Greatest Comeback: From Genocide to Football Glory - David Bolchover

Descriere

Before Pep Guardiola and before Jose Mourinho, there was Bela Guttmann: the first superstar football coach, and the man who paved the way for the celebrated coaches of the modern age. n n He n was also a Holocaust survivor. In 1944, much of Europe had wanted Guttmann n dead. He hid for months in an attic near Budapest as thousands of fellow Jews n in the neighbourhood were dragged off to be murdered. Later, he escaped from a n slave labour camp before a planned deportation and almost certain death. His n father, sister and wider family were murdered. n n But n by 1961, as coach of Benfica, he had lifted Europe's greatest sporting prize, n the European Cup, a feat he repeated the following year. n n This n biography spans two contrasting visions of Europe: one of barbarism and n genocide, and one of beauty, wonder and romance, of balmy evenings in n magnificent cities, where great players would stretch every sinew in a bid to n win football's holy grail. With dark forces rising once again in that n continent, the story of Bela Guttmann's life asks the question: which vision n will triumph in our times? n