Hungarians Still Kickin’ It

In my leadership events, I often reference the Hungarian Golden Team of the 1950’s, regarded as the finest national side in the history of European football (for example by a BBC study last year). That team’s ability to shape the future of the sport has very relevant lessons for today’s business leaders.  And here are two gems to add to this topic, one from the past and from the present:

The leading Spanish football magazine, Marca, recently published its ranking of the all-time top goal scorers in the history of club football around the world.  And guess what? The top three players are all Hungarian.  That is a complete sweep! Current dynamos, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have yet to crack the top ten, and sit at no. 12 and no. 16 respectively. Now if only Hungarian football today could re-capture its past glory.

But here is at least a sign of current Hungarian ingenuity related to football, taking advantage of the Innovation Shortcut (combining existing components in new ways). It’s called teqball! The combination of football and table tennis, teqball is starting to generate a global following, including from current and past stars of the beautiful game.

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