Sweden's Lennart Samuelsson (left) tries to take the ball from the Hungarian legend Ferenc Puskas, 1955.
Photo: Supplied
When Australia land in Budapest ahead of their final World Cup warm-up game in the early hours of Saturday (AEST) they will be arriving in a city that once hosted some of the greatest teams and players the world game has seen.
Players such as Ferenc Puskas – routinely mentioned when there is any conversation about the best men ever to have played the sport – Sandor Kocsis, Jozsef Bozsik and Nandor Hidegkuti gave them an air of invincibility.
Not for nothing, in their golden era of the 1950s, were the Hungarians dubbed the Mighty Magyars.
Known as the Aranycsapat (or Golden Team) they were the perfect storm of individual flair, tactical discipline and fielded players who had the intelligence to shape-shift and vary their structure at a moments notice at a time when teams set up in a much more rigid 2-3-5 formation (two full-backs, three half-backs – right, centre and left – and five in advanced areas – a centre-forward, two wingers and an inside right and inside left.
In that post-World War Two period, Hungary was annexed by the Soviet Union and became one of the Warsaw Pact countries.
While life was difficult, the one upside was that the sportsmen – ostensibly known as amateurs in the Soviet era – were allowed to train, practise and prepare as full-time professionals. Generally conscripted into the military, they were allowed all the time they needed to refine their skills and play whenever they needed to.
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The list of Hungarian success is impressive: they romped to victory in the 1952 Olympics, seeing off 1948 gold medallists Sweden 6-0 in a semi-final before beating Yugoslavia in the final.
Hungary lines up to face England at Wembley in 1953.
Photo: Supplied
In 1953, Hungary became the first nation to defeat England at Wembley, winning 6-3 to snap a 90-year undefeated home run for their hosts.
They showed that was no fluke a year later when England turned up in Budapest seeking revenge only to go home with their tails between their legs having been routed 7-1.
The Hungarians looked certainties for the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland, and when they defeated West Germany 8-3 in a group match they had tightened into unbackable odds.
Victories against Brazil and Uruguay in the quarter and semi-finals took them to a final rematch with the Germans. After racing to a 2-0 lead inside the first few minutes, Hungary were reeled in and the Germans eventually won 3-2 in a game known forever in Germany as the Miracle of Bern.
West Germany's Helmut Rahn equalises with Hungary in the 1954 World Cup final in Switzerland.
Photo: AP
That was the only defeat this team endured in six years. Excluding the 1954 World Cup final, they won 43 games and drew the other six they played between May 1950 and February 1956, when their run came to an end with a loss to Turkey.
But the rot set in as the golden generation aged. The last really good Hungary teams were the ones that played in the 1962 and 1966 World Cups.
The former beat England en route to topping their group in Chile but lost to eventual finalists Czechoslovakia in the quarter-finals. Four years later they finished second in their group behind Portugal (having beaten Brazil in the group phase) only to lose to the Soviet Union in the quarter-finals.
After that, its been pretty much downhill all the way.
Other nations invested more money in football development and Hungary was not able to match that spending nor were they developing players.
They went out at the group stage in the 1978, 82 and 86 World Cups, and has not qualified since.
Their appearance in the 2016 European championships, when they made the round of 16, was their first in the continental championships since 1972.
Budapest has been a happy hunting ground for the Socceroos, with Australia posting two wins from two against the far-from-mighty Magyars in their capital. Terry Venables' team won 3-1 in 1997, while in 2000 the Frank Farina-coached Australia won 3-0.
Bert Van Marwijk will be hoping to make it a hat-trick.
Michael Lynch, The Age's expert on soccer, has had extensive experience of high level journalism in the UK and Australia. Michael has covered the Socceroos through Asia, Europe and South America in their past three World Cup campaigns. He has also reported on Grands Prix and top class motor sport from Asia and Europe. He has won several national media awards for both sports and industry journalism.
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