cultcha
The Problem With Hungarian Football is the People NOT Playing it
The question most frequently asked of any male connected to Hungary is, "What went wrong with Hungarian football?" Which is of course tantamount to asking, "What went wrong with Hungary?" Wherever you go - outside the US, of course - a nation is judged on its football ("soccer" if you must) results, which puts Hungary down as a once-great nation doomed to failure - a fate worse than any world war defeat, human rights scandal, dictatorship or economo-socio-political meltdown. Which makes it very, very important to the human race, and the single biggest reason that Americans are mocked and ridiculed all over the globe.
But that is their shame. What of Hungary's? The Hungary team, once double World Cup finalists with the world and England's legendary Wembley stadium at their feet, has just awoken, pale, sweating and disorientated from a nightmarish qualification campaign for the 2008 European Championships. Twelve games against average opposition and none of the big teams yielded just four wins to eight defeats. The truth is, this doom-laden screed could have been written on September 2, 2006, when Hungary kicked off with a suicidal 4-1 defeat at home against a poor Norway side. The final nail in the Euro 2008 qualifying coffin came a month later with defeat against hapless Malta (the island nation's first competitive victory in 13 years). Matches against all three of the likely qualifiers (Norway, Turkey and Greece) ended pointless.
So what went wrong? The lazy answer is that the squad is made up of overpaid players who have no pride in wearing the shirt or playing as a team. Another is simply a lack of talent. A third is corrupt management. The final, laziest and most painful answer of all, is that the national psyche simply isn't made for victory, or even rousing, soul-destroying defeat. I don't buy any of those lame excuses.
But then what of the Aranycsapat Golden Team, the Magical Magyars who captivated Wembley and were red hot favorites for the 1954 World Cup. That shock defeat against Germany is still known as "Das Wunder von Bern ("The Miracle of Bern") and is widely believed to have sparked the "Wirtschaftswunder" (Germany's economic miracle). Hungarian post-war history was to go the other way.
The turning point in Hungary's football career was not that match but the 1956 uprising, which forced Ferenc Puskás and his teammates to flee the country. He would only return from Spain - to the ruins of Hungarian football - as a portly shadow of his former self some 30 years later. After '56 all momentum was lost.
Momentum is what international football is really all about - not money. All the considerably poorer countries around us have enjoyed the limelight at some stage since 1990. The Czechs and the Croats have always impressed, while the Romanians, Bulgarians, Ukrainians and Poles have never been far off the pace. Even the little guys like Slovenia and Macedonia have had something to cheer. Meanwhile, Hungary has stumbled from one crisis of confidence to the next. Could it be that it's all down to national identity, belief and having something to prove to the world? What happened to this proud nation? Did Hungary have its chance in '54 and blow it?
It's clear from watching just five minutes of a Hungarian team in action, prestige friendlies against Italy notwithstanding, that there is no collective momentum in sight. The players are lethargic and have no confidence in each other's ability, the fans are easily frustrated and quick to criticize and the management hides behind past failures and finger pointing. On this evidence, the football team's progress is an accurate barometer of the fortunes of a nation.
It is no use blaming a lack of talent on defeat against teams like Malta, that is down to the coaches and, above all, the players. There is no excuse for that.
It says a lot that Zoltán Gera, Hungary's best player and captain, is built like Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány and has a well-documented history of solvent abuse. (By contrast to the PM, there is no doubting his quality as he has one of the very few Hungarian players to have proved themselves in the English Premier League.) He is hardly the leader of men the country so desperately needs. So where are the rest of them?
The truth is that footballers, like rock stars and skateboarders, aren't coached, they are influenced, inspired and challenged by their peers and role models. Even those that make it do their thing in muddy fields, garages and skate parks, and then suddenly burst onto the big time, aged 19 and usually with someone else taking the credit and the big bucks. The rest just play for the hell of it. But where are the kids caked in mud kicking balls down the street in Hungary? Small-sided games after work may be booming, but I can't honestly say I have seen a half-decent recreational player in my four years in Hungary. As you move up the age groups to village and amateur football, the standard barely improves. It's no wonder the national league is considered a joke, the rot runs right down to the grass roots. So no, paying millions for a loathsome megalomaniac like Lothar Matthaeus is not the solution.
