The River Phenomenon

The latest of the South American star to make news on a possible switch to Real Madrid is Gonzalo Higuain. He is just 18 years of age and additionally put in a memorable display against Boca Juniors at the Estudieo Monumental (the famous horse shoe shaped home ground of River Plate) abt a month back. Co-incidentally he also has a French and Argentine passport and he has not yet decided on the international jersey he is going to wear. To be honest, I have only watched a few video clips of this player and hence I am not in a position to comment on his abilities. However, I do feel that Higuain is being hyped up by the media and fans and I do feel that Higuain will be better-off if he can delay the atlantic trip by atleast 1 year. I do however feel that Higuain's performance is being given excessive media coverage in order to facilitate his transfer. This is the first season of Higuain in top-flight football and he is a bit too raw and mostly untested say for a La-Liga or Serie-A. I do doubt (based on the comments in soccer forums)whether Higuain is even the best player in River-forget abt the entire league. However, these South American players do feel a sense of insecurity (in monetary terms) and hence they would take the first flight to Europe when offered a decent contract by a big club even if they are benched for an entire season.

I was reading an interesting article on Jose Pekerman-the most successful youth coach in football. He gave a very interesting advice to young players. According to Pekerman, It seems the facilities available say in Argentina or brazil are comparable to any other European country. Hence, these young budding players can develop and hone their skills in their home country. Player like Higuain or Aguero (Athletico Madrid's 18 yr old wonderkid) can develop their game staying and playing in the starting XI in an Argentine club rather than being benched in Madrid or Milan.
I guess Higuain will be better-off listening to the advice of Pekerman rather than chasing an 20 Million dollar contract.

PS: Pekerman was once asked the difference between a young European player and a South American player. He said, in South America first the talent in a player is identified and then he is put to a nutritionist but in Europe its the other way round.

A nice Puskas tribute

This is a wonderful tribute on Puskas from Independent

Ferenc Puskás Biró, footballer: born Kispest, Hungary 2 April 1927; played for Kispest/Honvéd 1943-56, Real Madrid 1958-67; capped 84 times by Hungary 1945-56, four times by Spain 1962; married 1950 Erszébet Bozsi (one daughter); died Budapest 17 November 2006.

Precisely where Ferenc Puskás stands in the pantheon of all-time great footballers is a matter for passionate and pleasurable debate. Suffice it to say that there can be no doubting the flamboyant Hungarian's right to his own personal pedestal alongside those of Pelé and Maradona, di Stéfano and Cruyff, and perhaps just a handful of others in the history of the world game.

Puskás was remarkable in so many ways, scoring more senior international goals than anyone else before his total was surpassed by Ali Daei of Iran, and enjoying a uniquely dramatic career of two glittering and vividly contrasting halves. First he was the charismatic focal point of "The Magnificent Magyars", who twice humiliated England and, with their breathtakingly imaginative tactics, practically reinvented football in the 1950s, thus bringing untold pride and joy to their strife-torn homeland.

Then, aged 31 and with his belly bulging, he commenced a celestial sojourn with star-spangled Real Madrid, who epitomised all that was glamorous and successful at club level. Beyond that, he was a swashbuckling character, a vibrantly humorous fellow who captivated all sections of society with his blend of swaggering, earthy charm and audacious impudence in his frequent dealings with military and sporting authority.

Ferenc Puskás grew up as a hardy, scuffling street kid in Kispest, a small community on the outskirts of Budapest. His was a poor family which, he liked to recall, could afford only one pair of shoes for himself and his brother, so they took one each. Ferenc put his on his right foot and didn't dare kick with it for fear of damage, thus explaining the development of the most famously potent of all left feet.

Even at that stage it was evident that "Ocsi" (kid brother), as he was known affectionately all his life, possessed extraordinary ability and he graduated rapidly through the ranks of the local club, where his father coached. Small but strong and prodigiously skilful, he progressed meteorically, making his league début for Kispest at 16 and becoming a full international as an 18-year-old against Austria in August 1945.

