atypical_boro
Well-known member
Admittedly I showed caution towards world rankings above, but Hungary were ranked #1 in the world (and were Olympic champions, in an era without World Cups) at the time....Biggest upset for the England national team was surely England 3 Hungary 6. This is generally viewed as the game in which English notions of footballing superiority were well and truly dismissed. Despite the 1 nil loss to USA and failure to take home the world cup a few years earlier.
Perhaps with it being at home and in full view of the press. Bobby Robson quote lifted from wiki.
Sir Bobby Robson said of the game: "We saw a style of play, a system of play that we had never seen before. None of these players meant anything to us. We didn't know about Puskás. All these fantastic players, they were men from Mars as far as we were concerned. They were coming to England, England had never been beaten at Wembley – this would be a 3–0, 4–0 maybe even 5–0 demolition of a small country who were just coming into European football. They called Puskás the 'Galloping Major' because he was in the army – how could this guy serving for the Hungarian army come to Wembley and rifle us to defeat? But the way they played, their technical brilliance and expertise – our WM formation was kyboshed in ninety minutes of football. The game had a profound effect, not just on myself but on all of us." Robson went on to say: "That one game alone changed our thinking. We thought we would demolish this team – England at Wembley, we are the masters, they are the pupils. It was absolutely the other way
Last edited: