A Simple Protestation
A Moment of Brilliance: A Soccer History Blog, February 23, 2014
Ferenc Puskas, Budapest Honved During the 1960s, many people in America were high on soccer. Pundits considered it sport of the future and speculated that soon Americans would be among the world’s elite. One of the many people championing the emergence of professional soccer in the North America was the legendary Hungarian national team and Real Madrid forward Ferenc Puskas. As coach of the Vancouver Royals during the North American Soccer League’s (NASL) inaugural season in 1968, the twentieth century’s most famous Hungarian claimed, “we have the players to take on the world in five years. The Royals will be quiet ready to take on Real Madrid, and beat them in five years.” Puskas’ claim could not have been farther from the truth as his team struggled to compete in the fledgling NASL and ceased to exist by the end of the year. Ultimately, Puskas’ lone season managing Vancouver proved rather forgettable and uneventful, although a long forgotten early season game in Washington D.C. provided enough excitement t
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