This book is based on a series of interviews with Puskas and other key figures from his life. It feels like a documentary film in book form. The author collates snippets from various interviews and other sources. The interviews may have originally been conducted for a film documentary but it was enjoyable and readable as text. It’s in roughly chronological order, giving a great overview of an extraordinary player and a fascinating career.
From romantic beginnings playing football in the streets of Budapest with a ball made of bundled up tights, Ferenc ‘Ocsi’ Puskas and his best friend Jozsef ‘Cucu’ Boszik rose to unimaginable heights both domestically and internationally. Representing teams that transformed the way football was played.
Puskas’ career began in earnest after the end of WW2. After the defeat of the Nazis, Hungary was a Soviet satellite state. In order to improve the quality of the national team, the best players were concentrated in two clubs: Honved - the army team, and MTK - the secret police team. Under the guidance of coach Guzstav Sebes, the national team would experiment with new tactical formations in behind closed doors games within Hungary when the players weren’t representing their clubs. From this, they developed a highly flexible 2-3-3-2 formation, with a deep lying number 9 and wingers that could drop into midfield, that is seen as a forerunner of total football where the majority of players join in both attack and defence. The team was known as ‘The Golden Team’ or ‘The Mighty Magyars’ and between 1950-56 they were undefeated except for losing the 1954 World Cup final to West Germany, despite beating them in the competition’s group stages.
Owing to Communism, very few Hungarians could travel outside of the country and none of the players could be paid according to their true worth on the open market. However, because they were so successful and this reflected so well on the country and, in turn, its Communist form of government; the players existed in a rarefied atmosphere unlike most of their compatriots. They were granted plum Army positions and salaries (Puskas was a Major), with no requirement to do any work or live in barracks and a blind eye was turned to the large-scale smuggling the squad undertook when returning from trips abroad. The book contains lots of great stories about these exploits and it serves as a good example of the absurdities that arose from Communism.
Although the team played in many famous matches, two stood out to me alongside the 1954 World Cup campaign, which would require an essay all of its own! First, Hungary defeated England 6-3 at Wembley, where England had never been beaten by a team from outside the British Isles, in what has been called ‘The Match of Century’ and, second, a 4-2 victory over Scotland at Hampden in 1955.
The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 saw the breakup of the national team with many players moving to Europe to play for lucrative salaries. Incidentally, the under-21 team was also on tour when the revolution started meaning Hungary effectively lost 2 generations of incredible footballers. Puskas was banned by the Hungarian FA, and subsequently FIFA, for 18 months for refusing to return home. Many predicted that this signalled the end of his career at the age of around 30. As prolific an eater as he was a goalscorer, Puskas’ weight ballooned while he couldn’t play. Nonetheless, he secured a huge contract with Real Madrid, lost all the weight and went on to win 5 La Liga titles, 3 European Cups and play 4 times for the Spanish national team. After his playing career, Puskas moved into an itinerant coaching career. The highlight of which was a spell at Greek club Panathinaikos (1970-4) where he took an average side to the brink of the 70-71 European Cup.
A larger than life character both figuratively and, at certain times, physically Puskas seems a true rascal and loveable rogue. His passion and appetite for football seem matched only by that for good, spicy Hungarian sausage. The most precursory of searches brings reams of adoring quotations from the who’s who of the footballing pantheon. Everyone seems to have been mesmerised by his talent and captivated by his personality. For Puskas himself, he seemed to be as obsessed with being loved as he was with football and was wildly successful in both. His confidence seems to have galvanised all those he came into contact with.
In spite of playing for two of football’s most extraordinarily successful teams for 23 years and coaching for nearly 30 years, he never seemed to lose an ounce of his enthusiasm for the game. Famously keen for game even when he was very overweight and could barely squeeze a jersey over his belly; he said during an interview while coaching in Australia, aged about 60:
“I play any invitation, any friendly game, I hope I can play 10 years more. The reason I want to play 10 more years? So I can live 10 more years!”
A true great of the game and singular personality, he seems to have loved football from the earliest days of his life until the last and it is certain that it loved him back!
“From the moment as a little kid I heard the roar of the crowd from Kipset Stadium I suppose I was spoken for. In the end, God willing, I will be just an old man who loves football.”
I found this a highly enjoyable read and would certainly recommend this book.
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