13 IMPORTANT CLUES IN HUNGARIAN FOOTBALL

INTRODUCTION

Hungary is a football loving nation. It has a good national team. There is a very well organized premier league. Football has been a very popular game in Hungary since the years of 1900’s. 

The first international match to be played by Hungary national team was against their neighbours Austria in 1902. That was only 3 years less than the time which Maji Maji War took place in Tanzania under the Commander in Chief Kinjekitile Ngwale. Hungary suffered a 5-0 defeat from Austria. T

he Hungarian Football Federation is among the oldest football governing bodies at country level in the universe. It was found in 1901. The Hungarian national team uses orange, white and green colours on their jerseys. 

Hungarian National Team 

 

1.  THE 1996 SUMMER OLYMPICS

The international participation of the Hungarian national team was not much good in the 1990’s. However there was a little sign of success after qualifying for the 1996 summer Olympics. 

Almost every follower of Hungary football thought that this was the new beginning of the young football generation for the country. 

As usual, things don’t go the way is expected and Hungary lost their match against Nigeria by 1-0 before losing another match to Brazil at a 3-1 defeat. This was enough to end the Hungarians dream in the 1996 Olympic football competition.

2. FIFA WORLD CUP 1982 HISTORY

Hungary has qualified for the FIFA world cup 9 times in history. They qualified in the 1982 in Spain as well as 1986 world cup in Mexico. In the year 1982 in Spain Hungary was placed in the same group with Belgium, El Salvador and Argentina. Hungary lost their game against Argentina after going down by 4-1. The remarkable event remembered so far is the match between Hungary and El Salvador where Hungary punished El Salvador by 10-1. In that match, Laszlo Kiss scored a hat trick. It was a very big win in the competition. In the match against Belgium the score was a 1-1 draw which confirmed Hungary elimination from the world cup.

3. FIFA WORLD CUP 1986 HISTORY

 In 19 86, Hungary lost their first match against the Soviet Union. In the match against Canada, Marton Esterhazy and Lajos Detari gave Hungary a crucial win of 2-0 over Canada. Despite the win at their match with Canada, Hungary did not secure enough points to proceed further as they lost their final game with France by 3-0. Since 1986, Hungary has been struggling to participate in world cup finals. Will they qualify for the next year’s world cup? Let us wait.

4. FIFA U-20 WORLD CUP 2009

The year 2009 was another time for shining for the Hungary football starlets. The U-20 team competed strongly and won the bronze medal. Hungary was placed in group F with UAE, Honduras and South Africa. Hungary started its campaign against Honduras. They were defeated by Honduras by 3-0. In their second match against South Africa, Hungary came with strong eager and they defeated their opponents in a historical 4-0. 

It was a lesson to the South Africans. The Hungarian starlets were trying to deliver a message to their opponents that they did not come to look for the pyramids. Their last group stage campaign was against the United Arab Emirates, where they won the match with a remarkable 2-0. This meant that Hungary stayed at the top of group F with 6 points, followed by United Arab Emirates which secured 4 points.

After the remarkable victory in group F, Hungary advanced in the round of 16 to play with Czech Republic. The match finished at a 2-2 draw after regular time and in the penalty shoot out Hungary won by 4-3. Hungary went to the quarter finals and they played Italy. Hungary won its match against Italy by 3-2 at extra time to secure a place in the semi-final. In the semi-final Hungary played Ghana and the Ghanaians won the match by 3-2 within 90 minutes play. 

The hopes of the Hungarian team diminished after that defeat. In another semi final match between Brazil and Costa Rica saw Brazil advancing to the final by a victory of 1-0. That made Costa Rica to play against Hungary for the 3rd position, and that is where the Hungary starlet team ended. Hungary won by 2-0 on penalties after a 1-1 draw.

This young generation is expected to spice up the national team for more success. May be in something like 3 to 5 years from now, we can have another football taste from Hungary in various international competitions.

5. ALFRED HAJOS

Alfred Hajos was the Hungary National Team Coach in 1906. He was so famous for his wonderful swimming talent as well as the skills in architecture. As a university student it was so hard to compete in athletics and at the same time to abide with the university assignments and other classroom related duties. He was talented in athletics and architecture. In 1896 games, Hajos won the 2 gold medals in swimming. Before competing in the 1896 Olympics in Athens, Hajos won the 1895 and 1896 100 meters free style competitions at the European level. As an architect Hajos designed the Protestant Church in Budapest and Sports ground in Kaposvar, and many others.

