Behind the Curtain: Football in Eastern Europe

by Jonathan Wilson

The most important thing in football is what a player is doing on a pitch when he’s not in possession of the ball, not vice-versa.

Each generation, it seems, has been burdened with the knowledge that they were not so good as the last, and have suffered public resentment as a result. Eduardo Galeano has traced the mentality in Uruguayan football, and David Winner in English, both suggesting that progress is stymied by the constant harking back to a mythical golden age. ‘We were always criticised because people compared us to Puskás’s team,’ Nyilasi said. ‘But people would love to go back to that time now.’