At kids' level, the situation is no different, although the stakes are lower. During a game in which Buda Juniors - a football club for 4-16 year olds of all nationalities run by former Hungary captain János Bánfi - were winning comfortably against a "local" team, an opposing parent was heard to ask, "How can they be so good? Is it because they are foreign?" Blaming the defeat of an under ten team on some mysterious "foreign gene" is about as bad as it gets.
As Buda Juniors show, much can be achieved with a little organization and enthusiasm, two things that seem to be sorely lacking in the Hungarian game. The tentacles of the pyramid in countries like the Czech Republic and Germany extend right down to the smallest village, creating a vast network from which talent can emerge. Simply being part of local and national football community fosters local and national pride and encourages people to get involved on any level, as kids, coaches, referees and tea ladies. When I tell Hungarians I play football "on a big pitch," they are amazed. This is sad. Like all great movements of history, the football revolution must come from the bottom up. That's why, with all the active players now in the US, there is a chance the team will one day win the World Cup - while the rest of the country is tucked up in bed.
Unfortunately, World Cup glory looks a long way off for Hungary. The professional set-up is still focused on the traditional big clubs in Budapest, even though most of the competitive football is played on bumpy fields in the villages and towns around the country. (The "suits" in Budapest prefer to play five-a-side so they don't get dirty, and the urban kids don't have anywhere to play.) The Communist model of funneling all the good players into the army team (Puskás's Honvéd) simply won't work any more. Apart from the sorry demise of Ferencváros - Hungary's most popular club is flawed by fatal delusions of grandeur - some of the Budapest clubs, most notably MTK, are building a respectable "youth academy" and shipping the talent abroad. But is pinning your hopes on a handful of individuals earning their money abroad really the future? Probably not.
Let's take another cue from elsewhere in Europe. If Germany is known for its meticulous organization and efficiency, England is famous for passion and effort. Even if this rarely guarantees success on the field, it has catapulted the Premier League to the top of the global TV rankings. The FA Cup third round is a case in point. These games in early January always throw up ties between the big city clubs and towns who have scraped through from the lower leagues. In the days when there was still snow in January, it seemed whole communities would be mobilized to ensure the pitch was cleared in time for the game to go ahead. Can you ever imagine that kind of local pride in Jászberény or Gyöngyös?
In this age of shiny stadia, wide-screen TVs and obscene corporate sponsorship, there's still no hiding from the fact that the muddy field in the ramshackle village stadium is still the home of football. The sooner we stop pointing fingers and emerge from this fading haze of nostalgia the better for everyone - not just the footballers.
Jumpers for goalposts, anyone?
EMAIL
COMMENT!Jumpers for goalposts indeed, Adrian.
There are some decent recreational Hungarian players. There's a bloke who plays for Dinamo Torpedo who is pretty good. And then there's that bloke, whatsisname, who plays for thingamy.
OK, I've seen one player that impressed me. And I'm crap.
Maybe you should run for the Hungarian FA top job and ban kispálya. Then you could force all kids to use a crushed beer can or newspaper wrapped in cellotape for a ball. Do you think that would work?
I agreee with almost everything the writer says about the team, however, they are getting stronger. I believe they will surprise a lot of people in the near future (as they have in the past six months) simply because most of the players are young and play abroad. They need to get out of this country early to have a chance at being a true professional at international or even Western European club level.
Good article.
Agree with Paul's comments, especially concerning young players and professionalism.
Sure, there is the problem of financial mismanagement and the general sparcity of footballing resources in the country generally. Still.
