Hungary's Huge Year in Sports

My new soccer hero, Hungarian goalkeeper Kiraly Gabor,
who always plays in sweat pants.

There are few sports fans who have lived with as much angst and despair as the Hungarians – especially their soccer fans. The angst and despair are all the harder because the country was once one of the best in the world.

The Magnificent Magyars, led by Ferenc Puskas, won gold in the 1952 Olympics and defeated Italy to win the 1953 Central European Championship. 

Later that year, in what is now called the Match of the Century, the Hungarian team played England in front of a 105,000-person crowd at Wembley Stadium and picked a heavily favoured English team apart 6-3. The next year, the English tried to get revenge, but managed just one goal, and lost 7-1 in Budapest. 

The Hungarians were now recognized as a soccer powerhouse and came into the 1954 World Cup as the favourite. They beat Brazil and cast aside the defending champions Uruguay. They faced West Germany in the Final, whom they had already beaten in the first round. It was a tougher game than expected. With six minutes left and the game tied 2-2, the West Germans scored the winning goal. Hungary lost the World Cup, in what the Germans would call the 'Miracle in Berne' and the Hungarians would dub the 'Disaster in Berne.'

The team still dominated international soccer, winning a few more international matches and seemed posed to win a championship until 1956. The team was abroad when the revolution erupted against the communist dictatorship in Budapest. After the Soviets invaded Hungary, the team stayed abroad, but eventually broke up. Some players returned to Hungary, while the rest scattered across West Europe. 

Over the next few years, the national team might occasionally break out of the first round of a tournament, only to be  defeated in the next round. Eventually the team stopped qualifying and faded into obscurity at international soccer's second tier.

When I sat down on Tuesday evening at a German beer garden with Kata and another Hungarian friend in town for business, you could say the mood about being at the Euro was "We're happy to be here."

The first half could have gone either way, but Austria seemed in control. In the second half, a Hungarian player in Austria's goal box looked as if he lost control of the ball but managed to slide-kick it into the goal before the Austrian goalkeeper could get to it. GOAL! 

We were on our feet. The rest of the beer garden didn't seem to be watching the game, except for a grumpy old German who grumbled something in German. On the TV, as the players jumped into the crowd, we heard how loud the crowd was at the stadium and they were chanting "Magyarok" or something like that. 

Now even Kata is paying attention as the Austrians tried to tie up the game. We saw a yellow card, a close Austrian attempt, a close Hungarian shot, and a brutally twisted ankle. Finally, Hungary scored the second one and the victory was confirmed to be no fluke.

The game ended. The grumpy old German at the next table grumbled and we watched the post-game analysis from German TV announcers. They didn't know what to say. They clearly prepared notes about Austria winning, but knew nothing about the Hungarian team, not even the pronunciation of their names. So they talked about what Austria didn't do during the game.

On the other hand, our social media feeds were filled with photos of Budapest streets brimming up with celebrating fans. Remember, it's been decades since something like this has happened.

Earlier this year, Hungary's hockey team participated in the World Championship in St. Petersburg. Aside from a brief appearance in 2009 this was their first appearance there since 1939. A massive contingent of Hungarian hockey fans followed their team there and sang the national anthem after every loss. 

In their final game, they scored five goals to Belarus' two and won their first game in 77 years. Look around online for video of fans after the game and try not to get a little emotional. 

If Hungary does well in water polo, it's like Canada wining gold at the World Junior Hockey Tournament, it's expected. But watching both their soccer and hockey team win their first game in eons is a huge thing. We're witnessing a huge year for Hungarian sports.