His name is Bela Guttmann, Hungarian Jew, he was referred to as an enigma, an outstanding football coach who did the unexpected during his spell in Europe, especially Benfica! He was the man who gave life to Portuguese football, he discovered Eusebio (black pearl) and gave life to the 4-2-4 formation with aggressive attacking football! Meet the mysterious, eccentric one, Bela Guttmann: The Magic, Madness, Myth and the Mystery behind this GENIUS!


Benfica are on their way to win the league, which is nothing out of the ordinary given the duopoly in Liga Sagres. They lost out to Chelsea F.C in the final of the Europa League and that is something which have a connection to the man, Bela Guttmann. Co-incidentally, the last time they reached the final that was being being held in Amsterdam was the European Cup Final against the majestic Real Madrid in 1962. However we are still 3 years ahead to where it all began.

Bela Guttmann

In 1959, an erratic and often described as "irritating and irritated" man was appointed as the head coach of Porto. This man wasn't a stranger in the football world, as a matter of fact, 5 years prior to his appointment he was managing A.C Milan. After finishing 3rd in the table in his first season at the Italian club, he led them at the top of the table for 19 games in his 2nd season and well on course to winning the Serie A. However with increasing differences with the Milan Board, he was sacked midway through the season. That was the point where his fan dome rose, and it wasn't done because of his amazing football brains, but because of his final press conference where he infamously left after saying "I have been sacked even though I am neither a criminal nor a homosexual. Goodbye." This man was known as Bela Guttmann. Fast forward 5 years, he was appointed by FC Porto where in his first season, he overhauled Benfica's 5 points lead and won Porto the Primeira Liga. Benfica so impressed with the man, they appointed him for themselves at the end of the season. Hence starting the glorious period of Benfica's history.

At the start of his first season at Benfica, Bella was offered a huge amount of transfer money to do whatever he wanted. Instead, he rejected the offer and instead decided to only bring in 2 players while sacking 22 players from the squad that he inherited. Yes, 22 players. His aim was to successfully utilise the youth system of Benfica and use the players within the club to do what he wanted. As a man who strongly agreed with the philosophy of the great Hungarian Football Team of the 1950s, Guttmann was perhaps one of the last managers around that era along with Miguel Muñoz who believed in an attacking philosophy of such an extent where defending was secondary. This style was eventually taken over by the Italian catenaccio but while it was there, Guttman created a legacy out of it.

European Dominance

Deploying an attacking 4-2-4 formation with Jose Aguas, Domiciano Cavém and Mario Columa leading the attack, Benfica shocked the football world in 1961 by becoming the first ever side other than Real Madrid to win the European Cup. They faced a Barcelona side managed by Enrique Orizaola that contained the legends such as Luis Suárez and Ladislao Kubala. Benfica clinched the European Cup after beating Barcelona 3-2.

However it was their 2nd European title which they won consecutively that marked the side as one of the greatest of all time. Guttmann was happy with the Benfica side he built in his 1st season, but still wanted to improve and hence he bought in two players who were perhaps the key in winning the final of that year's European Cup. The first one, Antonio Simoes who is perhaps not well known. But the second was a certain 18 year old Eusebio who now is probably rated as one of the greatest of all time. A player Benfica fans still thank the late Guttmann for acquiring.

Benfica started their European Campaign strongly, beating Austria Wien with an aggregate of 6-2 in the first round. The same round where Real Madrid won 12-0 against Boldklubben 1913 And juventus 7-1 against FK Partizan. The quarter finals was a different story despite the same outcome. Benfica suffered a 3-1 defeat by the German Champions FC Nuremberg under the management of Herbert Widmayer. Most thought that was the end of their European campaign however Benfica had other ideas. After scoring within the 60 seconds of the 2nd leg, Benfica ended up winning that match 6-0 where the 18 year old Eusebio gave a man of the match performance. In the Semi Finals, Benfica were paired against the English Champions, Tottenham Hotspurs who were also known for their attacking style and perhaps a great match for Benfica. The first leg was won by Benfica by 3-1, the second leg was dominated by tottenham but Benfica did just enough to hold down tottenham who ended up winning 2-1 but losing the tie with an aggregate of 4-3. And Benfica reached the final. They were going to face the great Real Madrid.

