Marton Bukovi showed his courage in wartime Zagreb but the Hungarian also rethought football tactics. Today’s coaches should use their layoff constructively
“What did you do in the war, Mr Bukovi?” “I invented the false 9. What did you do?”
That wasn’t all Marton Bukovi did during the second world war. The Hungarian coach – quite possibly the greatest tactical mind football has known – found himself in Zagreb, coaching Gradjanski, when the conflict began. When the Ustashe seized power and began enacting antisemitic legislation, his position became insecure, given he was the son of a Jewish father and a Catholic mother. He, in as much as religion bothered him at all, seems to have identified as Christian, and there is a cross on his gravestone in the Rakoskeresztur cemetery in Budapest, but his wife, Aranka Klein, was Jewish and at least one of his sisters was a practising Jew.
Written by Jonathan Wilson
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2020/mar/21/footballs-rare-pause-for-thought-gives-coaches-time-for-inspiration under the title “
“. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
