MANE GARRINCHA: THE RISE OF A LEGEND - PART 2 Brazil as a football nation belongs to the group who believe that football is an art and should be played as such. This belief resulted in the school of thought which is termed as football d’arte by the Brazilians. In the world of football, Pele is regarded as the King of the game. But to some of the football fans who got to witness both Pele and Garrincha, there is this belief that Garrincha embodies the spirit of football d’arte. To these fans who experienced Garrincha, they believe that no one comes close to the level of the one dubbed “The Angel with bent legs”. The field was his canvas, the ball his paint and, his bent legs his brushes which he used to paint beautiful smiles on the faces of spectators as he dazzled and created magic with the ball at his feet. Garrincha as a man had his demons. He lived a life full of controversies and his life choices and decisions if compared to the exploits Paul Gascoigne, Antonio Cassano or...
FERENC PUSKAS: FROM A RISKY BUSINESS TO A MADRID LEGEND. The communist regime of Hungary was using football as their major political tool of spreading the principles of communism. Although everything wasn’t going on well in the country, as far as the national team which was led by Ferenc Puskas was winning, the system was working to perfection and nobody could question the regime. Going into the 1954 world cup, the Aranycsapat which means (the golden team) were unbeaten for about 4 years. Hungary was counted among the favourites to win the tournament and they made their intentions clear from the word go. It was all going on well until they met West Germany in the final. That day was the day the communist bubble burst. West Germany pulled off an astonishing comeback against the Hungarians to win the tournament. The people took to the streets to vent their displeasure. The Hungarian revolution had gained grounds. Puskas returned to his club, Budapest Honved, af...