NAPTÁR
INTERNATIONAL YOUTH TOURNAMENT
Ferenc Puskás
1927 - 2006
Ferenc Puskás is the greatest goalscorer of all time, perhaps the best player in the history of the game and possibly the most famous Hungarian person in the world. We list here just some of his unbelievable achievements... During his 23-years professional footballing career (he played at the highest level between the ages of 16 and 39) he averaged a goal every game nearly everywhere he played and in some cases would have exceeded even this average, had he not instead made countless goal assists for his teammates. In this respect Puskás was not just a striker but a true playmaker as well. He would always wear the legendary number 10 shirt and no matter whether he appeared in the World Cup, the Spanish or Hungarian leagues or the Intercontinental Cup Final, the goals would always flow. He scored in the World Cup Final, the Olympic Football Final, the Dr Gerő Cup Final (the forerunner of the European Championships), in the ‘Game of the Century’ against England, in European Cup and Intercontinental Cup Finals, and occasionally in ‘simple’ matches he would score four or even five goals. Furthermore, remarkably he had two different, independent playing careers, even only one of which would be enough to classify a player as truly world-class. For the Hungarian national team he scored 84 goals in 85 games, became Olympic champion, Dr Gerő Cup winner and World Cup runner-up. Then, during his emigration when he couldn’t play for his national team nor his beloved Kispest Honvéd due to political intervention, Puskás travelled to the World Cup to represent Spain, was four-time top goalscorer in the Spanish La Liga with Real Madrid, and three-time European champion, scoring literally hundreds of goals in the process. As a head coach he worked on every continent, most successfully with the Greek club Panathinaikos whom he led to the European Cup Final in 1971.
It was fascinating to see such an unsurpassable footballer and of course supporters absolutely adored him. He is therefore a worthy role model for any youngster that puts on a pair of football boots, at least according to his fellow Real Madrid genius Alfredo Di Stefano, who said of him „As a person and as a player he was simply ten out of ten, but he was probably an even better person than a player...” Puskás is not forgotten even after his death; streets, squares and schools in Hungary and elsewhere have been named in his honour, the Puskás Prize was established in 2009 by FIFA to reward ‚The Goal of the Year’.
PUSKÁS AKADÉMIA MINDEN PLATFORMON
CSATLAKOZZ!