6. ERWIN KOEMAN

Erwin Koeman has coached Hungary from 2008 until 2010. Before becoming a coach, Koeman was also a player for various teams. He started to play for Groningen FC from 1978-1979, playing 6 games with no goal scoring history.

In 1979 he went to play for PSV before coming back to Groningen FC in 1982-1985. In his second season at Groningen he scored 39 goals.

He has worked as a team coach for PSV, RKCWaalwijk and Feyenoord before coming to Hungary as the national team coach. 

7. SANDOR KOCSIS

This is a very notable player in Hungary and internationally. He is the 3rd all time top scorer in football for the 20th century. After Ferenc Puskas and Pele, Sandor is in the third position. He started his club footballing with Kobanyai TC. In 1958-1965 Sandor played for FC Barcelona, making a total of 65 appearances and netting 42 goals. In 1950-1957 Sandor played for Honved FC, making 145 appearances and he scored a total of 153 goals.

In the 1954 World Cup, Sandor emerged as the top scorer of the competition. In recent World Cups it has been so hard for a player to have 9 goals or even 10 goals. For this man it was possible to score 11 goals in the world cup, and we all know that it is so hard to score in the World cup. Sandor astonished the football world of that time by scoring two hat tricks, the 1st being in the match between Hungary and South Korea where Hungary demolished the Koreans by 9-0.

8. FERENC BENE

Ferenc bene was a football player who played for Hungary from 1962 until 1979. He played a total of 76 games for Hungary and he scored a total of 36 goals. Bene died in 2006 at the age of 61. He played for Ujpest Dozsa from 1961uo to 1978. After 1978 he played for several clubs before his retirement in 1985. Ferenc Bene played his 1st international match against Yugoslavia in 1962. Bene was a true fighter on the ground, and he will be remembered for years by the Hungarians. One of the greatest events in Hungarian football, which Bene was involved, was the 1964 summer Olympics in Japan. Bene helped the Hungarian Olympic football team to win the gold medal. 

 Photo by: www.tempofradi.hu

Apart from the gold medal which his team won, Bene emerged as the top scorer in that competition, where he netted a total of 12 goals, in only 5 matches. It is a very remarkable scoring record so far. Bene made atotal of 417 apperances for Ujpest Dozsa FC and scored a total of 303 goals. He was a talented goal-scorer. Bene also made a historical participation for his national side in the 1966 world cup when he helped Hungary to reach the quarter finals.

9. VLADIMIR KOMAN

Vladmir Koman Junior is a player for the Hungary national team. He is only 24 years old. Vladmir is one of the key players of the Hungarian National team. He actually plays as an attacking midfielder. He currently plays for FC Krasnodar. He joined the Russian side in 2012 from Monaco FC in France. He has already played 26 times for Krasnodar FC. He has scored a single goal so far. 

 Koeman Vladmir. Photo by: www.totalfootballmadness.com

Before joining Monaco, Vladmir played for Sampdoria in Italy where he spent some time in other Italian clubs on loan. Vladmir started to play for the national team in 2010 and he has scored 7 goals in 29 appearances. When he played for the Hungary U-20 team Vladmir won the silver shoe prize in the competition.

10. FIFA WORLD CUP 1954

Hungary played IN the FIFA world cup of 1954. The team which participated in the world cup was so unique and we can say that it was the golden generation ever for Hungary. Hungary national team scored many goals than any other team which participated in the 1954 world cup. In 17th June 1954 Hungary played against South Korea. The Hungary legend Kocsis scored a hat trick and led his team in demolishing the Koreans by 9-0. The second match was between Hungary and West Germany, and Hungary again did a very huge fight to defeat the Germans by 8-3. Kocsis scored a total of 4 goals in that match against West Germany.

In the quarter finals Hungary played against the winner of Group 1 which was Brazil. Hungary in their motivated spirit defeated Brazil by 4-2. I could expect them to win the world cup if at all I were there. After eliminating Brazil in the quarter finals Hungary had to play with Uruguay in the semi finals. Gain Hungary thrashed Uruguay by 4-2 to get into the final. At that time West Germany played against Austria in another semi final match and West Germany went ahead after 90 minutes to become the winners by a remarkable victory of 6 – 1. The final again was between West Germany and Hungary.

