Of course, it was the football club itself that was given the best opportunity. After getting into the Main Round and playing six matches in the Champions League, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) will transfer 9.2 million Euros to the club's bank account. This sum will be increased by a further eight hundred thousand Euros after every match won and by four hundred thousand for a draw.

The reward of success

In addition to these financial boosts, the club's revenue will be further increased by ticket sales from domestic matches. From this point of view, the result of the draw held on 27 August is ambiguous. Of  Debrecen's (DVSC, or under its nickname Loki) opposing teams Liverpool is the true star team, in which case the objective could be to maximise ticket revenues, and while Loki could stand a better chance against Lyon or Fiorentina than for example against Real Madrid or Internazionale, ticket prices would have to be somewhat more modest. If, in the future, the team can fill the Ferenc Puskás Stadium with "well-priced" tickets, this would constitute a surplus of some half a billion Forints for the company that manages the team.

The team has a realistic chance of acquiring a direct income of approximately 3.5 billion Forints while being a member of the CL. The team could also acquire an additionally significant amount - although not on such a large scale - if it could fight its way to third place in its group, as this would entitle it to additionally participate in the Europa League. Participating in the European top league would entail direct economic effects: the number of Debrecen spectators for Hungarian finals would increase; media interest would be significant, which would also mean a bigger share of Hungarian television royalties; furthermore demand for sponsorship would be more vigorous.

Scarcely had the Debrecen team achieved its resounding success when speculation began on what the club's management would spend its surplus revenue on, which amounts to 7-8 times its annual budget (3-4 times according to other estimates). Although this amount is largely measured against anything else in the Hungarian sports entertainment industry, 3-4 billion more Forints will not change international football power relations. The two alternatives for the club are expanding operational costs ("running through" the money) and investing in future development.

There will be additional costs incurred by being in the CL: the club has signed and will sign players, whose right to play and wage costs constitute extra expenses. (Loki recently signed Zoltán Szélesi, who used to play for Cottbus and Strasbourg, Róbert Feczesin from Brescia, Zsolt Laczkó from Vasas and the Swiss-Macedonian Mirsad Mijadinoski from Sion. It can be assumed that the remuneration and incentive budgets will also increase. At the same time, it would be reckless indeed to start throwing money around now - and in any case the owners of DVSC have taken a stand against doing so.

Improving infrastructure has been cited as a development opportunity, but a few billion is far from enough to construct a long desired and promised new football arena in the capital; it is not too much of an exaggeration to say that it would be just enough to give the new stadium a lick of paint. (It is true; however, that Viktor Orbán has struck a chord in promising that if he can form a Fidesz government, a modern football stadium will be built in Debrecen.)

Guaranteed places

A more promising strategy would be invested in human resources. Even if not of the standard of Cristiano Ronaldo, players listed in international football and/or young talents would consolidate the club and allow it to win, for the first time in many years, the first place in the Hungarian National Championship's 1^st Division (NB I), and thus acquire the automatic right for the qualifying round of the CL. Moreover, better players could increase the chance of getting into the main round, and thus regularly receive European football funds. Another kind of human development is investment in educating the next generation, which could increase revenue originating from the sale of signing players, a promising spin-off from this would be the long term benefits for DVSC, which  could include achieving good results more cheaply with the players it has nurtured itself. (A good example for both types of development is Balázs Dzsudzsák, a former player for Debrecen, who is now a star player for PSV Eindhoven.)

In the weeks that have passed since the victory in Sofia, Debrecen has been in the limelight and this attention was increased yet further after tv2 broadcasted the return match. In any case, the channel owes a great deal to Loki; it is fair to say that the team saved the production, since the audience figures for the very expensive CL debut match (Celtic-Arsenal) were projected to be an ignominious disaster. Moreover, Budapest cannot complain - lacking a proper stadium, Loki will play its third qualifying round and its domestic main round matches in Budapest.Therfore it could bring revenue to the capital through the tourism and entertainment sector.

Debrecen's success means a lot for all Hungarian football. The playing strength of the teams in NB I is relatively balanced, with six to eight teams being realistic rivals of Debrecen, thus the lights, splendour and success of the Champions League has now become a realisable objective for these teams. This could justify continued efforts and significantly increased motivation for players and football professionals alike and could rationalise the investment decisions made by the owners. If events turn out like this, it will increase the stake of the matches, their standard and the incalculableness of the results, which could bring about an increase in local spectators, television viewers and could also draw more serious funds from sponsors into the football industry. Such increasing opportunities could further improve the general situation and the quality of the game: the long-awaited upswing could at last begin.

