The German Rise And The Hungarian Fall
There is a saying in football. 22 men chase the ball for 90 minutes and in the end Germany wins. Well, current reality might be a little different and things are again looking better with Hans Deuter Flick now in charge. You know when that saying first came to life? When was the first time that Germany actually defied the odds and won something. To answer that question we go back to the famous world cup year of 1954. Whenever people hear 1954 they hear Hungary. The magical Magiers. Ferenc Puskas, the guy on who's honor they give the Puskas award. All in the year of 1954. That Hungary was something else. Maybe the best of the best. But dear God had other plans.
In the group stage of that year's world cup Hungary and Germany were drawn into the same group. Hungary was the team to be afraid of by a long margin. And why so, they showed in that tournament as well. Hungary beat South Korea by 9 goals to 0 and beat Germany by 8 goals to 3. Seems like FIFA amateur mode. That's how good they were. Where's the third game you ask. But they had a rule going on where there were 4 teams drawn into one group but one would play random 2 teams instead of all 3. I don't know why they had it. Maybe to reduce match numbers. Anything Germany lost one of their games to Hungary 8-3, of course. And they beat Turkey in their other game, in a rather modest score compared to that of Hungary. Then came the knockouts. Germany and Hungary both advanced without any major difficulty. Both teams reached the final. It's a rematch of the group stage.
The day of the final was very rainy. German captain Fritz Walter loved that kind of weather. Germany their share of pressure. Hungary were formidable. And they did lose to Hungary by a staggering 8 goals in the group phase. Going into the game no one in their right mind thought Germany had a chance. The game started and things felt bleak for Germany. They were 2-0 down inside 8 minutes by goals from Puskas himself and Czibor. But then drama begins. In the very next 8 minutes Germany scored twice as well. Morlock bringing them back into the game and soon after, Rahn equalized. 2-2 and it wasn't even 20 minutes. The rest of the first half was uneventful. After the break, in the second half. This half was all Toni Turek. The German keeper made a heroic statement that day. Saving many shots from Puskas, Czibor. Kocsis hit the bar once. Amidst of all the fuss in ther german half, Schaffer wins the ball and passes to Rahn. The made some exchanges betwen them and by the 84th minute, Rahn scores. 3-2. A little later Puskas did score, but was deemed offside. Final whistle blew. And Germany had won. Against all of the odds.
This was the birth of the German machine mentality. In football I meant. A foundation such heroic only took this team to greater heights. 80 years later you know how this team looks like. This was the rise of a new superpower. In expense of the definite fall of another.