HUNGARY (SPAIN) | HONVED | REAL MADRID
Ferenc (Franz) Puskás is often regarded as football’s first global superstar. He was a prolific forward who won everything there was to win with Real Madrid and represented both Hungary and Spain at international level.
1949 | 1950 | 1952 | 1954 | 1955 | 1961 | 1962 | 1963 | 1964 | 1965
1959, 1960, 1966
SILVER AWARD 1960
RUNNER UP 1954
Ferenc Purczeld was born on 1 April 1927, in Budapest. Brought up in Kispest, he was the son of Ferenc Puskás Senior – a football coach, and Margit Biró, a seamstress. He is now better known as Puskás, the family name was changed in 1937 when young Ferenc was 10-years-old.
His first taste of serious football came when he joined Kispest AC where his father was the coach. Because he was too young to play officially, his father gave him the pseudonym “Miklós Kovács” to bypass the minimum age rule of 12. Here he shot to prominence, making his debut in 1943.
The following year (1944) the club was renamed to Budapest Honvéd after a takeover by the Ministry Of Defence. That made it the football club of the Hungarian Army and as such all players were given ranks. Puskás was given the rank of Major. That led to his nickname – The Galloping Major.
Honvéd became Hungary’s leading football team and in 1948 Puskás was Europe’s top goalscorer with 50 goals.
The club won the Hungarian League in 1949–50, 1950, 1952, 1954, and 1955.
Budapest Honvéd entered the European Cup in 1956 and were drawn against Atlético Bilbao in the first round. They lost the away leg 2-3 but before the home leg could be played, the Hungarian Revolution erupted in Budapest. The Soviet Union had invaded and the players decided they were not going back to Hungary.
They arranged for the return leg to be played at the Heysel Stadium in Brussels. Puskás scored in the subsequent 3–3 draw but Honvéd were eliminated 6–5 on aggregate, and the Hungarian players were left in limbo.
The players later summoned their families from Budapest and despite opposition from the Hungarian football authorities and FIFA, they organised a fundraising tour of Italy, Portugal, Spain, and Brazil. FIFA declared them illegal and stopped them from using the Honved name.
Once they returned to Europe, the players parted ways. Some, like József Bozsik, returned to Hungary, but others such as Puskás wanted to continue their careers in Western Europe.
After refusing to return to Hungary, Puskás played a few unofficial games for RCD Espanyol. Still an incredible player, teams including AC Milan and Juventus tried to sign him. However, he received a two-year ban from UEFA for refusing to return to Budapest and this prevented him from playing in Europe. Following the completion of his ban, Puskás tried to find a club in Italy but was not able to find a manager willing to sign him.
He would ultimately join Real Madrid in 1958 and the second part of his career began. During his first season in Spain, Puskás scored four hat-tricks, including one in his second game against Sporting de Gijón.
He played with Real Madrid for eight seasons, playing in 180 La Liga games and scoring 156 goals. He won the Pichichi (award for top goalscorer in La Liga) four times: in 1960, 1961, 1963, and 1964, scoring 25, 28, 26 and 21 goals, respectively.
He won La Liga five times in a row between 1961 and 1965 and played a further 39 games for Real in the European Cup, scoring 35 goals.
The best moment of his career came in the following season. Puskás scored 4 goals in Madrid’s European Cup final 7-3 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt at Hampden Park. In subsequent European campaigns, he would score a further three hat-tricks, including one in the ’62 final against Benfica, which his side ultimately lost 5–3.
Overall, his record at Real Madrid was incredible. During his first six seasons at the club, he scored 20 or more goals in each of them. He retired at the end of the 1965/1966 season and finished his time at the club with 242 goals in 262 appearances.
Puskás made his debut for the Hungary team on 20 August 1945 and scored in a 5–2 win over Austria.
In 1949, the Hungarian National team appointed a new coach, Gusztáv Sebes. Under him, Hungary became Olympic champions in Helsinki in 1952.
Puskás scored four times at the Olympic tournament. His first two goals came in their 7-1 win over Turkey in the quarter-finals. He also scored against Sweden in their 6-0 semi-final win. In the Gold medal match, Hungary beat Yugoslavia 2-0 with Puskás scoring on 70 minutes.
Together with three other strikers in Sándor Kocsis, attacking half-back József Bozsik and second striker Nándor Hidegkuti, he was a key part of what was known as the Golden Team. At this time, Hungary remained unbeaten for 32 consecutive games.
In that time they also defeated England twice. The first was a game now known as the ‘Match of the Century’. It took place at Wembley on 25 November 1953 in front of 105,000 fans. England had been unbeaten at home for 90 years. With the help of two goals from Puskas in the 25th and 29th minutes, Hungary won the game 6-3.
Six months later, on 23 May 1954, England traveled to Budapest to redeem themselves. With 92,000 fans in the stadium, Hungary were the better side and won the game 7–1. That still remains as England’s worst defeat to date. Puskás scored twice, the first of which was on 17 minutes, and the final (7th) goal on the 71st minute.
Just over three weeks later (June 16) came the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland. Puskás scored three goals in the two first-round matches when Hungary beat South Korea 9-0 and West Germany 8-3.
It was in the thrashing of West Germany that he suffered a hairline fracture of the ankle. He would not play again until the final which was, once again, against West Germany. Despite playing the final whilst still injured, Puskás opened the scoring on 6 minutes. A second goal from Czibor two minutes later and Hungary had a 2-0 lead.
However, West Germany staged a fightback and with a goal from Morlock and two more from Rahn, they went onto win the game 3-2.
They may have lost the World Cup but Hungary did set many records, which to this day have not been broken. They include: most goals scored (27), highest average goals scored per game (5.4), highest aggregate goal difference (+17), and the highest average goal difference per game (+3.4).
Excluding the 1954 World Cup Final, Hungary achieved a remarkable record of 43 victories, 6 draws, and 0 defeats. Their incredible winning form lasted from 14 May 1950 until 19 February 1956. On that day they lost 3–1 to Turkey.
From 1945-1956 Puskas played 85 times for Hungary and scored 84 goals. He is recognised as the top scorer of the 20th century.
In 1962, Puskás became a Spanish national and went on to represent their national team on four occasions. This included three appearances at the 1962 World Cup in Chile.
After retiring as a player, Ferenc Puskas became a coach and would go onto manage teams all over the world. In 1971, he guided Panathinaikos of Greece to the European Cup final. They would go onto lose the final to Johan Cruyff’s Ajax. This is still the only time that a Greek club has reached a European Cup Final.
However, except for his spell at Panathinaikos, Puskás failed to have the success as a manager that he had as a player. Despite his travels, his only other major success came with the South Melbourne Hellas where he won the National Soccer League and NSL Cup in 1991.
Puskás returned to Hungary for the first time in 1981 and in 1990, he made Budapest his home again. In 1993, he took temporary charge of the Hungarian national team. One notable moment here was a 4-2 friendly victory over the Republic of Ireland after coming from two down to beat their opponents.
He was sadly diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2000. After being admitted to a Budapest hospital in September 2006, Puskás died on 17 November 2006 after battling against pneumonia. He was given a state funeral.
The legacy of Ferenc Puskas is still celebrated today. In October 2009, The Fifa Puskás Award was established by FIFA. This is given to the footballer, male or female, that is judged to have scored the most beautiful goal of the calendar year.
Sepp Blatter, then President of FIFA, said at the launch of the award: “It is important to preserve the memory of those footballing greats who have left their mark on our history. Ferenc Puskás was not only a player with immense talent who won many honours, but also a remarkable man. FIFA is therefore delighted to pay tribute to him by dedicating this award to his memory.”
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