Hungarian football had been virtually unaffected by the Second World War, continuing even during fierce fighting when German-occupied Budapest was besieged and then "liberated" by the Russians. Further dark days lay ahead for Hungary, but for a time, though poverty was widespread, there was sufficient semblance of normality for the nation's soccer in general, and Puskás in particular, to flower luxuriantly.

The visionary national coach Gusztáv Sebes assembled a group of exceptional players known as "The Golden Squad" and revolutionised tactics by employing a deep-lying centre-forward, which led eventually to the universally adopted 4-2-4 formation. The new system depended on fluid interchanging of positions and sweetly accurate passing. It produced football which flowed freely, it was both lavishly entertaining and immensely effective, and the sharpshooting Puskás was at its heart.

In 1949 it was decided that Hungary's team would benefit from improved understanding and esprit de corps if all the top players were brought together in two clubs under the auspices of the army. Kispest FC was chosen as the principal star vehicle and - renamed Honvéd and captained by Puskás - it lifted five domestic championships between 1949 and 1955, the great man netting 50 goals in one campaign and topping the scoring charts in several more.

What set him apart? Certainly not prowess with head or right foot, both of which were negligible. But his left foot was an instrument of wondrous precision, by turns brutally powerful - many of his hundreds of goals were crashed home from outside the box - and silkily smooth.

With it, he was the absolute master of the ball, his control instant, his placement of both pass and shot virtually unerring, and he was phenomenally strong, almost impossible to dispossess. Crucially, too, Puskás was blessed with the acute intelligence, intense concentration and magical spontaneity to make the most of his physical gifts. He was an instinctive tactician, able to adapt in a flash to the ever-changing picture around him, and a natural leader.

Thus he was perfectly equipped to flourish on the international stage and he did so with a vengeance, excelling alongside the world-class likes of the wing-half József Bozsik, the scheming centre-forward Nándor Hidegkuti, his fellow marksman Sándor Kocsis and the goalkeeper Gyula Grosics.

Between 1950 and 1956, Hungary dominated world football, winning Olympic gold in 1952 and conceding defeat only once. Unfortunately, that was in the 1954 World Cup Final, when they lost 3-2 to West Germany, perhaps falling prey to complacency after leading by two early goals, one of them struck by a not fully fit Puskás.

But it is not for that sadly anticlimactic performance that the incomparable Magyars are primarily remembered. Their indelible mark on sporting history was made at Wembley in November 1953 when they took on England, who had given the game to the world and had never been beaten on their own soil by foreign opposition.

Hungary won 6-3, but it was the manner of the victory as much as the margin which made it so emphatic. The visitors humbled their hosts, utterly outclassed them, with breathtakingly beautiful football which was summed up by one moment of sheer sorcery from Puskás.

As Zoltán Czibor's dispatch came in from the right, the Hungarian skipper was lurking on the near corner of the six-yard box but was marked by the England captain Billy Wright, who lunged forward to clear. But he kicked air as, in one sumptuous movement, Puskás had dragged the ball back with the sole of his boot, then pivoted on the spot before thundering a savage drive into the net over the shoulder of the startled goalkeeper Gil Merrick. It remains one of the most famous of all goals and after the match its scorer was promoted by his army masters, duly entering folklore as "The Galloping Major".

As if that lesson were not enough to ensure that the notoriously arrogant and complacent English soccer hierarchy realised that times had changed, Hungary delivered an even more comprehensive tutorial in Budapest six months later in the form of a 7-1 drubbing. Back in England, those with eyes to see marvelled at the new order and adjusted their sights accordingly, while, inevitably, others in positions of power buried their heads in the sand.

During this period of Hungarian ascendancy, Puskás and company, who were nominally members of the army, enjoyed a privileged existence at home against a harrowing backdrop of increasing public hardship, as discontent against the repressive Stalinist regime simmered dangerously.

