Golden Elf
Back: Gyula Lóránt , jenő buzánszky , nándor hidegkuti , Sándor Kocsis , József Zakariás , Zoltán Czibor , József Bozsik , László Budai
forward: Mihály Lantos , Ferenc Puskas , Gyula Grosics
The Hungarian national football team from 1950 to 1956 is referred to as the Golden Elf ( Hungarian Aranycsapat ) . Between May 14, 1950 and July 4, 1954, the team remained undefeated in 32 competitive games in a row.
team
In 1949 Gusztáv Sebes was appointed national coach of Hungary. Around captain Ferenc Puskás he formed the national team into the best Hungarian team that ever existed. Numerous Hungarian citizens and also many people interested in football abroad knew the line-up of these legendary teams by heart: Grosics , Buzánszky , Lóránt , Lantos , Bozsik , Zakariás , Budai , Kocsis , Hidegkuti , Puskás , Czibor . Three of the selected players were of Danube Swabian origin, whose surnames were Magyarized: Sandro Wagner as Sándor Kocsis, Ferdinand Kaltenbrunner as Nándor Hidegkuti and Franz Purzeld as Ferenc Puskás. Outstanding players were left half-forward Puskás (captain), midfield director Bozsik, header specialist Kocsis, center forward Hidegkuti, left winger Czibor and goalkeeper Grosics. The core of the team was formed by players from the major Budapest clubs MTK and Honvéd . Until 1951 the defender Sándor Szűcs was part of the team. He was executed in 1951 for trying to leave Hungary, which no other national player dared to do afterwards.
The team was coached by Gusztáv Sebes, who had essentially carried out three football reforms: he had introduced new fitness concepts for his team, he played with a hanging tip, a center forward who also took the balls from midfield and also against the Ball worked. Furthermore, Sebes represented the idea of the flexible footballer: Everyone should be able to perform different tasks; For example, defenders should move into midfield when attacking and continue to put the opponent under pressure. Occasionally goalkeeper Grosics acted as an additional defender, as he came far out of his goal and also had footballing talent. During Sebes' time, most of the teams played in the so-called World Cup formation , where the center forward in the center of two wingers formed the attack lines. In the concept of the golden eleven , all three strikers fell back into midfield, which enabled a very flexible 2-3-3-2 system. Strikers were able to switch between attacking and defending more quickly and defenders took on the tasks of attack. The golden elf was one of the first to represent the concept of total football , which the Dutch around Johan Cruyff and Ruud Krol in particular were to shape in the 1970s .
“When we attacked, everyone attacked, when we defended it was the same. We were the prototype of total football. "
Olympic and European Cup victory
The series began on June 4, 1950, when Poland was defeated 5-2 in Warsaw .
This so-called miracle eleven celebrated their first major title in 1952 at the Olympic Games in Helsinki , when they defeated Yugoslavia 2-0 in the final and won the gold medal. The team won 4 games with a total goal difference of 20: 2.
They achieved their next success in 1953 when they won the European National Football Team Cup, which had been held since 1948 - a forerunner of the European Football Championship , in which Hungary, Italy , Austria , Switzerland and Czechoslovakia also took part. The decisive last game was won 3-0 against Italy on May 17, 1953 in Rome in front of 80,000 spectators. Puskás was the top scorer of the competition with ten goals.
Victory at Wembley
On November 25, 1953, the perhaps most spectacular game of the Golden Elf followed , which was later called the game of the century or simply the 6: 3 . Hungary met at Wembley Stadium to the England football team , which until then had never lost a home game against a team from outside the British Isles. The result was a superior 6: 3 victory (with 35: 5 shots on goal!). The Hungarians showed enthusiastic offensive football. Hungary formally entered with a standard 3-2-5 line-up for the time (also known as the World Cup system ), but due to the frequent falling back of the center striker Nándor Hidegkuti , the outside runner József Bozsik pushing into the center and protecting Bozsik due to the other outrunner József Zakariás , the formation often de facto resembled a 4-2-4 - a game system that was revolutionary at the time and was later played by the Brazilian national football team. English football legend Sir Stanley Matthews said after the game: “They were the best team I have ever faced. They were the best of all time. "
World Championship 1954
The Hungarian national team finally traveled to Switzerland as favorites for the World Cup in 1954 . The group stage was survived without any problems, in the second game the BR Germany was outclassed 8: 3. In the quarter-finals they defeated vice world champions Brazil , in the semifinals world champions Uruguay each 4-2. In the final in Bern you met the German team again. In a dramatic final, the Hungarians surprisingly lost 3-2 after a 2-0 lead.
