KOCSIS ADMIRABLE HEADING GAME GIVES HUNGARY A JUSTIFIED VICTORY (4-2) DURING EXTRA TIME.
Jacques des Ryswick | 01/07/1954

In the night that already casts its gray, damp veil over the Pontaise stadium, a battalion of security guards has just taken possession of the pink pitch, deploying in close formation. The incidents in Bern on Sunday prompted the Swiss police to take precautions this time! But thankfully, they proved unnecessary. The Hungarian red-clad footballers and the Uruguayan blue-clad players leave the pitch as friends, the defeated team congratulating their victors with grand displays of camaraderie. 60,000 spectators, on their feet, erupt in a tremendous and unanimous ovation for both teams. The match they have just witnessed was, until the 75th minute, an interesting encounter, well-played in a rather "academic" style; from the 75th to the 120th minute, it became a game of twists and turns, a thrilling and intense encounter.

THE HUNGARIANS WERE SLOWLY HEADING TOWARDS THE POST...

Consider that there was only a mere fifteen minutes left until the end of regulation time. Leading 2-0 (Czibor, 13th minute; Hidegkuti, 47th minute), the Hungarians were cruising towards a comfortable victory. Their win was the product of football that was sometimes a series of intricate, patiently woven patterns, crafted by players of refined taste, intimately familiar with their craft, and leaving little to chance; and sometimes a display of brilliant artistry, letting themselves go like gypsy violins, guided by their inspiration.

The Uruguayans had offered an excellent, determined response, a less dense, less elaborate, less classically focused, less varied, and undoubtedly less complete in terms of collective development. But still, very often dangerous with its rushes, its counters, its incisive strikes like a tiger-cat stealthily emerging from its den to surprise and seize its prey. Yet, all this had remained unproductive, and the Uruguayan team, without making a bad impression at all, nonetheless seemed regularly and irrevocably defeated.

THE TWO HOHBERG BOMBS.

It was then that, ten minutes apart, two thunderous bombs exploded, two dramatic twists, the kind our Uruguayan friends seem to relish and in which they are decidedly inimitable experts. Never beaten, these people; never discouraged, these admirable fighters!

Their no less admirable playmaker, Juan Schiaffino, distinguished, elegant, precise, lucid, with the winged style of a gazelle, slips a long ball to his neighbor, the powerful  Hohberg. The latter is literally imprisoned in the middle of three blond defenders. He passes them in force, presents himself alone in front of Grosics who comes out, and who is beaten by a clever ball placed in the corner. The Uruguayan supporters who no longer believed in it waved their sky and white banners. They will brandish them even more frantically and will shout their enthusiasm even louder ten minutes later when Hohberg, once again served on a platter by Schiaffino, repeats his move! And collapses “stunned” by a sudden blow from his head.

The entire crowd is stunned, speechless. The Hungarians are frozen, they lower their voices; consternation reigns in their ranks. I say to my neighbor: "That's Uruguay for you! That's how Schiaffino and his teammates won the last World Cup, in Rio, four years ago..."

This is how they earned the right to play extra time today, something no one — least of all themselves! — expected ten minutes earlier.

One almost wishes these two magnificent teams — each magnificent in their own unique style — would stay in extra time. One hopes that extra time won't be fatal for either of them. The Hungarians, as they begin this period, give the impression of tired, somewhat disillusioned men, but they quickly recover; their style, sometimes understated and precise, razor-sharp, sometimes flamboyant, full of cushioned shots, deflections, nuances, and unexpected turns, regains its dominance.

In the 11th minute, their fast right winger Budai burns his direct opponent Cruz and center Kocsis Tête d'Or emerges, the ball is catapulted irresistibly into the nets of the great Máspoli. Four minutes later, Kocsis, in exactly the same way (how many millions is she worth, that head) gives the final blow to the heroic team of Uruguay who lose their title like a great lord after having deserved to be offered a new chance. But such is the implacable law of sport!

THREE OF HUNGARY'S FOUR GOALS WERE SCORED WITH HEADERS.

In terms of pure style, the Hungarian team probably played a better match than last Sunday against Brazil. It is true that today, at La Pontaise, everything was correction, I would even say kindness; the adversaries were going to pick each other up after each fall, after each shock, with big friendly slaps on the cos and the referee, the red-headed Welshman Griffith, who also directed the match masterfully, never became angry. The Hungarian team had to play a cup match the other day; this time, she only had to switch to "speed-cut" at the last quarter of an hour, after having played a bit with fire and counting a little too much on her superiority.

In the second half, the ballet of the Hungarian attackers sometimes reminded us of that of the Harlem Globe Trotters. No doubt the absence of Puskás was felt again; but the Magyar offensive quintet seemed, today, to better accommodate this handicap which nevertheless remains certain. The clairvoyant and fine Hidegkuti and the slow Palotas were its builders. It was Hidegkuti, who was the origin of the first goal scored by Czibor after a long relay from Kocsis, and it was the same Hidegkuti who scored the second goal, with a header. Three headed goals today, the Magyars, and especially Kocsis, are definitely specialists in this field!

Czibor, along with Kocsis, was undoubtedly the most prominent of the Hungarian attackers: agile, feline, and graceful, with a style that sometimes resembled a dancer's, he caused a sensation. Also noteworthy was the constant work of the tireless and insightful Zakariás, as well as the powerful attacking runs of Bozsik, often well-executed, though Bozsik finished the match very tired.

Defensively, the performance was generally less impressive. While there were authoritative interventions, there were also some risky and dangerous lapses in concentration. The agile and enterprising Grosics often had to come far out of his goal and clear the ball with powerful clearances to compensate for these weaknesses.

SCHIAFFINO: STILL THE JEWEL OF THE URUGUAYAN TEAM.

In the Uruguayan team, despite their indomitable courage, their style and rhythm were less fluid, and individual effort was more prominent. The defense was particularly noteworthy, with the alert, skillful, spectacular, and effective Andrade, unfortunately sidelined with a thigh injury late in the game, missing the field when Kocsis scored Hungary's third goal. The robust Martinez also deserves praise, launching incisive attacking runs and relentlessly firing powerful shots on goal, though often from a distance. The same overall assessment applies to the Uruguayan forwards, many of whose shots were inaccurate and seemed almost desperate. I'm not even mentioning Hohberg's two shots mentioned earlier. Hohberg, along with fellow inside forward Ambrois, was one of the three best elements of the Uruguayan attack, whose jewel, inspiration, and incomparable playmaker was once again the omnipresent Schiaffino, who left tonight with his head held high, aware of having been, despite the glorious elimination of his team, one of the two or three best players in the tournament.