The More Things Change . . .

Soccertimes.com has an interesting article about the 1954 World Cup final between Hungary and West Germany. At the time, the Hungarians were the major power and the Germans were a struggling soccer nation. The Germans won the final 3-2 in a huge upset that changed the course of each nation's soccer program. The West Germans went on to be a major world power for years to come (are they still? It's debatable), while the Hungarians slid into obscurity, assisted by the Soviet crackdown of 1956. Does all this have any bearing on the future of the Greek national team? Their Euro 04 win over Portugal was an upset, although not of such monumental proportions, and it was their first major championship (only their third Euro or World Cup finals appearance, I think). Is their star on the rise?

On a related note, check out the scores of the games in the 1954 World Cup. The 3-2 final was a veritable pitchers duel in comparison to the others!