Laszlo Kubala
Serenity in a Time of Chaos
Kubala was born to a Slovak-Polish-Hungarian mother and a Slovak father on the 10th June 1927 in Budapest, Hungary. The young Kubala, or ‘Kuksi’, lived a happy childhood, sheltered from the tempestuous pre-war years. He had football in his blood, and his father who was a bricklayer by profession, had also played in his day. His mother, a factory worker, made her son cardboard and paper balls with which to play – his neighbourhood referred to him as “the boy with the ball”.
In January 1949, as Hungary became a socialist state, Kubala fled the country in the back of a truck. Initially he arrived in the United States zone of Allied-occupied Austria and then moved on to Italy. While he played briefly for Pro Patria. In May 1949 he also agreed to play for Torino in a testimonial against S.L. Benfica but pulled out after his son became ill. On the way back from Lisbon the plane carrying the Torino team crashed into the Superga hills, killing all 31 people on board.
Meanwhile the Hungarian Football Federation accused him of breach of contract, leaving the country without permission and failure to do military service. FIFA backed them and imposed a one-year international ban. In January 1950 Kubala, with Ferdinand Daučík as coach, formed his own team
Hungaria. The team was made up of fellow refugees fleeing Eastern Europe. In the summer of 1950 the team arrived in Spain to play a series of friendlies against a Madrid XI, a Spain XI and RCD Espanyol.
During these games, Kubala was spotted by both Real Madrid and Josep Samitier, then chief scout at FC Barcelona. Kubala was offered a contract by Real but was persuaded by Samitier to sign for FC Barcelona. It has been suggested that Samitier used his connections within the government of Franco to help arrange the transfer. In the midst of the Cold War, Kubala's escape to the West was used as propaganda by Franco's government and was made into a successful film
The Stars Search for Peace which saw Kubala and Samitier playing themselves
A Tipsy Trip
Events surrounding Kubala’s signing are intriguing. It is believed that in 1950, while on a train with Kubala, Samitier deceived the intoxicated player into believing that he was heading for Madrid, when instead, he was Barcelona-bound! By the time Kubala reached his destination, he was sober and ready to negotiate. Whilst flashing Real Madrid’s drafted contract, he enticed Barcelona to match it. Barça exceeded his expectations – not only did they make him the highest-earning player in the club’s history, but Daučík would be coach. Some thought of the signing as trickery; others felt it was nifty business.
A Charming Mastermind
Kubala signed with Barcelona on June 15th 1950, but could not play until his FIFA ban was lifted the following year. In the interim, though, he was able to partake in friendlies.
Kubala, in his role as a modern attacking midfield playmaker, introduced innovative football techniques, fuelled with his enthralling tricks, defence-ripping through-balls and toxic shots. He was also one of the greatest free-kick specialists around. In
Barca: A People’s Passion (reissued) by Jimmy Burns (Bloomsbury, 2009), Burns described the playmaker as someone who “brought a combination of skills that the club had until then rarely seen. He was quick on and off the ball, demonstrated extraordinary control when dribbling, showed an unrivalled vision and was always accurate in shooting and deadfalls.” Above all this, “it was around Kubala’s charisma and footballing skills that Barça overcame its post-war loss of confidence and shattered organisation, developing one of its strongest and most successful teams.”
Kubala’s arrival at Barça saw the historic event of the so-called ‘Equipo de las Cinco Copas’ (‘Team of the Five Cups’), during which 5 trophies were acquired in the ’51-’52 season: Spanish League, Copa del Generalísimo, Copa Eva Duarte, Latin Cup and the Copa Martini Rossi. That season saw him net 26 goals in 19 games, which included 7 goals against Sporting de Gijón in a 9-0 victory, 5 against Celta de Vigo, and 2 hat-tricks!
Enter…‘Kubalamania’!
Kubala was absent for most of the 1952-’53 season after falling prey to tuberculosis, which threatened his playing career. However, after an extraordinary recovery, he returned to the Blaugrana team, assisting with their continuous charge for silverware.
