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<P class=big>Hungarian football legend Ferenc Puskas has died at the age of 79.
During a brilliant playing career, Puskas established himself as one of the game's genuine greats.
Nicknamed 'The Galloping Major', Puskas was the focal point of the Hungarian team widely regarded as international football's best in the early 1950s.
Puskas inspired Hungary to become the first ever foreign team to beat England at Wembley with a 6-3 victory in 1953.
The 'Magical Magyars' reached the final of the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland, with Puskas scoring in the 3-2 defeat to West Germany.
He had gone into the game with an ankle injury sustained in a group meeting with the West Germans which forced him to miss the quarter final and semi-final.
Puskas concluded his Hungarian career with a remarkable 83 goals in 84 appearances before he represented Spain at the 1962 World Cup in Chile.
At club level, he made his name with the army team Honved and he won four Hungarian domestic titles prior to signing for Spanish giants Real Madrid in 1958 after almost two years in exile.
The goals continued to flow at the Bernabeu, with Puskas averaging almost a goal a game in eight years with the club.
Puskas was a four-time leading scorer in the Spanish league and won multiple domestic and continental titles with Real.
He won the European Cup three times, with arguably his finest hour coming in the 1960 final against Eintracht Frankfurt when he scored four in a 7-3 victory at Hampden Park.
After retirement, Puskas moved into coaching and took Greek outfit Panathinaikos to the 1971 European Cup final.
In recent years he had been suffering from an Alzheimer's-like illness and passed away in hospital on Friday.
During a brilliant playing career, Puskas established himself as one of the game's genuine greats.
Nicknamed 'The Galloping Major', Puskas was the focal point of the Hungarian team widely regarded as international football's best in the early 1950s.
Puskas inspired Hungary to become the first ever foreign team to beat England at Wembley with a 6-3 victory in 1953.
The 'Magical Magyars' reached the final of the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland, with Puskas scoring in the 3-2 defeat to West Germany.
He had gone into the game with an ankle injury sustained in a group meeting with the West Germans which forced him to miss the quarter final and semi-final.
Puskas concluded his Hungarian career with a remarkable 83 goals in 84 appearances before he represented Spain at the 1962 World Cup in Chile.
At club level, he made his name with the army team Honved and he won four Hungarian domestic titles prior to signing for Spanish giants Real Madrid in 1958 after almost two years in exile.
The goals continued to flow at the Bernabeu, with Puskas averaging almost a goal a game in eight years with the club.
Puskas was a four-time leading scorer in the Spanish league and won multiple domestic and continental titles with Real.
He won the European Cup three times, with arguably his finest hour coming in the 1960 final against Eintracht Frankfurt when he scored four in a 7-3 victory at Hampden Park.
After retirement, Puskas moved into coaching and took Greek outfit Panathinaikos to the 1971 European Cup final.
In recent years he had been suffering from an Alzheimer's-like illness and passed away in hospital on Friday.
<SPAN class=textblack11px_normal>The legendary Ferenc Puskas in the colours of his country, with whom he won the Olympic title in 1952 in Helsinki and and reached the FIFA World Cup Final two years later in Bern (Switzerland) losing to Germany (2-3).
</TD></TR><TR id=TRCAP><TD vAlign=bottom align=left><SPAN class=textblack11px_normal>Puskas (R) is pictured alongside Real Madrid team-mates Rial (L) and Alfredo Di Stefano at the Bernabeu on 5 June 1959.</SPAN></TD></TR><TR id=TRSOURCE><TD align=left><SPAN class=textblack11px_bold>(AFP)</SPAN></TD></TR><TR id=TRAUTHOR><TD align=left><SPAN class=textblack11px_bold>AFP PHOTO/MARCAMEDIA</SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
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