The match that changed football

"Hungary were the Olympic champions but we thought England were unbeatable," he recalled. "But within a few moments of the kick-off we were a goal down and I was looking at a style of play I'd never seen before. Our game was static but theirs was about passing and movement.

"In our game at the time everyone stayed in their positions. The fullbacks never went beyond the midfield players and they rarely went beyond the forwards. Hungary had a brilliant centre-forward called Nandor Hidegkuti who attacked from a deep position. Our centre-half didn't know who to mark.

"Later, Don Revie copied him and helped turn Manchester City into a very good team. The Hungarians showed us that the centre-forward didn't have to be a battering ram. They played with far more imagination-than us. We had good individuals like Stanley Matthews and Tom Finney but, as team, we didn't play with imagination. It was a traumatic experience but, ultimately, it was the start of a new dawn for the English game. Back in 1966, after we'd won the World Cup, a lot of people believed that our success took root in the years immediately after the Hungarian defeat."

Sexton remembers going to Wembley that day with two other players who were to become outstanding coaches - - Malcolm Allison and Jimmy Andrews. "The Hungarians warmed up at the back of the stadium," recalled Sexton. "Jimmy pointed out a fat little chap and said: 'We're going to murder this lot.'"

The 'fat little chap' turned out to be Ferenc Puskas, one of the all-time great names of European football. A portly, relaxed figure, he was the orchestrator of their triumph. He played for Honved at the time and later moved to Real Madrid, scoring four in the classic 7-3 European Cup Final win over Eintracht Frankfurt at Hampden in 1960. Ramsey, England's World Cup-winning manager in 1966, faced Puskas that day and other future England managers were in the crowd. These included Revie, Ron Greenwood and Sir Bobby Robson. "For too long English football had drifted along in a complacent daze," recalled Robson.

"That defeat revolutionised the English game. The Hungarians played a system we hadn't seen before - 4-2-4. Their centre-forward played in a deep position about 30 yards away from England's centrehalf. But the most impressive feature was their team work and watching them rip England apart had a profound effect on me. I started taking a greater interest in coaching."

Hungary played a short passing game and demonstrated precise ball control. Their speed, imagination and variety of attacking options prompted Finney to say afterwards: "I came away wondering what we'd been doing for all those years." The Hungarians were free agents and forerunners of the modern game. In 1981, nearly 30 years after their historic victory, I saw Puskas play in an exhibition match in Budapest's Nep Stadium before a World Cup tie against England. He was fat and old but he still scored a hat-trick!

Inquests, investigations and demands for reform followed the historic Wembley defeat - a clamour which grew in intensity when, six months later, the Hungarians did it again, beating England 7-1 in Budapest as they prepared for their march to the 1954 World Cup Final.

As Eriksson knows only too well, England are no longer invincible at home. He has experienced three home defeats, against Holland, Italy and Australia.

Eriksson's own nation, Sweden, won 3-2 at Wembley in 1959 and this weekend's opponents, Denmark, produced one of the great shocks of Bobby Robson's tenure, winning a European qualifying tie 1-0 at Wembley in 1983.