World cup qualifier - Malta vs Hungary (Wednesday, National Stadium)

Could the old Magyar magic be unearthed?

The deft, adhesive touches of a left foot caressing the ball one moment and pushing it delicately forward the next masked a lethal shot that would send nets bulging. The goals came in abundance.

That was the trademark of the great 'Galloping Major' Ferenc Puskas, an icon of Hungarian football, regarded by his countrymen as God's gift to their nation half a century ago.

The 'Promised Land' in the shape of a World Cup triumph in 1954 was seemingly within easy reach when Hungary met Germany in the final in Berne, days after the magical Magyars had finished off the Germans with an emphatic 8-3 whitewash in a group match of the same competition. But the 'unbelievable' happened as the 3-2 unexpected setback on July 4 50 years ago sent the hopes of Puskas, Kocsis, Hideguti and their troupes dashing to the ground.

That left a painful blemish on a wonderful era, which saw the Reds go through an unbeaten three-year run, besides rubber-stamping their eloquence with a famous 6-3 victory in November 1953 that sent England's impregnable Wembley home fortress crumbling for the first time in history against Continental opposition.

Those were glittering days, with the baptism of fire coming in 1952 when Hungary won the Olympic gold medal. But tragically, four years later, the Soviet tanks razed the Hungarian uprising to the ground, only for the Magyar team to be disbanded. Some of their stars sought lucrative pastures in other countries, never again to don their nation's colours.

The dramatic turn of events in 1956 left Hungarian football in the lurch. Since that time the country's national team strived hard to regain a firm foothold on the world scene. That target proved to be elusive and the nearest the Magyars came to achieving some respect was in the 1962 World Cup in Chile and four years later in England when they were successively halted in the quarter-finals of the then 16-team finals.

Out of 12 subsequent World Cup competitions since 1954, Hungary featured only six times in the last stages of the global event. These statistics were not in consonance with one of the most glamorous teams of the last century. Rehabilitation of the national team was a priority for the Hungarian Football Federation.

The restructuring programme to revive the romantic period of the Fifties continued along the years and the recent engagement of former German international midfielder Lothar Matthaeus as Hungary's national team coach rekindled aspirations of a renaissance. However, two 3-0 defeats against Sweden and Croatia, apart from victory over Iceland in the 2006 Germany World Cup Group matches played so far, cannot be regarded as a good omen for the Hungarians.

Nevertheless, they are resolved to arrest this edgy take-off in the competition and their first commitment now is an away match against Malta. The Hungarians will have surely taken note of the sturdy Maltese reaction when they faced Iceland last month after their debacle against Sweden, and Matthaeus will make provisions for that.

Recent remarks by Hungary's coach on Wednesday's match against Malta, and his prediction of a possible outcome, although veiled with caution, explicitly hinted that their task of improving on their victory against Iceland was very much on the cards.

Although four victories and two draws from the matches against Malta give Hungary an undisputed statistical edge, suggestions that Matthaeus would have no Herculean task in his quest for maximum points at the expense of his fellow countryman Horst Heese could be fraught with overoptimism.

Two drawn matches

The reminder for Hungary is clear enough. The Maltese managed to hold their own when they played the Hungarians in the last two World Cup matches in 1988 and 1989. Letting Malta off the hook yet again would not be acceptable for the Magyars.

The results then were two draws, 2-2 in Malta and 1-1 in Budapest, both matches having had two protagonists who today are at the technical helm of the Maltese team. Horst Heese, guiding Malta in his first stint as national coach, would surely recall the outcome of those matches with much satisfaction.

His assistant today, Carmel Busuttil, will likewise look back on those Malta v Hungary duels with nostalgic pride. Besides scoring all the three goals, Malta's 'Golden Footballer' marked those two matches as a solid launching pad, which eventually enriched his scoring tally for his country to 22 goals - a remarkable feat by any standard.

In the meantime, Hungary's pro-cess of rebuilding a team worthy of their famous predecessors continued. The breakthrough never quite came.

With a high turnover of players they just fell short of finding an eminent place alongside the names of Zidane, Beckham, Nedved, Henry, Figo, et al.

In these last months the Hungarian squad has had a complement of about 12 players engaged with foreign club sides. These hail from Germany (Hertha Berlin, Stuttgart, Cottbus), England (Crystal Palace, West Bromwich Albion), Holland (PSV Eindhoven, Roda), Norway and Turkey. Ferencvaros, Ujpest and Vasas, three out of the sturdy top 16 league teams in Hungary, supply the bulk of the home-based players.

In modern football where collective organisation overshadows the individualistic traits, Hungary is not absolved from this element of being low on attractive soloists. The names in their squad carry no 'star' tag but, judging from recent outings, Hungary thrives on collective organisation, an efficient passing rate and thrustful football.

Matthaeus will be hoping these qualities will resurface when they resume their World Cup travail, starting with their clash against Malta. Hungary has long been seeking to recapture some of the past glory. Despite a fumbling start to their 2006 World Cup route, they hold no secret about the fact that redemption could be a realistic possibility.

Their clash with Malta will be another test for them. Could the Maltese counter the visitors' aspirations and revamp their own ego? An interesting match lies in prospect.

On Malta's part there is hope that national feeling backed by spirit and collective discipline could do the trick. The onus is on the followers of the game in our islands to turn up and give wholehearted support to our players.

While Hungary will set their sights on unearthing some of their old magic, Malta could well be reinspired by Heese and Busuttil and repeat the exploits of the late Eighties.

Whatever is in store will be known on Wednesday.

NOTE: Alex Vella is the Malta Football Association Media Officer.

Previous matches between Malta and Hungary:

Malta 0 Hungary 2
World Cup: November 14, 1971 (Gzira)

Hungary 3 Malta 0
World Cup: May 6, 1972 (Budapest)

Malta 2 Hungary 2
World Cup: December 11, 1988 (Ta' Qali)

Hungary 1 Malta 1
World Cup: April 12, 1989 (Budapest)

Malta 1 Hungary 4
Friendly: March 19, 1997 (Ta' Qali)

Hungary 3 Malta 0
Friendly: August 6, 1997 ( Budapest)