Still, the proselytizing managed to convince Ben Guttmann, chief executive of the education start-up Digital Natives Group.

WSJ: Long Island City: Tech Boom Taps Queens

"I never minded if the opposition scored, because I always thought we could score another, " Guttmann once said.

CNN: Benfica and 'the curse of Bela Guttmann'

"Being able to go out for lunch with the best view in the city was a big selling point, " Mr. Guttmann said.

WSJ: Long Island City: Tech Boom Taps Queens

The unit was founded in 1944 by neurologist Professor Sir Ludwig Guttmann to treat servicemen who had sustained spinal cord injuries in World War II.

BBC: Sir Jimmy Savile

At Benfica, it was the arrival of Eusebio which allowed Guttmann to play Mario Coluna in a deeper position and unleash one of the most attacking teams of the era.

CNN: Benfica and 'the curse of Bela Guttmann'

"We realized Queens is very affordable, " Mr. Guttmann said.

WSJ: Long Island City: Tech Boom Taps Queens

Real signed one of the greatest players to have ever stepped onto a football field in the shape of Hungary's Ferenc Puskas in 1958 and saw off all comers until a Bela Guttmann-inspired Benfica broke the stranglehold in 1961.

CNN: February 12, 2013 -- Updated 1220 GMT (2020 HKT)

Although the first Paralympics were held in Rome in 1960, they were inspired by the Stoke Mandeville Games - a sports contest for British World War II veterans with spinal cord injuries that was organised by Dr Ludwig Guttmann of Stoke Mandeville Hospital in 1948.

BBC: London 2012: Paralympic ticket sellout goal