Inside Track: Berne needed a miracle after a ferocious battle

The Swiss city of Berne figured prominently in the soccer narrative of almost 70 years ago. First up was ‘The Battle of Berne’ on June 27th, 1954, and then ‘The Miracle of Berne’ a few weeks later. Hungary had a part in both.

The World Cup was in progress and Hungary – the ‘Magical Maygars’ – were hot favourites to win the Jules Rimet.

Their progress to the quarter-final was seamless, and although the country’s greatest ever, Ferenc Puskás, would be missing, there was sufficient talent in the panel to get them past Brazil in the semi-final, notwithstanding the fact that the South American side had reached the 1950 final.

While some saw this meeting of the game’s aristocrats develop into one of the great World Cup games, others, who were in a vast majority, recoiled with the brutality of it all. Puskás, who watched from the stands, was reported as saying it was “a desperate tussle of ruthless brutality”.

A report said it was the “most shameful day in World Cup history”, with “vicious tackling, blatant obstruction and fighting marring almost every moment from early on”. And you wonder how anyone could have described it as one of the great World Cup games.

Three were sent off, two of them Brazilians. The sidelined Hungarian was a Member of Parliament, Josef Bozsik, who, as the decade progressed would have more than football to concern him and his fellow countrymen. 

Other miscreants were lucky the referee hadn’t eyes at the back of his head. How England’s Arthur Ellis could have done with the assistance of VAR. Helped by the eye-in-the-sky, however, he could have ended with one of those 7-a-sides you nowadays see played on an astro pitch.

Hungary were two up within seven minutes, but soon afterwards, Brazil reduced the dividing margin, Santos scoring from the spot. After that, the first of many major brawls resulted in Hungary’s influential midfielders Toth, having to go off.

Retaining their 2-1 half-time lead, Hungary went further ahead when Lantos also converted a penalty. Needing to take a stronger hand, Ellis handed out the severest of sanctions to Bozsik and Brazil’s Nilton Santos.

But instead of cooling things, the dismissals caused even greater aggravation, and it reached fever pitch after Julinho brought Brazil back to within a goal. Kocsis restored Hungary’s two-goal shortly before full-time.

Ellis being able to get the game to full-time was probably the first miracle of Berne. He still needed the assistance of the Swiss police to get safely to his dressingroom.

Meanwhile, in another dressingroom – Hungary’s – there was further fun and games. As the Magyars celebrated, a bottle was thrown in and the lights went off. What followed was a ten-minute battle in which there were “grunts, blows and cries from those who were hurt”. Brazil had a score to settle.

Puskás, by now celebrating – and fighting – with his colleagues, is said to have struck a Brazilian’s head with a bottle. When asked about it afterwards, he said it was impossible to decide “who had come out best of extra-time in the dressingroom – there had been no referee”.

The authorities moved fast, but only to reprimand a few players. The police, however, were concerned. So much so, that when Hungary played the holders, Uruguay, in the semi-final, they had the pitch surrounded with armed and steel-helmeted officers.

The game, said to be one of the tournament’s best, had nothing to compare with Hungary’s quarter-final. It went to extra-time, with Kocsis, maintaining his record of scoring in every match in the finals, putting his name on two goals in Hungary’s 3-2 win.

If Hungary were favourites before the tournament began, they were unbackable for their final. They were on to a 53rd consecutive win, a sequence which included outright success at the 1952 Olympics. More than that, they had beaten their opponents, West Germany, 8-2 in the early stage of the finals.

Having missed the two previous matches Puskás was fit to play, and to show that everything was okay on the injury front, the greatest of all Maygars put his side one up within six minutes.

Germany had only centred the ball to restart the match when their goalie was again bending his back, picking the ball out of the net for a second time. This could be a replica of that earlier match.

But, no, almost as quickly the match was level, Morlock and Rahn each grabbing a goal. Hungary were rattled – the “Miracle of Berne” was taking shape. It wouldn’t, however, be until time was almost up that it was completed. Rahn got another goal, only the third person up until then to score two twice in a World Cup decider.

West Germany were champions, Hungary devastated. And it was no consolation to the Magyars that Kocsis was the tournament’s top scorer with a then-record of 11 goals, and their total of 27 was also a best-ever.

By the time the next World Cup finals – in Sweden – came along, Hungary had been invaded by Russia, and the Munich Air Disaster had taken the lives of 23, several of Manchester United’s best players among them.

Puskas had left for Spain, taking his place on the Real Madrid team, and forming a lethal partnership up front with Alfredo di Stefano. He played with his adopted country in the 1962 World Cup finals.