THE BEST TEAM OF MY TIME


ELEVEN STARS, THE FACT OF WHICH, EVEN AFTER A LONG TIME, STILL SHINES BRIGHTLY
THE SONS OF SIX NATIONS WOULD MAKE UP THE BEST NATIONAL TEAM I HAVE EVER SEEN
Gábor Kléber | 24/12/1943

Twenty or twenty-two years ago, the world of football began beyond imagination. Since then, Hungarian football teams have been welcomed all over the world. At the time, only one good result was achieved. (The fact that the economic situation of our country at that time undoubtedly contributed to the fact that we were so capacious, we were cheap ...) Thus, Hungarian footballers soon avoided all parts of the world. This has resulted not only in our footballers seeing the world, but also in our football getting stronger all the time. Our players have learned a lot from the big foreign footballers. Countless friendships have been formed in this way, and even today many of our la kicks are happy to talk about those with whom they have made acquaintances abroad.

After the end of the First World War, I also went abroad for the first time. Then for a couple of years I went around the world and with my team, first & III. ker, I raided several parts of the world with TVE and later with MTK-Hungária. So it was quite natural to see a lot of great and world famous footballers. I dared in all this time. Not only when we went abroad, but also when foreigners came to us.

It gave me the idea that I was busy putting together an imaginary best team whose players I knew well. Through this, of course, their football skills. I have to point out that I haven't been to England yet and I don't know English as well as other football nations. I even have to mention that I’ve never seen Uruguayans play. So I can't even comment on them. I didn’t see the old ones either, Woodward and his comrades, and I didn’t want to judge and decide based on hearsay.

After putting these forward, I will try to compile to the best of my knowledge a best eleven that I have played against myself and about which I am calm: I dare to say opinions and criticisms with understanding, I know there will be many who will debate. team members and its composition. I'm not going to hurt you. to think if they have a different opinion. As many people as there are opinions. Anyone who is a loyal reader of our magazine may have noticed that I consider George Orth to be the best football player in the world and of all time. Yet many football experts. I met and spoke with someone who did not accept this opinion of mine. It is conceivable, after all, that when I add eleven players to a team and say that they do not know better footballers: tem, there will be a lot of opinion.

Then let's get to the subject. I'll tell you right away that my team is:


     Orsi                        Sindelar                        Braun
Schaffer                 Rydell 

 Samitier            Orth            Kolenatý

     Blum            Rosetta

Plánička

These players listed all achieved the highest level of football knowledge and their game was the highest art of football. These players did everything they could on the pitch. The most distinctive moment of their art was that everything they did seemed most natural to the viewer. They carried out even the most difficult solutions so easily that they could give the impression that the Creator had created them for football. But let’s move on to individual appreciation.

FRANTIŠEK PLÁNIČKA

A picture room, cat-skill, fast, determined ball-safe, huge reflex, excellent-eyed goalkeeper, I’ve seen him play countless times, but he’s never had a bad day. Not even when our boys scored eight goals in Budapest a few years ago in one of the Hungarian-Czech national team matches. Criticism at the time also mentioned that Plánička could not defend the goals. There was no defenseless ball for him. He was equally sure of defending the flat balls and the ones that were directed just below the bar. He tossed himself from one corner to the other with cat dexterity. In the corner kicks, he pulled down every high ball with a sure hand and was able to catch the nearby bombs with deadly calm and safety. For more than ten years, he kept his form. His position should have been videotaped and taught to goalkeepers. I talked to him several times, but he was always a model of modesty. I can't even put the best Zamora, Zsák and Plattkó on the same foot. In him, all good qualities were united, which was a virtue for these three goalkeepers separately.

VIRGÍNIO ROSETTA

He was a full-back with incredible knowledge. He intervened with amazing finesse in his opponent's attacks. His shawl speed was amazing. He never lost his prowess, and he had such an impressive effect on his opponent that many times they could not play effectively against him for that reason alone. Countless times he represented his National Team. Many people still remember the world famous Italian Rosetta-Caligaris full-back duo. This great duo had Rosetta as an aeration and physical leader.

JOSEF BLUM

Pepi, the world-famous defender of the Viennese was called World Champion throughout Europe revealling to be really fast. In vain did the opponent have any advantage, bringing him in at a distance of ten meters. That was one of the benefits. As a warlord, he ruled over the opponent's line of attack. He foresaw everything that was going to happen. It didn't matter if the ball came to the right foot or the left foot. He was one of the cleanest defenders. It was a pleasure to watch his head game. If the situation wished, did not cut the ball forward, but passed it nicely to his teammate in the best position. He wasn't rude, though he could have scared anyone with his huge figure. He belonged to the football field as much as the net to the football goal. He plays the ball. Anyone who has seen him play will never forget his game.

