Hungary Legend Puskas dies at the age of 79

HUNGARIAN football legend Ferenc Puskas, the inspiration of the “Mighty Magyars” side that dominated world football in the 1950s, has died after a long illness. He was 79.

Puskas, who was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and had been confined to a hospital bed for the past six years, died in Kutvolgyi hospital in Budapest yesterday morning.

His condition turned critical on Thursday, after he contracted pneumonia and a high fever.

One of the best strikers ever to play the game, with a fearsome left foot, Puskas, known as the ‘‘Galloping Major,’’ led Hungary to Olympic gold in 1952, won league titles in both Hungary and Spain and three European Cups with Real Madrid.

Puskas scored a remarkable 83 goals in 84 international matches from 1945 to 1956, when the Hungarian squad was simply known as the “golden team.”

They signalled their dominance with a stunning 6-3 thrashing of England at Wembley in 1953 — becoming the first overseas team to beat the English national side on their home soil.

The victory, in which Puskas scored twice, was a rare chance for a war-ravaged Hungary to feel a sense of pride and national identity as it was slipping from fascist dictatorship into communist rule.

Hungary then hammered England again 7-1 in Budapest and were hot favourites to win the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland, but they eventually lost in the final to Germany.

After Hungary’s failed uprising against Soviet domination in 1956, Puskas was among many who left the country, defecting to Spain where he would join Alfredo De Stafano in a legendary Real Madrid side before returning to Hungary in 1981.

Puskas played for Real from 1958 to 1967 and was crowned top scorer in the Spanish league four times.

He led Madrid to three European Cup titles and seven league championships during his decade at the club.

His contribution was not forgotten.

In August of 2005 a star-studded Real Madrid squad played Hungary in a fundraiser in Budapest with the proceeds of the match going towards the hospital treatment of the ailing legend, who was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease by then.

The match was played in the packed national stadium, which in 2002 was renamed for Puskas.

An accomplished coach after his playing career, Puskas directed Greek club Panathinaikos to league crowns twice and to a European Cup final in the 1970-71 season.

In the 1970s and 80s, Puskas coached nearly a dozen teams from North and South America, Europe, Africa and even Australia.

Among the teams he directed from the bench were Chilean club Colo-Colo, Greek side AEK Athens, Egyptian side Al-Masri and Panhellenic Melbourne in Australia.

Puskas even briefly held the job of caretaker coach of Hungary’s national squad in 1993.

Born in 1927 in Budapest, he was only 15 when he started playing in the Hungarian league for Kispest, which in 1949 changed its name to Honved, or Army. From 1927 to 1956, Puskas scored 358 goals in 349 matches.

He made his international debut at the age of 18.