Hungary and Real Madrid legend Ferenc Puskas has died at the age of 79.
Puskas, who was in hospital for six years with Alzheimer's disease, died in Budapest at 0600 GMT on Friday after suffering from a fever and pneumonia.

Puskas led Hungary's golden team of the early 1950s, before taking Spanish citizenship and becoming part of Real Madrid's all-conquering team.

Puskas scored 83 goals in 84 games for Hungary from 1945 to 1956 and later played for Spain in the 1962 World Cup.

After leading Hungary to the 1952 Olympic Gold medal, he was part of the Mighty Magyars who became the first overseas team to beat England on home soil in 1953, scoring twice in the 6-3 win at Wembley.

Hungary then rolled England over 7-1 in Budapest and were consequently installed as favourites for the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland.

But injury to Puskas severely hampered the Magyars and they lost in the final to Germany.

Puskas joined Real Madrid and, along with Alfredo di Stefano, was the inspiration behind a string of domestic and European titles.

He scored four goals in Real's 7-3 win over Eintracht Frankfurt in a remarkable final at Hampden Park in 1960, and won the European Cup three times with the Madrid side.

In all, he scored 512 goals for Real in 528 matches and in 1962 he took out Spanish citizenship in time to play for his adopted country in the 1962 World Cup.

Puskas retired in 1967, going on to coach clubs in several countries, leading Greek side Panathanaikos to the European Cup final in 1971.

As the last millennium drew to a close, Puskas was voted the 20th century's sixth best player by the International Federation for Football History and Statistics.

FERENC PUSKAS FACTFILE
Born: 2 April 1927, Budapest, Hungary
Nicknames: The Booming Cannon & The Galloping Major
Clubs: Kispest Honved (354 apps, 357 goals) & Real Madrid (528 apps, 512 goals)
Honours: Hungarian league (5), Spanish league (5), Spanish Cup, European Cup (3), Intercontinental Cup, Olympics

I'm hurting all over. He was one of my idol's when I was younger, and actually still is. A truely underrated player :puppy_dog

one of the goat without a doubt

rip

one of the goat without a doubt

rip

I'm seriously devastated. It's disgraceful the way Real Madrid treated him while he was on his deathbed too. Puskas had to sell all his medals and awards he had won during his career to pay for medical care, then Real Madrid decided to hold a charity match and raised over 1 million euro's in the name of Puskas. Yet he recieved little over 10,000 euro's of that money. :nonono:

I'll be posting up some more threads about him so watch out for them!

I only just realised that Puskas was already 31 when he moved to Real Madrid and he'd just served a two year ban. Apparently Puskas thought the ban would finish his career and when he signed for Real he admitted himself that by then he was an unfit fat **** and the size of a balloon. He still scored four hat-tricks in his first season there though.

R.I.P.