From Puskás to Casillas

In the summer issue of Diplomacy & Trade, the contributor to the WittyLeaks section of the publication was the Spanish ambasador, Enrique Pastor de Gana who wrote a piece on Hungarian-Spanish football relations from a personal experience.

In the days after the finals of the European Football Championship, it is especially good to be Spaniard. Our team has won the ‘Eurocopa’, same as four years ago and Spain still holds the world champion title, too; a string of victories that makes the Nation proud of our boys.

As a little boy, I lived across the street from the Ticket Office of the Spanish Royal Football Association and witnessed week after week the vast crowd making a queue to purchase tickets for the next international match, igniting in my young mind interest and passion for this beautiful sport.

I recall my happiness as a child led by the hand of my father into the stadium in Madrid to see play the cracks of those remote days, in matches full of emotion, letting myself be inspired by the camaraderie and generosity between the rival clubs of Madrid in those perhaps more human times.

Since then – and today –I am still a big football fan, a ‘futbolero’ as we say Spain, and watch every match of interest when my time so allows. When our children were grown enough, I even convinced my wife that the best way to strengthen a family is to attend a Sunday afternoon match together. She still enjoys joining me to watch a football match at the Bernabeu Stadium whenever we are in Madrid. Otherwise, we watch the Sunday matches on TV in our Residence in Budapest.

When I was appointed as Ambassador of Spain to Hungary, a country with such rich traditions in football, a country that used to be a cradle of great players, it immediately made me reminisce of the times when I first heard about this nation. I remember having heard in my youth about those wizards with strangely sounding names, the famous Hungarian National Team of 1954.

The magical Golden Team of Hungary, with magnificent players like Puskás, Bozsik, Czibor and Kocsis. They were figures to be admired throughout the whole world. Ferenc Puskás, Pancho Puskás, Puskás Öcsi or as he was later called in Madrid: Cañoncito Pum, is a figure of example for today’s youth in Hungary as well as in Spain.

Having arrived to Budapest, I quickly noticed the affection with which Hungarians still refer to their legends daily; there is no place in this country where these names wouldn’t be recognized at once. Hungary is making huge efforts to produce a new generation of great football players to regain the somewhat faded splendor of Hungarian football.

The Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán, is a well-known supporter of the cause and I had the honour to welcome him at the Residence of the Spanish Embassy during our joint EU Presidency and offer him a present, a signed shirt of the Captain of his favorite Spanish team, Real Madrid and our National Squad, Iker Casillas.

Among the efforts being made, one of the most important is to train new players from the youngest age possible. There are several football academies in Hungary that have set this goal. The Academy in Felcsút bears the name of the legendary number 10 of the Hungarian Golden Team, Ferenc Puskás, and the Academy founded by Vasas SC is named after László Kubala.

The latter recently organized a tournament for under-16 teams to which they invited a Spanish team, Real Murcia CF. Also invited was and the son of Laci Kubala, Carlos, who travelled to Budapest for that event. I had the honour and pleasure to participate in the kick-off event, as well as watch some of the matches too.

Football is a sport that promotes values like teamwork, camaraderie, fair play and discipline among others; it has the power to entwine persons into community. This is a very good asset in educating our youth, prone to strange ideas and dangers lurking in the global village our planet has become.

And football can be a very strong tie between nations, too, as it can be seen by the example of Hungary and Spain. We share more than usual heroes, we know each other’s football history and have our preferred teams in the present; and these ties strengthen our relations and add a special color and a joyful bonus to our friendship.