During this period of immense success, the Barcelona grounds of Les Corts, which had an eventual capacity of 60,000 spectators, could no longer satisfy the demands of ‘Kubalamania’. As fans poured into the stadium, Barça was outgrowing it. The Hungarian’s arrival was deemed to be the motivating factor behind the Camp Nou coming into existence. After 3 years in the making, the Camp Nou was inaugurated on the 24th September 1957, with an initial capacity of 80,000 spectators. As Kubala’s allure thrived, so too did Barça’s supremacy.
Wrestling with Power Trips
By the time the Argentine coach, Helenio Herrera, was appointed as Barcelona’s manager in 1958, Kubala was king of Barcelona. When it came to his players, Herrera was known to implement stringent disciplinary rules, like drinking and smoking were forbidden and their diets were controlled. While at Inter, he once even suspended a player for saying to the media: “we came to play in Rome” instead of: “we came to
win in Rome”!
Kubala, having lost favour with his coach, was soon dropped to the bench. As you can imagine, this player-coach conflict caused much pandemonium among the fans, with many a newspaper headline describing this as ‘the Angelillo problem’. (Angelillo was one of Herrera’s ex-players who experienced similar conflicts with him.)
Case in point, upon the team’s return after a European trip, as Kubala was asked by a customs official where the two bottles of whiskey were, which he himself had declared, Kubala just pointed to his stomach saying, “Do you want to take an X-ray?” An authoritarian like Herrera was never going to put up with such behaviour. Once, after an alleged quarrel between them, the Hungarian was punished by being dropped for the crucial 1960 European Cup semi-finals against Real Madrid. Barça lost 6-2 on aggregate, and the outcome…Herrera was sent packing.
Back in Full Swing!
With Kubala re-instated in the team, Barça managed to retain both the Fairs Cup and their league title. The Blaugrana also became the first team to knock Real Madrid out of the European Cup competition in 1961. A competition which Los Blancos had dominated in a run of 5 consecutive trophies! Barça did end up losing the final to Benfica in a cracking match which ended 3-2. This was to mark Kubala’s farewell from the club.
The Hungarian’s decade at the club (1951-’61), in which he played 329 games and scored 256 goals, resulted in: 4 league titles; 5 Copa del Generalísimo, 2 Inter-Cities Fairs Cups; 2 Copa Eva Duarte; and a Latin Cup. And the cherry on the cake…a tally of 14 hat-tricks!
In August of ’61, Kubala was honoured with a testimonial match against Stade de Reims. Real Madrid legends, Di Stéfano and Puskás, made heart-warming gestures by wearing the Blaugrana shirt in their friend’s honour. The resulting 4-2 win was a wonderful way of crowning his epoch at the club.
When Kubala had received his first cap to the Spanish national team in 1953, he had become the first player to have officially played for 3 different national teams: Hungary, Czechoslovakia and, later, Spain, as well as a Europe XI and the Catalan XI. After 8 years with La Roja, he had accumulated 19 caps and scored 11 goals. Kubala was regrettably denied the opportunity of exhibiting his immaculate skills on the biggest stage of all – high-profile international tournaments.
An Immortal Memory
After a long-term illness, Kubala died on the 17th May 2002 at the age of 74. As a tribute, a bronze sculpture created by Montserrat García was placed outside the Camp Nou’s entrance in 2009. Garcia had said, “I don’t want people just to look at this and say: ‘That’s a statue of a footballer.’ I want them to look at it and say: ‘That’s Kubala.’”
At the 10th anniversary of Kubala’s passing, a floral offering was made by FC Barcelona at Kubala’s statue. Club President, Rosell highlighted the significant motives as to why the Hungarian is affectionately remembered: “the Camp Nou – it was him who made the Les Corts too small for all our fans – his generosity and the universal admiration he inspired”. “Everyone spoke well of him – he was a Barça legend and thanks to him Barça took a gigantic step forward. We will come together to remember him whenever we can because it’s down to people like him that this is one of the most important clubs in the world”.
He was voted as the best Barça player of all-time by the fans in the club’s centenary year in 1999.