The Final

The 1962 European Cup Final is remembered as one of the most entertaining matches of that era. Two teams sharing the same attacking philosophy went head to head trying to out do each other. Real Madrid were the power house of that era and favourites in that final more so because of containing names such as Di Stefano, Puskas, Luis del Sol, Franciso Gento and Jose Santamaria. Benfica struggled in the first half and despite scoring 2 goals, they went down 3-2 at HT after a first half Puskas Hattrick all assisted by Di Stefano who was unplayable. Second half was a completely different matter and as Joshua Askew describes "Alfredo Di Stefano pulled deep to feed Ferenc Puskas, giving them a lead at half-time, but some reshuffling from Guttmann meant Domiciano Cavem was able to mark Di Stefano out of the game, cutting off Puskas’ supply to allow Benfica to win 5-3. " Eusebio, later to be nicknamed 'The black Pearl' won Benfica the match after scoring twice late on, and gave a performance that made Di Stefano personally congratulate him at FT, however Guttmann in that half time shuffle proved that he wasn't one dimensional. Eusebio may have gotten the plaudits, but he was the one who stopped the great Di Stefano.

The Legacy and the Curse.

Most people thought that win against Madrid would spur a Portugese era of Benfica dominance, however it wasn't the case. Benfica did set out to dominate the rest of the decade and further within Portugal as they won 13 league titles out of a possible 14 after that year. But they couldn't replicate the Madrid dominance in Europe as they didn't win a European title ever again. And the reason for that, as many believe was because of the sacking of Bela Guttmann. Guttmann after winning the EC demanded a massive bonus from the Benfica board since he thought he deserved it. The Benfica board refused and Guttmann quit. And just like the milan conference, he left with yet another quote that is remembered to this day in Lisbon. “Without me, not even in one hundred years will Benfica be European Champion again.”

Many don't believe in curses and certainly no one gave a second thought to Guttmann's words, specially when they reached the final of the European Cup for the 3rd time in a row in 1962-63 season. However the Guttmann's words did come back to haunt them when Benfica were destroyed by Nereo Roco's Milan in that year's final. Benfica made the final of the European Cup again, but similarly got beaten by Helenio Herrera’s Internazionale this time. Guttmann's words were remembered again. Three years later, Benfica made it to the European Cup final for the 5th time in their History, and just like the last two time, they failed to win. After losing 4-1 to Manchester United. Making it 3 defeats out of 3 since Guttmann left.

However many do believe that it wasn't really Guttmann who was the problem, but the fact that football was revolutionised in a quick succession. Most managers who took over Benfica after Guttmann implemented the exact same tactics as the great Hungarian, and that was the problem. The Italian catenaccio had taken over in Europe and the philosophy Guttmann implemented was obsolete. It was useless against Milan and it was useless against Inter. Against united they lost the players they had and United were simply a superior side. Although the question is up there for anyone, what would have happened had Guttmann stayed at Benfica. Could he have countered Milan and then inter ? Or was the curse really real ?

Finally, Benfica made the European Final for the 6th time in 1990. By that time, Guttmann had died with his 'curse' still intact. Eusebio infamously prayed at his grave for it to be lifted. But Benfica lost that final 1-0 to Arrigo Sacchi. Leaving Benfica with no European title yet again.

http://www.goallegacy.net/t30131-the-great-benfica-and-the-legacy-of-bela-guttmann

Nice one.

Andre Uweh: Nice one.

Hey Andre, you've been quiet for a while, perhaps you just decided to quit the politics section! How are your folks pal? I hope you are doing great, take care Andre and thanks for your response!