FRANTIŠEK KOLENATÝ

What a wing half-back in football should know and be able to offer was Kolenatý, perhaps the greatest footballer the Czechs have ever had. His game represented perfection, beauty and knowledge. His movement was unbelievably beautiful and harmonious, full of infinite subtlety. It was amazing how he took down his opponent with such wonderful simplicity and the next minute he would pass the ball to the right if he had to, or to the left if the situation demanded it. His balls were best described by the phrase 'on a platter'. He was not known for his roughness, nor was he known for a more violent in-break or other roughness. He was world class.

GYÖRGY ORTH

You could write pages about Orth, that is, his game. It’s a lot easier, perhaps, to state that his game was “football”. A more perfect cultivator of this beautiful game has not yet been born. It didn’t matter to him where he had to play in the field. He did not play centre-half for a long time because his team was able to make much better use of his amazing knowledge in the centre-forward position. But I put him as centre-half, as the center of world football.

JOSÉ SAMITIER

He was one of the most capable footballers of the Spaniards. Not only as a half-back, but also as a forward, he was of huge class. When the Hungarian teams toured Spain at the time, we all talked about this boy with delight. God blessed him with wonderful agility and hard work. His head game was a joy. He could leap up for the ball to incomprehensible heights and head the ball back as if it had been fired from a cannon. His positioning was excellent and he hit the ball like a tern. He was impossible to play through, because in a split second he was where he needed to be. His passing was excellent. In Spain, his popularity rivalled that of Zamora.

JÓZSEF BRAUN

I've seen countless right-wingers play before, but I've never seen one like the unforgettable Csibi. His ball handling was perfect. His eyes were constantly looking for who would follow him and where to put the ball. While running, he was able to throw the ball exactly to his farthest companion like no one else had. He had such body tricks that he could fool his opponents with ease. His head game was amazing. He was a bombshell and while running it was a pleasure to see the beautiful posture that only the greatest had. The other Hungarian wingers never even approached his knowledge. He was one of the best in the world. He learned his opponent's mistake in minutes and immediately used it to his advantage.

SVEN RYDELL

I met him on one of the northern tours of the Hungarian national team. I haven't been able to forget since. What this blond Swedish boy did with the ball was the greatest art. His movement was as if there were no bones in the act. He could swing past his opponent like a snake. A word never left his mouth, but his companions still understood all his thoughts. In addition, he was the dominant individual on the team. He was attacked in the back, the ball could not be taken from him. However, he didn't keep it to himself in the blink of an eye, until he pulled his opponent over and then threw him to the winger. He kept smiling and did everything as bleakly as if he weren't even a living being. Rydell was the Swedish Orth. I played against him three times, but he always played wonderfully.

MATTHIAS SINDELAR

He could have gone anywhere in the world where he was not known, he was sure to have been talked about in amazement after the measure. If there had ever been a sculpture of "football intelligence", Sindelar would have had to be a model. There was no situation where you could not find the most useful and practical solution in the blink of an eye. The way he was able to give the ball to his teammates was an experience. With one move at a time, he could fool his opponent without even thinking about it. He always did the opposite of what was expected of him. If they were waiting for a shot, he passed, if everyone expected him to head, he sent a bomb shot at the gate. He alone was able to decide the fate of the matches. He was not only a manager but also a successful player. I only knew a greater centre-forward than him and that was Orth. (I didn't have the heart to leave Sindi out of this team and that's why Gyuri Orth took the centre-half).

ALFRÉD SCHAFFER

The football king, the Spéci, is known all over the world. Despite his huge size, he was able to control the ball amazingly. He charged forward like a steamroller and was unopposed. He had a wonderful shooting ability and it didn't matter whether he was kicking it in from the goal or from the set-piece. The ball sent by Schaffer went where it had to go. His coolness and confidence were such that he made his opponents despair. Alongside him, the winger, who was of average ability, had a great game, because he was able to get balls from him that were easy to score with. There was not a inside left of his ability in the world. 

RAIMUNDO ORSI

No one would have guessed from this short man the incredible footballing ability he possessed. He's wonderful with the ball. His movements were endlessly fast, even though he was not one of the first in the run. On the other hand, he was able to move the ball from one foot to the other with a thunderous speed, and while someone else needed two movements for something, he did it with one move. It was simply not possible to enter his disarmament in time, because with one thought the defender playing against him was always late. He had the advantage of not being stuck in his position. He would even fight on the right wing if he had to. He was an excellent passer and he was a great goal scorer himself.

*   *   *

There are a dozen more players with amazing abilities to beat. I chose the above with really careful consideration and I am convinced that I was not biased. There may have been other world-classes I’ve seen on my own, but I feel like better players than the eleven members above can be separated from my eleven by just a few differences. — if they were better than them at all.