How Hungary ended a 30-year footballing drought (Part 2)

How Hungary ended a 30-year footballing drought [VIDEO] (Part 2)

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When Hungary booked a spot for the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, fans must have hope of a decent showing.

They topped a qualifying group including the Netherlands and Austria, beating both of them away. Austria had appeared at the previous two World Cups and performed well, and while Dutch football was transitioning between generations, they already had the stars that would win them Euro 1988. To top it all off, Hungary boasted yet another talented midfield player in Lajos Detari. Prior to Mexico, they were in good form and even beat Brazil 3-0.

READ MORE: How Hungary ended a 30-year footballing drought

The Soviet Union had given Hungary grief over the years, but their opening game of the 1986 World Cup was more than that. The 6-0 defeat was an unprecedented humiliation and confirmed to many that the country’s standing in football had declined, yet this must have been imperceptible given the form they had shown in qualifying, and the fact Hungary had managed to maintain a respectable standing in the game for 30-years after the events of 1956. While they beat Canada and so did not finish bottom of their group, the abject performance shown then was a blow that the game in the nation was not able to recover from. By now, corruption and ill-governance had become de rigeur, leaving Hungary ill-positioned for the massive changes in football which took place when the Iron Curtain fell in 1989, though players could move more freely to Western Europe than before.

In the 30 years since, Hungarian football’s tale had been one of woe and frustration with numerous false dawns. There were talented players – such as Bela Illes, Krisztian Lisztes, Akos Buzsaky, Tamas Hajnal and Zoltan Gera, to name but a few. In the 1998 World Cup qualifiers, the team made the play-offs but were humiliated by Yugoslavia. A battling performance for a 2-2 draw with Italy in the 2002 qualifiers must have raised hopes, and in the Euro 2004 qualifiers it appeared Hungary were in a good position to progress before losing their last two games. Things got even worse when they were beaten by Malta in Euro 2008 qualifiers.

Since then, the national team’s fortunes have improved slowly. They fell short in the 2010 and 2014 qualifiers, although at least had found themselves in contention for the play-offs, while coming third in their group for Euro 2012 . Those results at least represented a modicum of progress, but few imagined how Euro 2016 qualifiers turned out, even with the expanded format giving them a real shot.

In the Euro 2016 qualifiers, Hungary finally broke ice under a succession of coaches, currently Bernd Storck. After losing to Northern Ireland in their first game, the campaign gathered momentum and they would have qualified automatically had they not lost to Greece in their final game, who had not won a qualifier until that one either. Facing off with Norway, there must still have been doubts – is it real, were Hungary going to qualify? They answered that by winning 1-0 in Oslo, and 2-1 in the return.

Drawn with Portugal, Austria and Iceland, they have a tough task possessing a squad with few stars, but must surely have high hopes. After 30-years of pain, Hungarian fans have finally seen the light at the end of the tunnel and the long-awaited redemption. They join Northern Ireland in that department, along with first-time qualifiers Albania and Iceland. If Euro 2016 is to be remembered for anything, it ought to be for that at least.

The expansion of the European Championship may be validly criticised, although it does reflect the fact that UEFA’s membership has expanded and the depth of talent is considerable. Hungary’s revival coincides with the decline of several other football nations, and the stagnation of others. They deserve credit for at least seizing upon that opportunity.

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