A Hungarian colleague of mine reckons the success of the Ezüstcsapat (chortle) was directly attributable to the abject misery of life in '50s Hungary. Puskásék had nothing but football to hang their hopes on.
Maybe the problem today is precisely that Hungary is neither poor enough nor wealthy enough to produce great footballers. A victim of its own mediocrity. The coddled, overweight players count their wages and drive back to their comfy, centrally-heated homes in nicer cars than those driven by their neighbours, and are happy enough with that.
All I can suggest is that we send the MLSZ to Zagreb on secondment for two years to learn from Slaven Bilic's team. Hats off to them (and I'm English!)
"It says a lot that Zoltán Gera, Hungary's best player and captain, is built like Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány and has a well-documented history of solvent abuse."
A bit harsh, he had a pretty dodgy childhood and teen years, but after apparently finding The Lord (the bloke with the white beard not Puskas)he turned over a new leaf and formed charities and all other sorts of nice things. Hasn't done much at WBA this season though.
Regarding the main point, Bulgaria, Croatia (ha-de-ha!), Romania etc still push out pretty top notch national teams even thought their leagues are perhaps only one level above the joke that is the Hungarian league. The reason is that their young potential is farmed out all over Western Europe where they get much better training and playing conditions than they ever would do at home. The academies set up at MTK and elsewhere will bring results at an international level (there's 3 young magyar graduates at Liverpool at the minute for example) but it'll be medium to long term and will do nothing to help the state of the game at the grassroots here.
Nice observations,but i do not think sending all your players to England is the answer.All of Ireland's players are playing in Britain and we are 35th in the Fifa rankings.A better solution is to follow Ireland's example of the late 80's wereby we utilized 'the granny rule'and scoured the earth for emigrants grandchildren who were good footballers.This practice took Ireland to 6th in Fifa rankings by late 1993.FACT.Now as Hungary has as many emigrants as Ireland i am sure that there is a bounty of players around the world that qualify to play for Hungary.Then maybe Hungary might qualify for something.
Some good points hidden in this article but unfortunately slackjawed and poorly-researched journalism ultimately means it falls alongside the multitude of misrepresentative pieces one can easily find in any tabloid.
"paying millions for a loathsome megalomaniac like Lothar Matthaeus is not the solution."
Bearing in mind the several extra major brand name sponsors his management team attracted paid for nearly all his wages (nowhere near 'millions' by the way) I'm not really sure there is a point with the money here, and as for the insults you label Matthaeus with - did he drive over your grandma or something? They seem fairly irrational comments. Care to explain them fully (and factually)?
Also re: Gera, does a dodgy period of drug-related problems many years ago mean probably the greatest natural talent from the country this century should be banned from showing he has learnt from his mistakes and changed for the better - especially if he may now the best man for the captain's job? No second chances in Mr Courage's world? What next - Permanent removal of driving licences for those who go over a speed limit? Catheter insertion for those caught drunkenly pissing in the street?
Thirdly, does one parent's throwaway comment (let's face it, it was probably a joke but even if it wasn't...) speak for a nation, as this article seems to imply it should? There's no doubting it shouldn't, so why include it unqualified? Would Mr Courage agree one example is rarely compelling enough to make an assertion in regard to such a complicated topic watertight, but, used in the wrong way, just one example can be weak enough to severely discredit an author and/or his work? Would he be courageous enough to admit that has happened here?
By the way, I'm sure we'd all be curious to hear the author's suggestion of a solution, something which largely seems to be missing here. I'm not sure the last comment - a proliferation of muddy fields in ramshackle village stadiums - is the answer though; Your own example here England still has many, but their football structure is now the subject of huge current criticism and they are now being forced to consider their options for next summer after, like Hungary, missing out on qualification to the biggest prize. They consider this time to be a poor period for their nation's football, albeit with different measurements of success. Sorry Mr Courage but you may need to reconsider some or all of the four reasons you highlighted at your article's outset and include them alongside the lack of playing pitches and many other reasons as each being a valid part of a much wider, deeper explanation for Hungary's footballing decay. Unfortunately it's just not as simple as using more jumpers for goalposts...
hotmail.com. Is that it? Just criticism of the article? No pointers from you then as to what would be a solution. Just a load of niggling journalistic crap.I understand why you did not put your name to it.Rambling rubbish.At least Mr.Courage did.
