November 19, 2006
IN MEMORIAM FERENC PUSKAS
Ferenc Puskas Born: 2 April, 1927. Budapest, Hungary
International Caps Hungary 84 , Spain 4
International Goals Hungary 83
Teams Kispest Honved, Real Madrid
Team Honours European Cup: 1959 , 60 , 66.
World Club Championship: 1960
Spanish Championships: 1961 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 65.
Spanish Cup: 1962
Olympic Gold Medal: 1952
World Championship Silver Medal: 1954
A story:
"Look at that little fat chap. We will murder this lot." In the long and
inglorious annals of great British sporting disasters, few judgments
have been wider of the mark.
"Fat and little" were as close as those remarks, from an England
player, got to anything resembling the truth as he sized up the
opposition.
Ninety minutes later Hungary had slaughtered England 6:3. They were the first foreign team to inflict defeat on England at
Wembley. And what a defeat. It was not just the score. The style of
football played by the Magnificent Magyars might as well have come
from another planet. England, self-styled masters of the game, were
humiliated.
The "little fat chap" was Ferenc Puskas, the Hungarian captain.
Indeed, he was an odd looking footballer. He was short, stocky,
barrel-chested, overweight, could not head and only used one foot.
Yet no one in Britain had seen ball skills like his as he inspired a
performance that completely demolished England's reputation as a world
football power.
Puskas was known as the Galloping Major, a reference to the fact that
he was an army officer playing for an army team. Later, when he was
exiled in Spain, he became known as the little canon. For that one foot, his left, packed such a thunderbolt shot that he
scored 83 goals in 84 internationals and he remains the only player
to have scored four goals in a European Cup Final.
International Caps Hungary 84 , Spain 4
International Goals Hungary 83
Teams Kispest Honved, Real Madrid
Team Honours European Cup: 1959 , 60 , 66.
World Club Championship: 1960
Spanish Championships: 1961 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 65.
Spanish Cup: 1962
Olympic Gold Medal: 1952
World Championship Silver Medal: 1954
A story:
"Look at that little fat chap. We will murder this lot." In the long and
inglorious annals of great British sporting disasters, few judgments
have been wider of the mark.
"Fat and little" were as close as those remarks, from an England
player, got to anything resembling the truth as he sized up the
opposition.
Ninety minutes later Hungary had slaughtered England 6:3. They were the first foreign team to inflict defeat on England at
Wembley. And what a defeat. It was not just the score. The style of
football played by the Magnificent Magyars might as well have come
from another planet. England, self-styled masters of the game, were
humiliated.
The "little fat chap" was Ferenc Puskas, the Hungarian captain.
Indeed, he was an odd looking footballer. He was short, stocky,
barrel-chested, overweight, could not head and only used one foot.
Yet no one in Britain had seen ball skills like his as he inspired a
performance that completely demolished England's reputation as a world
football power.
Puskas was known as the Galloping Major, a reference to the fact that
he was an army officer playing for an army team. Later, when he was
exiled in Spain, he became known as the little canon. For that one foot, his left, packed such a thunderbolt shot that he
scored 83 goals in 84 internationals and he remains the only player
to have scored four goals in a European Cup Final.
Eltávozott közülünk minden idök legnagyobb és leghiresebb magyar labdarugója, Puskás Ferenc. Minden magyar ember számára a neve összeforrott a legendás aranycsapattal, amellyel a világbajnoki cimen kivül - sajnos csak ezüstérem sikeredett - mindent elért, ami fontos lehet egy focista számára. Nyugodjék békében.