These paper soldiers, who were used shamelessly as propaganda tools to promote the government's socialist ideal, were allowed to train full-time, they were rewarded lavishly with under-the-counter goods and the authorities looked the other way when they used football trips overseas to smuggle luxuries into the country.

Puskás, who described himself as non-political, made the most of his position as national hero and, despite the fact that his constant manipulation of favours for friends and family became common knowledge, he was admired, even honoured, as a generous and loveable rascal, both by those in high office and the bulk of his suffering compatriots.

Not surprisingly, that virtual untouchability faltered after the World Cup defeat, for which he was unfairly blamed by many, and even another long unbeaten run was not enough to recover it.

However, graver concerns were looming. Political unrest culminated with the October Uprising of 1956 and Soviet tanks moved in to crush the revolt. At the time the Honvéd team, cocooned from everyday life and barely aware of the situation on the streets, were on a foreign tour. When the immediate crisis was resolved they were ordered home but some, including Puskás, refused to go, perhaps fearing the personal consequences under new rulers, maybe yearning for a more prosperous future abroad. As a result, he was banned from playing for 18 months and, for an ever-more-portly thirtysomething, career prospects did not appear bright.

However, the serial European champions Real Madrid were confident of his quality and in 1958 they recruited him to play alongside the fabulous Argentinian Alfredo di Stéfano. At first, Puskás was ridiculed as a tubby has-been, but he worked assiduously to regain fitness and soon he was scoring freely. At first, there was tension with the great Alfredo, who was used to ruling the Real roost, but the newcomer defused the situation with typically astute psychology.

Come the last game of his first Spanish season, the two men were tying as the league's top scorer, for which there was a much-coveted individual trophy. Towards the end, Puskás had the goal at his mercy but instead of claiming the prize for himself, he passed to di Stéfano, who duly netted.

Thereafter the animosity evaporated and the pair scaled lofty peaks together as Real Madrid cemented their reputation as the finest club side of all time. This was symbolised rivetingly in 1960 when they claimed their fifth consecutive European Cup triumph - at that point no other side had ever won the competition - by defeating Eintracht Frankfurt 7-3 at Hampden Park, Glasgow. Puskás scored four times and di Stéfano three, and the game is now revered as the most luscious feast of soccer entertainment ever put before the public.

Still, though, Puskás was not finished. Starting in 1960/61, he pocketed five consecutive Spanish title medals, he was the league's premier marksman on four occasions, he plundered a hat-trick as Real lost the 1962 European Cup Final to Benfica, and he picked up another loser's medal two years later when the Spaniards were defeated by Internazionale of Milan.

In addition, though he never played for Hungary after 1956, he earned four caps for his adopted country, culminating in an appearance in the 1962 World Cup Finals. When eventually he bowed out of the Bernabeu Stadium in 1967, he was 40 years old.

Thereafter, football remained his life. First he coached in Spain and Canada before accepting the reins of the Greek club, Panathanaikos. Against all expectations he inspired them to reach the final of the European Cup in 1971, losing 2-0 to mighty Ajax of Amsterdam, Johan Cruyff et al, only after a gallant struggle.

Two Greek championships followed, then Puskás embarked on a coaching odyssey which took him to Chile, Saudi Arabia, back to Spain and Greece, then Egypt, Paraguay and Australia, improving teams wherever he went.

In 1991, arguably the most famous of all Hungarians returned home to spend his declining years in Budapest, putting in a spell as caretaker coach of the national team in 1992 before accepting a role in youth development.

Though the influence of this colossally colourful character transcends mere statistics, a few are apposite here. In club football he scored 358 goals in 349 games for Kispest/Honvéd, 324 in 372 for Real Madrid; for Hungary there were 83 strikes in 84 matches (some sources say 84 in 85), a total which transcends even Pelé's magnificent return for Brazil.

He spent two decades straddling the game's giddiest pinnacles, achieving greatness twice over. Few men have had a more profound influence on their chosen sport than Ferenc Puskás.

Ivan Ponting