Excuse me...? Poor Norway side? They were leading 0-3 already 25 minutes into the first half...
Uh-oh.Hungary have Malta for the world cup qualifiers.Already out of it.
david, I didn't get paid to write this article so why should I do any more than comment on inaccuracies and fallacies? Name should not be important since the content of the comment is the whole point, not who it's from.
Also, did I profess to have the solution? No, so why should I offer one? I notice no response to any points from you. Should we take that as complete silent agreement from youself?!
Personally Adrian, I felt Hungary outperformed the Greeks in their last game :-) Let's hope the revival continues. As for grass roots football I agree 100% with your assessment. It is a shame that it is nearly impossible to find a flat grass surface in this city where you can play or train without risking your ankles.
Furthermore, the emergence of the 5 a-side craze is an interesting phenomenon, albeit annoying, as it is impossible to privately book astro pitches in winter anymore. Anybody own one? :-)
Why don't we buy a cheap derilic ground with two pitches, refurbish it and use it for World Cup Magyarorszag? Any willing investors?
I totally agree with your assessment of what it takes to build "momentum," and so does the every member of Major League Soccer management. They have invested heavily in youth programs and it's starting to pay dividends. I have a 7 y.o. who was routinely scoring 6 to 8 goals when he started playing as a 4 y.o. Then the number of kids in his age group in the league went from 70 to 80, up to over a 120 last season, now he scores 3 or 4 goals. He is in constant competition with a few other boys from his school. They talk about the games constantly.
So where did this come from in the basketball- and football-mad Mid-west and Southeast? MLS is pushing the programs in schools and on TV. They put on training for coaches and camps for the kids and pay for referee training for high school kids. The pro game is also gaining exposure, the championship was two Sundays ago and it was really exciting. Meanwhile, in amongst the roots of the grass, the game is gaining momentum from the interaction between the parents and their kids.
When Hungarians wake up and realize kids are their future, they'll start putting the time into their most precious resource. Then they'll be better at everything and maybe even great at something.
Or they may fall into the American trap of spoiling their brats, which is the one thing that may derail our drive to the World Cup.
Last note: the good news is, according to the responses you've gotten, people still care enough to get pissed off! (that means angry for all you limeys)
Could it be that hotmail.com is actually Lothar Mattheus?
"Also, did I profess to have the solution? No, so why should I offer one?"
Think about it, it makes sense.
It would be cool, if someone would shoot Lothar Mattheus in the crotch...
No.I'd say hotmail.com is Odin's Lost Eye come back to haunt us.
hotmail.com: Unfortunately, your reading comprehension skills do not match your willingness to criticise. Just to clear things up: I did not say Zoltán Gera was a bad player or even a bad man (I think he would do wonders for the unimaginative play of a team like Liverpool, for example), just that it is surprising he is captain of the team. This suggests there are few good players and no leaders in the team. Second, the point about the ramshackle stadiums was about "passion" (an overused word in football, I know) being more important than facilities. And did you miss the paragraph about the German and Czech FAs being admirably organised and inclusive of even the smallest clubs?
Sorry Adrian but I wish the real problem here was my - unfortunately due to you totally contradicting yourself it appears the lack of comprehension is your flaw. You claim you "did not say Zoltán Gera was a bad player or even a bad man". (I didn't suggest you did say that). However you say you are surprised (why? The best players often make good captains - think Moore and Maradona to name but two, as do reformed characters e.g. Tony Adams for England), and that him being captain "suggests there are few good players and no leaders in the team". How does it suggest that? Maybe he's the best man for the captain's role, and maybe he is good at it - in this case it certainly doesn't follow that there are few good players or absolutely no other candidates for captain - just that two or three national coaches have felt he is the best option. Can you therefore explain the relevance of mentioning former drug use, other than to arguably make a negative link to his character and ability to captain a team (an irrelevance nearly ten years on surely)? More curiously, what on earth is mentioning Gyurcsány all about???
