This World Cup's been great but the losing finalist in 2018 won't be remembered as the greatest team never to win the tournament.
There have been a few that fit that category and a couple of years ago I was lucky enough to chat to Johan Neeskens on Team 33 about his role in that sublime Netherlands side of 1974 that fell short to West Germany in the final.
But they were only a successor to the world's original Total Footballers: Hungary 1954.
This week on Team 33, I was joined by Rogan Taylor, Director of the Football Industry Group at University of Liverpool and author of Puskas on Puskas: The Life and Times of a Footballing Legend.
Taylor has first hand memories of how Hungary dazzled at Wembley, breaking the myth of English dominance in a historic 6-3 victory before repeating it even more emphatically by a 7-1 score-line against the Three Lions.
"Who did you think Ajax were imitating," said Rogan of the relationship between Hungary '54 and the Dutch team that followed 20 years later.
"What [the Dutch] called Total Football was their version of this free-flowing [football]. I mean, there was only one position in the Hungarian team and that was the No 9 Hideguti.
"Everyone else twirled around him. They called it the whirlpool. In my 65 years of watching football, I've only seen five epoch-making football teams.
Interview this week on @teamthirtythree @NewstalkFM is with Rogan Taylor on Hungary's Magical Magyars of 1954 and Ferenc Puskas AKA #WorldCup nostalgia
The greatest team to never win the World Cup? pic.twitter.com/kyxMGIpeov
— Raf Diallo (@Raftastico) July 3, 2018
"The first was Hungary of course or [club side] Kispest Honved. The second was of course Ajax. The third was that wonderful Italian team of the late '80s, AC Milan, and of course the fourth was Barcelona.
"These guys set the geography for football for the decade following. It's revolutionary and that's what the Hungarians did for the first time."
Taylor also talked about star man Ferenc Puskas and his own feelings as the Hungarian team rose like Icarus before falling short against West Germany 1954 and then being ripped to shreds by the events of the Hungarian revolution in 1956 which brought an abrupt end to the greatest team never to win the World Cup.
You can listen to the full interview with Rogan Taylor on the podcast player below or on iTunes:
And our in-studio panel went Goggle Box for the England game as we chatted about the latest from the World Cup so far while trying to watch the game against Colombia - that's until Colombia defender Yerri Mina ruined our seamless ending by scoring:
Recent interviews on Team 33 include former Man United cult hero Andrei Kanchelskis, ex-England international Carlton Palmer, former Newcastle and Everton left back Alessandro Pistone, Chelsea legends Bobby Tambling and Paddy Mulligan, Dutch legend Johan Neeskens, ex-England striker Darius Vassell, Liverpool legend David Fairclough, former Ireland midfielder Mark Kinsella, USA captain Eric Lichaj and former Everton forward Tomasz Radzinski. Plus our in-depth chats with Tony Coton, Packie Bonner, Nobby Solano, Ron Atkinson and Alan Curbishley are still available on iTunes. You can find them all in one place by subscribing to Team 33 on iTunes.
