. In his autobiography ‘Captain of Hungary’, Puskas wrote of getting “a vicious kick on the back of my ankle when I was not in possession of the ball”.
The injury was to have a profound effect on Hungary.
The quarter-finals pitted Hungary against Brazil and if people were expecting a feast of glorious football from these two highly gifted teams, they were sadly mistaken.
It turned out to be a vicious game which gained the title of the ‘Battle of Berne’. With Hungary leading 2-1, the English referee Arthur Ellis awarded the Magyars a penalty.
His decision was fiercely opposed by the Brazilian players and mayhem broke out. After Mihaly Lantos had converted the penalty to make it 3-1, the game turned violent.
Ellis had to send off three players. The trouble even continued after the final whistle.
The Hungarian keeper Grosics later remarked: “We beat the Brazilians with a huge fight in the dressing rooms at the end.”
Hungary’s 4-2 victory over Brazil pitted them against Uruguay, the reigning champions, in the semi-finals.
Thankfully, this was an altogether different game. In fact, it was an epic encounter. Despite the absence of Puskas and a heavy downpour, Hungary made a bright start, taking a two-goal lead thanks to headers from Kocsis and Hidegkuti.
But the champions were not going down without a fight and their inside-left Hohberg scored twice in the last 15 minutes to force extra-time.
It was finally two headers from Kocsis which settled the close contest as Hungary emerged 4-2 winners. It had been the game of the tournament and did a lot to wipe away the bitter taste of the quarter-final match.
And so back to the final. Puskas had declared himself fit to play. Hungary led 2-0. What could possibly go wrong? Well, Hungary’s two-goal lead lasted just a couple of minutes.
In the tenth minute, Max Morlock got his foot to a cross from Fritz Walter to cut the deficit. Then, on 18 minutes, the Germans equalised thanks to a half- volley from Helmut Rahn after a corner kick.
Hungary continued to press and started dominating possession. However, the West Germans managed to repel tide after tide of Hungarian attacks.
Turek was keeping his team in the game with a series of great
saves. Just before half-time, Hidegkuti hit the foot of the upright.
After the interval, Puskas had two goalbound shots parried. Kohlmeyer saved on the line after Turek was beaten. Kocsis hit the bar as bad luck continued to dog the Magyars.
In truth, Puskas’ influence on the game was waning as the Germans’ determination to resist intensified.
Then, with six minutes left on the clock, disaster struck for all who love football justice. Rahn pounced on a loose ball after a clearing header by Lantos and his low shot evaded Grosics. Germany led 3-2.
But two minutes later, Hungary had seemed to equalise. A low shot from Puskas beat Turek. Two German defenders appealed for offside. Belatedly, the linesman, Welshman Mervyn Griffiths, raised his flag and the English referee Bill Ling disallowed the goal.
Film footage is inconclusive. At the very least it seemed a questionable decision.
Puskas himself was adamant: “I couldn’t believe it. It was almost a minute afterwards when he raised his flag.”
Hungary’s unexpected defeat led to anti-government demonstrations and unrest in Budapest. Sebes also came under sharp criticism.
Was he right to play Puskas, clearly not at his best? Had he got his tactics wrong? The team formation to compensate for Puskas’ lower fitness level was also criticised.
Yet it was probably simply bad luck which did for the Hungarians, including two of the referee’s decisions.
Germany’s second goal looks dubious on the film footage. Grosics came for a corner kick and, in my book, appears to be impeded and blocked by Hans Schafer before the ball then fell for Rahn to score. I’m sure such a goal would not be allowed today.
Also, there was Hungary’s late ‘equaliser’. At first the referee seemed likely to award the goal but deferred to his linesman. It’s hard to tell from the film whether it was offside.
Then there was Puskas’ injury. Even the heavy rain that day worked against Hungary’s ground passing game.
The players themselves lost what perks the communist government had given them over the previous years.
Goalkeeper Grosics was particularly badly treated. He was arrested late in the year and put under house arrest for imagined crimes against the state. Eventually, he was forced to transfer from leading club Honved to lowly Tatabanya.
The Hungarians continued to win after the 1954 World Cup but the 1956 uprising put an end to the team.
Puskas, Czibor and Kocsis defected. Czibor and Kocsis signed for Barcelona and Puskas for Real Madrid. The Golden Age of Hungarian football was well and truly over.
The Magical Magyars were one of the greatest teams not to win the World Cup, if not the greatest. Their big chance had gone.
Nowadays, Hungary languish way down the FIFA rankings. For a country with a population of less than ten million, it’s most unlikely that they will ever see the likes of Puskas and his team-mates again.