Chapter 96

"Puskás?! The Puskás from Real Madrid?!"

As a fan, Melanie had naturally heard of Puskás's great name. She never imagined that the senile old man lying in the hospital bed was once the most outstanding player to shine on this planet.

Aldrich nodded dejectedly and began to tell the story of his encounter with this old man.

When Aldrich started his studies across Europe, he was devout and humble. However, after experiencing a myriad of things, he inevitably made the same mistake as many others: arrogance and complacency!

In 1993, Aldrich's mind was filled with tactics. He not only studied the tactics of various football nations but also grasped the future trends of football tactics. He believed he had mastered his craft and was eager to put his skills to the test.

Hungarian football was once world-renowned, and its tactical culture was highly praised in the industry. About fifty years ago, after World War II, Hungary, which had joined the socialist camp, began to develop football on a national scale. At that time, they created an incredibly powerful golden team.

There have been many golden generations in history, but few teams are truly called golden teams. Hungary is one of the representative teams. Whenever the best teams in history are selected, the Hungarian national team of the early 1950s is often on the list.

At that time, the football tactics here were the most advanced. A group of cultured scholars would drink coffee while researching tactics, ball skills, formations, and strategic plays.

They improved upon the WM formation created by Arsenal's tactical master Chapman, possibly even pioneering the tactic of frequent swaps between inside forwards and wingers, paired with a back four. This tactic was later perfected into the classic 4-2-4 by Hungarian coaches in Brazil.

As tactical research matured, the national effort to build a dominant team also took shape. Puskás was the most shining star among them, known as the "Flying Lieutenant." He held a real military rank, and almost all players in the Hungarian national team had official positions, recruited from the military.

During the Cold War, when the world was divided into two, England, as the self-proclaimed founder and leader of modern football, arrogantly invited Hungary to play a friendly match. Hungary was already somewhat famous, performing well in the Olympics, so the match was hyped as the "Match of the Century" before it even began.

In this highly anticipated match, England lost 3-6 at home. Unsatisfied, England trained hard for half a year and then visited Budapest, only to be thrashed 7-1 by Hungary.

English football has a tendency to become complacent after achieving some success, only to be jolted into action after a harsh defeat.

Meanwhile, Hungary began to dominate the world of football.

Before the 1954 World Cup, the Hungarian national team had an undefeated record for four years.

They were not only the greatest hope of the nation but also considered the favorites to win the World Cup internationally.

In the group stage, they crushed South Korea 9-0 and West Germany 8-3, but Puskás was injured in the match against West Germany.

In the knockout stages, they defeated Brazil and the defending champions Uruguay, both with 4-2 victories, advancing to the final as expected.

However, no one expected their final opponent to be West Germany, whom they had already faced in the group stage.

West Germany and Hungary, two teams that perfectly represented the era, both needed a victory.

But fate played a cruel joke on Hungary. Despite their four-year undefeated streak, they were powerless on the day of the final!

Puskás, injured by a German tackle, played with a wound. They led by two goals as predicted, but a heavy rain fell, and the Germans brought out their anti-slip cleats. The Hungarians could only slip and miss crucial goals on the muddy field. The Germans staged a miraculous comeback, and Puskás's equalizing goal in the final minutes was disallowed by the English referee. The World Cup slipped away.

This is the famous Bern Miracle, acknowledged even by the Germans as a miracle. This miracle not only revitalized German football but also the entire nation, with its impact lasting to this day.

On the other side, Hungary, defeated in the final, became national scapegoats. When the domestic political situation became unstable and Soviet tanks rolled into Budapest, the Hungarian national team was put on trial. The goalkeeper might have been exiled to the border for conceding three goals in the final.

This sounds familiar, doesn't it?

Later, many used this scenario to mock North Korea, but in history, this actually happened in Hungary.

The golden team disintegrated, and the "Flying Lieutenant" began his wandering. Labeled a traitor, he joined Real Madrid at the age of 31, creating a legendary career.