The mini Hungarian football craze of the last few days might well bring back young people to the football field and encourage them to feel that it is "worth taking football seriously". Debrecen's success is especially important for the football academies that have been developed in recent years and the centres for nurturing the upcoming generation. Now it's not just Steven Gerrard or Fernando Torres who can serve as a personal example for the boys, but also those in the line-up against them, e.g. Máté, Leandro, Ramos, Dudu, Varga and Rudolf Gergely. Now the owners of the training centres can start believing that the cost-benefit accounts could be closed with a positive balance.

It's no miracle

An increasing success in football always brings along with it a general interest in sport. This exemplifies that in the entertainment industry it is not public funds that moves things: it's rather a matter of private investment, entertainment, fees and ticket sales. Anything else is called amateur sport financed by sportsmen and sportswomen.

Was this a Debrecen miracle? Probably not. What provides a model for others in the success of DVSC? - the local government has a 25-percent-plus-one-vote ownership share in the company that manages the club, which is not decidedly in harmony with EU guidelines for sport and European best practice. At the same time the principles followed in city management can be seen in the work carried out in the club - so it would appear that the mayor, Lajos Kósa, and the main owner, Gábor Szima, have developed a viable team. For those who worry about Loki's money, the balanced operation of the last few years could serve as a guarantee that the money will not be squandered.

DVSC definitely owes its success to the restructuring in the CL. As opposed to the practice in earlier years, the smaller teams have now decided among themselves which one will make it to the main round without having to struggle with giants such as Arsenal.

Although it has no direct connection with Loki making it to the main round of the CL, success did not come from nowhere. Despite a degree of floundering over the last ten years, a modern Hungarian football is gradually being built. The key to this was the Orbán government's sports policy and the prime minister's personal devotion to football. During this period it was not a popular move to launch reconstruction projects (the Orth-, stadium reconstruction and Bozsik programmes), when football was largely reviled by the public. After the election of 2002, private initiative replaced the place of the state, which gradually shifted into the background. The money invested in children's football by OTP and Mol and the series of football academies organised on the western model (Agárd, Győr, Felcsút, Kispest, Szombathely), and businessmen such as Gábor Várszegi, Gábor Szima, Csaba Tarsoly, George F. Hemingway, Sándor Tolnai, Kevin McCabe, and István Garancsi all stabilised the financial backgrounds of the main teams.

Debrecen's success has given us an opportunity and now our national team also has a realistic chance of earning the right to participate in the world championship in South Africa, which is the stake of the matches to be played in the coming days and weeks.

Matchs to be played by Loki in Group E

• (Domestic matches are organised in the in Puskás Ferenc stadium in Budapest)
• 16 September, Wednesday: FC Liverpool-Debrecen, Olympique Lyon-Fiorentina
• 29 September, Tuesday: Fiorentina-FC Liverpool, Debrecen-Olympique Lyon
• 20 October, Tuesday: Debrecen-Fiorentina, FC Liverpool-Olympique Lyon
• 4 November, Wednesday: Fiorentina-Debrecen, Olympique Lyon-FC Liverpool
• 24 November, Tuesday: Debrecen-FC Liverpool, Fiorentina-Olympique Lyon
• 9 December, Wednesday: FC Liverpool-Fiorentina, Olympique Lyon-Debrecen

The eight groups of the main round (out of each group the two best teams make it into the next round)

• Group A: Bayern München, Juventus, Bordeaux, Maccabi Haifa
• Group B: Manchester United, CSKA Moskva, Besiktas, Wolfsburg
• Group C: Milan, Real Madrid, Marseille, Zürich
• Group D: Chelsea, Porto, Atletico Madrid, APOEL
• Group E: Liverpool, Lyon, Fiorentina, Debrecen
• Group F: Barcelona, Inter, Dynamo Kyiv, Rubin Kazan
• Group G: Sevilla, Glasgow Rangers, Stuttgart, Unirea Urziceni
• Group H: Arsenal, Alkmaar, Olimpiacos, Standard Liege

Ticket prices

The matches played against Olympique Lyonnais on 29 September and against Fiorentina on 20 October, can be seen for the same price in the Puskás Stadium: the cheapest ticket costs 1,500 Forints and the most expensive 5,500 Forints. The tickets for the match against Liverpool on 24 November cost more with the cheapest at 2,500 Forints and the most expensive at 7,500 Forints. Football fans who buy tickets for all three Loki matches, and who also buy an entrance ticket to the Sweden vs Portugal match (from 4,000 to 20,000 Forints) will be spending at least 13,500 Forints. Those willing to pay the most expensive entrance fees will have to shell out 58,500 Forints for their football tickets.

Bodnár's future is in doubt

László Bodnár, who was recently signed by DVSC as a midfielder, ran over and killed a cyclist in Nyírbátor who was wearing an illuminated jacket. Citing a guilty conscience, the football player declined to take part in the qualifying matches of the world championship due to be held on Saturday and next Wednesday. It is doubtful that the player, against whom criminal proceedings have been instigated, will be playing in DVSC's matches in autumn.