Last update 23 December, 2023 by Alberto Llopis
The Curse of Bela Guttmann it's to be taken seriously. if you are superstitious, you will fully understand the following article. otherwise you are, maybe you will after reading it. The protagonist of this story, He swore today, still continues.
Who was Bela Guttmann?
bela guttmann was a successful Hungarian-born coach Budapest in 1900. He played professional football between 1919 y 1932 getting to participate in the Olympics of 1924 representing the Hungarian national team. In a time when professional football was still in its infancy, He had a modest career as a footballer, nothing to do with what later would coach.
He developed an extensive career as a technician throughout the planet. Between 1933 y 1974, He directed in Hungary, Rumania, Italia, Brazil, Argentina, Cyprus, Uruguay, Greece, Austria and Switzerland among many sites but it was in Portugal where it reached glory, more specifically addressing one of the greats of Portuguese football, he Benfica, after passing through Porto with whom he also won a Portuguese league.
In the Lisbon team, had in its ranks one of the best players in the history of this sport and with whom he was one of the best players in the history of Portugal With Cristiano Ronaldo, Figo y Futre. We speak as Eusebio, the “Black Panther” sadly disappeared in early 2014.
With Benfica, He managed to win two European Cups of the season. The first, the famous Berne final that ended with the square posts won against Barcelona in 1961 and the next year 1962, in which they beat Real Madrid. Precisely, after winning that championship, in the early summer 60, came the controversy that gave rise to the famous curse of Bela Guttmann.
Perhaps uploaded success, the coach threw a directive órdago the Lisbon team. He asked for a pay rise that ended a tense controversy and a bitter argument. This, It led to the dismissal of coach who had managed to bring Benfica to the top of European football.
The famous curse of Bela Guttmann
The coach, indignant and outraged let the words more than half a century after the company still tormented Lisbon. “Without me, Benfica will not win a European Cup in 100 years or more“. The truth is that the thing could not go more seriously after those words 1962 that many of them sounded derisively.
Benfica have played eight European finals since 1962 and he has lost eight. Five of the old European Cup (1963,65,68,88 y 90) and two UEFA / Europa League (1983, 2013 y 2014). To make matters worse for , the final against Sevilla on penalties without losing a game in the tournament, the penultimate in the last minute and in the most painful way. The thing is taken so seriously by Portuguese lands that they say that the mythical Eusebio He went on more than one occasion to visit the grave of his coach to ask for his forgiveness. The worst thing is that at the moment they are already 8 finals in European competition lost in a row and there is still a long way to go to fulfill those 100 years.