How the Cold War ended the golden age of Hungarian football

Our historical documentary series on the history of the Cold War continues with a video on the golden age of Hungarian Football. The team was considered one of the best in history, but was dispersed throughout the world as a result of the Hungarian Revolution and it being stamped out by the USSR

#ColdWar #HungarianRevolution #Football

[richardschenk]

I truely love this channel for picking up such topics as Hungarian football during the Cold War.

[CivilWarWeekByWeek]

This was the worst thing to happen to happen to Hungary during the Cold War - Everyone pre 1956

[maskawaih]

I knew Hungary was a great team in this era but didn't know the political struggle the team had.

[rafamalaman]

The Brazilian Golden Generation (1958-1970) has its links to the Hungarian one. Honved, while in its 1957 Brazilian Tour, was coached by Guttman Béla, who was approached by São Paulo FC and took charge of that team for the remaining 1957 season.

Vicente Feola, who managed the club before, was assigned to work as Guttman's assistant. Using then-revolutionary 4-2-4 formation and lead by the aging star Zizinho, São Paulo won the league and it helped to popularise the Hungarian School of tactics in the country.

Guttman was signed by Benfica in the next year, becoming a legendary manager in the Portuguese club.

Feola, on its side, was selected by CBF to take charge of Brazil's national football team ahead of the 1958 World Cup. Until 1958, Brazil had always failed on international stage, including the 1950's Maracanazo and the infamous "Battle of Bern" against the Hungarians in 1954.

In 1958, Brazil was not even expected to get out of the group stages, as it was put in a group with three European powerhouses: Austria, England, and the mighty USSR. But the 4-2-4 Hungarian formation worked like magic in a team that had very skilled attacking players as Didi, Garrincha, and a 17-years-old Pelé. Brazil, then, won the World Cup imposing, in the final stages, 5-2 defeats to a great French team and a very good Swedish side playing at home (Sweden defeated West Germany in the semi-finals).

[J_Ambrus]

Great summary. I met Puskas as a kid when he was managing the Egyptian team in the early 80’s, he was aquatinted with my parents. A class act even years after retirement.

[BeWe]

Ah finaly a German victory on this channel, that feels good.

The World Cup was incredibly important for us, some are even refering to it as a second founding date of West Germany.
Btw our team was not even close of beeing a tournament favorite, reaching the finale was already a surprise.

I do feel a little bit sorry for the Hungarians though, the generation would have deserved to win at least one World Cup, such a shame what happened to the team afterwards :(

[ModestMachine]

Big props also for taking the time and effort to pronounce the names so correctly! And also saying the names in the Hungarian style with the surname first. Was a lovely detail to notice!

[roadrunner]

West Germany wasn´t doping, they just ate alot of Panzerschoki.

[MaximusCircus]

Thank you for calling it football! Keep up the good work :)

[DMS-pq]

You need to do a video on the Hungarian - Soviet 1956 Olympic water polo game The so called blood in the water game

[CptSquirrel]

Love the insightful topics! There's lot more to know about times like the cold war than just the us-ussr rivalry.

[barbadolid]

"and Amazon if you have to" this guy deserves my love.

[mirceacamara]

The mighty magyars, what a legendary team

[mikiful]

My father is from Yugoslavia and he always told stories how Hungarians were great players in this time...Hungarian national team were called light calvary...

[matyashomer]

My mom laughed because you can say their names correctly.

[nemethmate]

A huge respect for you for pronouncing the names and club names correctly! (or at least trying)
And also for the work that you put into this video!

[victorcabanelas]

As a football fan, I'll have to re-watch this. I was too busy watching the goals...
That said, loved the VAR joke at the end. Keep up the great work, folks!

[fundamentos]

The Hungarians continued with their winning streak during the 60's : Olympic Football Champions in both 1964 & 1968 ; quarter finals at the 1966 World Cup with such unforgettable players as Flórián Albert, Ferenc Bene, János Farkas & Kálmán Mészöly. They reappeared in Argentina in 1978, where unfortunately they had to contend with the strongest teams of that competition ( Argentina, Italy & France ). The Magyars have a tradition of football - art, that is dearly missed these days. I sure hope to see them again among the best in the world, where they definitely belong.

[chrisvoulgaridis]

Ferenc Puskás is stll considered one of the few great footballers ever to work in Greece, even as a coach. "n 1971, he guided Panathinaikos of Greece to the European Cup final, the only time a Greek club has reached a European final to date. In the qualifying rounds they beat Everton in the quarter-finals on away goals, then defeated Red Star Belgrade in the semis. In the final Panathinaikos lost 2–0 to Johan Cruyff's Ajax.[40] During his four-year tenure at Panathinaikos, Puskás helped the team secure one Greek Championship in 1972. "

[barneyrudd]

My team West Ham Utd, had a successful period in the min 1960s, our manager at the time Ron Greenwood, was a hug admirer of Hungarian football of the 50s and used their style as a template.