Lothar, I said that Gera is a great player but not an ideal captain of a national team. This is my opinion, and you can disagree with it, but name a single alternative at the present time. It's sad that he has been the only choice for several years so. I admit this has little to do with his physical, stature, resemblance to Gyurcsány or teenage past.
This MTI story (http://tinyurl.com/2zcvsq) just about sums it up as far as I am concerned: "Two thirds of Hungarians would spend less from the taxpayers' money on professional soccer, a recent poll conducted by Tarki and Image Factory revealed." It just goes to show that there is no interest in or support for professional football and yet people still expect to have a decent national team. Chicken and egg.
Hey, stop the press: "Soccer - Hungary advances two slots in world rankings" according to this MTI-telegram from 12/17 11:41.
Problem solved? We are on the right track? Or maybe the others are worse off?
Well, deep inside all you English guys knows what Hungarian football need = Sven-Göran Eriksson as coach! With a Swede you never can go wrong...
you've hit the nail on the head and no mistake. passion, pride and getting the kids playing young, giving them proper training. ive played here three years and the locals are talented but dont know how to play as a team, our bunch of thirty something talentless hoofers regularly beats teams of locals 15 years younger than us becasue we play for each other and know how to win. i watch the national side and all the budapest teams regularly and they suck. it is depressing when the borsodi giant ball race at half time is the highlight of the action.
get big or even small business to sponsor kids leagues and invest in infrastructure and make the pros give an hour or two a week to train kids in schools.
Maybe when the premiership plays games outside the England they should stage games in Hungary. hehe
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i think that the australia have the same problem as the hungarian, australia reach the world cup for the first time in 1974 then again in 2006. they all ways kept dreaming about how well they did in 1974. i think that the hungarian are dreaming to about how well they did in the pass (in the goalen tean) i think that they have to forget the goalen tean. forget the hungarians had a 30 match undefeated record, they have to start again from the beinging. if they reach world ranking no 1 i am positive that can did it again.
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I suppose things are looking up since this article was posted but as mentioned the Hungarian league set-up is the problem, a problem that could be solved by a little known English coach called Steve Constantine.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Constantine
He knows how to set a decent league system up from the juniors up.
How did this article turn into a discussion about agents and
Africans trying to get a jobs in Hungary?
Adrian,
There is a lot of truth in what you have said. It is not all doom
and gloom though.
Football development in nations goes through 30 year cycles.
Football in Hungary is going through an upturn. If you watched
our U20s this fall, Voli Koman and Krisztian Nemeth have the
potential to be world class players. (I will not say they are there
yet, I say they have the potential).
There are several Academies in the country now, not just MTK.
You have a good owner in George Hemingway in Honved. MTK
has good ownership. The jury is still out on the new Fradi
owners. I believe Vasas just was purchased by an Italian.
So, it is not all doom and gloom and the world of football is
going to end tomorrow in Hungary. On the contrary, I think the
country is experiencing an upturn.
Also, who says small sided games are bad? Have you ever heard
of Futsal? Most Brazilian players don't get on big fields until
they are teenagers. They refine their techniques on basketball
courts playing Futsal.
Also, in regards to the Aranycsapat. In an interview, Puskas
pointed out that he and his buddies played 8 hours a day
because they had nothing else to do. My Father who grew up in
the 50s said the same.
A Magyar kid's bedroom is no different than any other western
kid's bedroom, a computer and game consoles. This is not a
problem for only Hungary. All modern countries have this
problem today - even you English blokes.
Can we win a World Cup? I don't think so. There needs to be
the structure to support