After retiring, Puskás coached many European teams, including leading a Greek team to the Champions League final, a remarkable achievement. In 1993, he took charge of the Hungarian national team, aiming to revitalize Hungarian football. It was then that Aldrich came to Hungary.

The country had just stabilized, having abandoned Marxism-Leninism only four years earlier. Football was no longer as glorious as before. Aldrich presented forged documents showing his age as twenty and applied for the position of assistant coach of the national team.

When he first met the national team's head coach, his immediate superior Puskás, Aldrich's thoughts were simple: show this old man what I can do!

In a practice match, Aldrich commanded a group of substitutes against the first team, deploying a highly defensive and counter-attacking formation. Using the Italian catenaccio and English wing play, he easily won 3-1.

When Aldrich was feeling smug, Puskás remained expressionless.

"He was angry, I could feel it, but I stubbornly believed I was right. I thought he was old and out of touch. He was once a king, but the future didn't belong to him. However, he didn't scold me. Instead, he took me out of the national team training base to a small stadium in the city. There, a group of middle school students were playing football. They were excited to see Puskás, as he was a hero. Puskás asked me to play a match with the middle school students. I asked him why, but he didn't explain, just told me to do it. I thought: these kids know nothing, playing with them is like playing to the cows. But when the sun set and I walked back to the stands in my soaked shirt, the old man I had looked down upon smiled and asked me a question. That question made me completely respect him."

"What did he ask?"

"Did you have fun?"

"What?"

"He just asked me: did you have fun?"

"What does that mean?"

"It's simple. I had a lot of fun. Yes, I played with a group of kids all afternoon, not caring about winning or losing. We laughed when we scored, hugged to celebrate, and felt dejected when we conceded, then rallied to restart the game. On that day, I suddenly realized that I hadn't played football for a long, long time, and I hadn't felt the joy it brought me. This is the essence of football. The tactics in my mind were just dry numbers and lines, meaningless. Football with a utilitarian purpose always has impure motives. Victory? If the players aren't happy, what's the point of victory? But this will be the mainstream of football's future because football is a means of livelihood for many. Only victory can prevent unemployment. My view of Puskás was right; he was outdated and couldn't keep up with the times. But he taught me thoughtful football. He made me understand that failure is not scary, but it is terrifying when you can no longer find joy in the sport. As a head coach, I have the responsibility to make my players experience joy."

Speaking of this, Aldrich sighed deeply.

He had once planned his career, thinking that his early stage should focus on building a solid foundation and playing utilitarian football to quickly win championships. But in Hungary, he underwent a spiritual awakening. He didn't want to suppress his players' talents or make them feel bored, losing their creativity. He had to let his players experience the essential charm of the sport in the process of creating goals and victories.

Puskás couldn't teach Aldrich much about tactics, but Aldrich revered him as a mentor. Life always needs a qualitative change in the process of continuous accumulation, and Puskás gave Aldrich an epiphany, which was invaluable.

Puskás had once been at the pinnacle, the pride of the entire nation, worshipped on a pedestal, but he also fell the hardest!

Perhaps it was this experience that allowed him to forget everything on his journey, pick up football, and enjoy the simplest and purest joy.

Aldrich felt blessed by heaven. He had a new life and met a professional mentor who enlightened him. During his six months in Hungary, he began to organize and elevate the football knowledge he had learned, forming his personal football philosophy.

He might not be able to establish a new school, but he could at least learn from the best, take the strengths of others, and integrate them.

He could never forget Puskás's teachings, which were more like those of a lifelong friend.

But now, his mentor was being ravaged by illness, and his life was about to enter a dark chapter.

Aldrich and Melanie sat on the chairs outside the hospital room, unable to sleep all night.

PS: Thank you to "Feiyang Ruchujian" and "Bipingfan Shaoyidian" for your generous support!

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