This community is being retired in favor of [email protected].
Always felt bad for Gil Merrick. Very good goalkeeper by all accounts, one of the Birmingham City all time great players and managers, servant of the club for decades. Is known around the world for conceding 11 to Hungary when it probably wasn't his fault.
Why were England considered good by this time? They already had crashed out in the first round in Brazil losing two matches including against an amateur side.
Something something Puskas and that Hungary team being really good. They would have won the final if Puskas wasn’t kicked off the field every game and there was normal refereeing in those days.
Fun fact.
The captain of the England team that lost 6-3 and 7-1 to Hungary was Billy Wright.
Billy Wright has a statue in front of Molineux Stadium in Wolverhampton.
The same Molineux where Hungary beat England 4-0 in the Nations League last year.
Maybe Billy Wright is just cursed?
According to Jonathan Wilson in his book "inverting the pyramid", this game was a massive turning point in the understanding of formations. I don't remember exact quotes but the English players were so confused by Nándor Hidegkúti's false 9 role that they just helplessly watched unending Hungarian attacks and conceding lots of goals.