End of the era
The sculpture was unveiled on March 28, 2013 in Budapest ( 3rd district ).
The first defeat of the Golden Elf in over four years sparked disappointment and bitterness across Hungary. The players were harassed and punished by the Hungarian government. Relatives of the players, such as the father of goalkeeper Gyula Grosics, lost their jobs. Goalkeeper Grosics had to leave Honvéd Budapest and play in a small provincial club. Nevertheless, the team started another winning run: Hungary won 16 of the next 19 games and drew three times. The series continued until February 19, 1956, when they lost to Turkey . Coach Sebes was sacked despite this streak in June 1956 and replaced by Márton Bukovi . As a result of the events after the suppression of the popular uprising in Budapest, many players did not return from a trip to an away game by Honvéd Budapest at Athletic Bilbao , from then on they played for Western European, especially Spanish clubs and were no longer considered for the national team. At the 1958 World Cup in Sweden, the time of the golden eleven was already over: Hungary failed in the preliminary round.
Political background
After the end of World War II , the government proclaimed the Hungarian People's Republic in 1949, based on the Soviet model. Professional athletes were also appointed to state offices as part of forced recruitment . For example, all the players at the Budapest club Újpest were henceforth employees of the Interior Ministry and police officers , while those of the military's rival Honvéd . Before that, players like striker Gyula Zsengellér had already gone to Italy , where the Hungarian players based there even wanted to set up their own selection. The main reason was initially the possibility of better pay at Italian clubs. The only national player who almost managed to leave the People's Republic was defender Sándor Szűcs . He was then tried in June 1951 for high treason , followed by death by hanging , which served as an example of the betrayal of the country.
The end of the winning streak of the golden elf also had far-reaching consequences for everyone involved. Many players lost privileges owed to the regime , and Ferenc Puskás was mercilessly booed at league games with Honvéd. Even the son of the trainer Sebes had to take a beating after the World Cup. Goalkeeper Gyula Grosics , who for many was the main culprit in the defeat against Germany, was arrested and charged with treason . The court later acquitted him, but he was released from Honvéd and forcibly transferred to FC Tatabánya in the province .
After the popular uprising of 1956 , Puskas, Zoltán Czibor and Sándor Kocsis did not return to Hungary after an away game at Athletic Bilbao in Spain and never played for the national team again.
Worth mentioning
- 42 wins, 7 draws and one defeat (World Cup final 1954) from June 4, 1950 to February 19, 1956, d. H. 91 percent of the points according to the two-point rule at the time
- 31 games in a row undefeated from June 4, 1950 to July 3, 1954
- Undefeated for 4 years and a month from June 4, 1950 to July 3, 1954
- 73 consecutive games in which at least one goal was scored each time; from April 10, 1949 to June 16, 1957
- 159 goals by the two failed couple Ferenc Puskás and Sándor Kocsis
- 84 international hits in the 20th century by Ferenc Puskás
- Most goals in a World Cup tournament: 27 goals (average of 5.4 goals per game)
- Best goal difference in a World Cup tournament: +17
- Best goals-per-game average: Sándor Kocsis (2.2)
- One of three players who achieved two hat tricks in a World Cup tournament: Sándor Kocsis (also Just Fontaine 1958 and Gerd Müller 1970)
- National Hungarian record: Highest victory by a Hungarian team: 12-0 against Albania on September 23, 1950
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g Hungary's Golden Elf - The Unfinished , ard-wien.de, accessed on November 27, 2018
- ^ Raphaël Brosse: Sándor Szucs, pendu pour l'exemple. In: footballski.fr. October 23, 2016, accessed November 25, 2018 (French).
- ↑ Stern.de : Das Wunder von Bern: The game is never over , from September 30, 2003, accessed on October 26, 2018
- ↑ a b Tragikus véget ért Szűcs Sándor története, kinek nevét az egyik tiszaligeti pálya is viseli , szoljon.hu, accessed on November 27, 2018 (Hungarian)