 Hungary did not flow easily to defeat West Germany like they did in their group match. Puskas scored the opener in the 6th minute. Two minutes later Czibor added the second goal. The match looked like it could end that way, but it was too early to conclude in that way. The Germans responded in the 19th minute before scoring the second goal in 18th minute and the killer in the 84th minute. West Germany won the world cup at the cost of Hungary. 

11. SUPER CUP IN HUNGARY

The super cup in Hungary is played every year. The two teams one from the premier league and another from the Cup winners normally meet in the super cup match. Ujpesti TE Fc was the 1st team to win it in 1992 after defeating Ferencvaros by 3-1. 

Debrecen FC has won most super cup trophies than any other team. It has a total of 5 titles, the 1st title being won in 2005.

 Debrecen VS Gyori, Super cup 2013 match

Videoton FC won the two super cups consecutively in the years 2011 and 2012. Videoton has played in 3 consecutive finals from 2010 till 2012. In the 2010 final match Videoton lost the game to Debrecen by 1-0.

Unlike Kispest FC, Gyori is so lucky because they entered in their 1st ever super cup match and they lifted up the trophy. Gyori are the super cup winners for the year 2013. Kispest has so far played 3 super cup matches and did not succeed to win even a single match. 

12. MAGYAR CUPA(HUNGARIAN CUP)

The Hungarian cup was established in 1909, only 8 years after the establishment of the Hungarian league. About 160 teams compete for the Magyar Cupa. Ferencvarosi TC is the team which has won most titles than any other team in Hungary. Ferencvarosi TC has a total of 20 titles so far. Its first title was in 1913 and the last cup was won in the year 2004.

From 2007 -2013, Debrecen has played a total of 5 final matches of the Hungarian cup, winning 4 of them. In 2007 Debrecen was defeated by 3-1 on penalties after ending 2-2 in regular time when they played against Budapest Honved. In 2013 Debrecen won by 2-1 against FC Gyor. 

The 1st team to win the Hungarian Cup was MTK Budapest in1910. They defeated Budapest TC to win the cup. MTK Budapest won the Hungarian Cup in 3 consecutive years, in 1910, 1911 and 1912.

The 1st ever Hungarian cup trophy for Debrecen was in 1999. Although Debrecen shows good progress in Hungarian football in general, it doesn’t have such a long history on winning the cup as compared to the teams like MTK Budapest. If Debrecen can manage to win the 2 next final matches, in 2 years to come then it will have more trophies than Budapest Honved which has only 7 titles.

13. FIFA 2014 WORLD CUP QUALIFICATION

Hungary is currently in group D with Holland, Andorra, Estonia, Romania and Turkey. Hungary started its world cup qualification campaign by defeating Andorra 5-0. The match was played in Andorra. The match was played in the Estadi Comunal ground. Five different players scored 1 goal each to get such a massive victory. In 11th September, 2012 Hungary played with Holland in Budapest. Holland won the match by 4-1, whereby Huntelaar of Netherlands scored the 4th goal in the 75th minute. 

In The 3rd match Hungary played against Romania in Budapest. Romania is among the football giants in Eastern Europe. These two teams are neighbours. They know each other in terms of styles, tactics and even the formations. The match ended on a 2-2 draw. Adrian Mutu, the former Chelsea player scored one of the goals.

The 4th Match for Hungary was played away in Estonia. Hungary won the match in Estonia at a victory of 1-0. Andres Oper was the Hungary hero as he netted the only goal of the match in the 57th minute. In October 2012 Hungary played against Turkey in the Ferenc Puskas Stadium in Budapest. Hungary won by 3-1. Vladimir Konan scored the opener for Hungary in31st minute, before Szalai to score in the 50th minute. Gera finished the work by adding a third goal. The only goal for Turkey came in the 22nd minute and was netted in by Mevlut Erdinc.

In 23rd March 2013 the Hungary national team travelled to Istambul to face the Turks. Burak Yilmaz scored an opener in that match. Burak’s goal did not last longer as Bode for Hungary scored an equalizer in just only 7 minutes after the 1st goal. The match remained like that until the final whistle. Only 4 matches are remaining before the end of group stage competitions. Can Hungary pull down Holland at the top and lead the group? Let us wait until after October 15th for who will finish at the top of group D.