The Miracle of the Golden Team

It happened also because of the fact that excellent players played football at the end of the forties and beginning of the fifties. The captain of the National Football Federation had opportunity to select. The history started on April 10, 1949 in the Strahovi Stadium of Prague, where Gusztáv Sebes sat on the coach’s bench, instead of resigning Tibor Gallowich because of illness. (From 19 September 1948, a committee of selection assembled the team.) That day in April our national team was beaten very much, the Czechoslovakians won 5:2. The future members of the Golden Team Bozsik, Zakariás and Pukás participated only.

“Unsuccessful start will be followed by good continuation” – said Gusztáv Sebes, the captain of the National Football Federation that time. He was right. With two beginning wing-forwards, László Budai II and Zoltán Czibor, the Hungarian eleven beat the brothers-in-law 6:1. The attacking five players were as follows: Budai II, Kocsis, Deák, Puskás, Czibor. The date was 8 May 1949, the place: Stadium of the Megyeri Road with 50,000 spectators.

The captain looked for the ideal and strongest composition of the team, and neglected many stars. He did not find the pair of fly halves; although the first category consisted of József Bozsik and Imre Kocsis, when they played together, the machine did not work perfectly. Both of them wanted to conduct. Finally, Gusztáv Sebes chose dynamic József Bozsik, and his pair of co-fly-half of Imre Kovács in the club, József Zakariás, who participated in stopping the opponent’s actions. He played as the fourth defenseman. His forte was gaining the ball – here is the first messenger of the modern football.

The legendary captain tried many miraculous footballers in dress with national emblem. The Golden Team won the Olympic Games in Helsinki; a post was hold by somebody else differing from the classical composition. The début took place on 20 September 1952 in the Wankdorf Stadium of Bern, when our team won the Swiss team 4:2. They hardly thought about the tragedy happening two years later. That time Gusztáv Sebes appointed Péter Palotás to centre. Since the Swiss team took advantage 2:0 after ten minutes, he was replaced by Nándor Hidegkuti. It was the first classical composition of the Golden Team. The real premiere took place on 17 May 1953 in Rome, when our eleven played against Italians in front of 90 thousand spectators of the Olympic Stadium and beat them 0:3. It was a superior victory; some people assert that its value exceeded the score of 6:3 in London. Following, the classical composition participated in three matches: on 15 November 1953 in Budapest against the Swedish eleven with a score of 2:2 (it was the prelude of the match of London), and ten days later in the Wembley Stadium in the match of the century, and a year later in the Prater Stadium of Vienna, where we won 1:0.
Following, the most splendid composition of the Hungarian eleven did not step on to the pitch more. Yet, the posterity recalls the national Golden Team participated in four and half matches, acknowledged all over the world and beating the world with admiration. ---- G ----