His father Ferenc Purczeld (1903-1952) was a football player for Kispesti FC and a coach after his playing days. He coached Kispesti AC and its legal successor Budapesti Honvéd SE from 1945 to 1947 and from 1948 to 1951. Puskás' mother Margit Bíró (1904-1976) was active in the household.
Childhood, player of Kispesti AC
Ferenc Puskás comes from a Danube Swabian family in Hungary and grew up in the Budapest suburb of Kispest in a house with 32 adults and 132 children. Football was very important to the boys. His best friend was József Bozsik from the flat next door. They were both talented, yet Puskás' father always found something in their play to improve. At the age of 15, Puskás was already playing for the Kispest men's team, whose management was taken over by his father shortly afterwards. He played his first game from the start in the autumn of 1943, when several players were absent due to a viral flu. Since he already played as a youngster with the adults, he got the nickname Puskás Öcsi, which means "little brother" in German.
National team, successes with Budapesti Honvéd
In 1949 Kispesti AC was placed under the Hungarian Ministry of Sport and renamed Budapesti Honvéd. The club became an army club and the players were given military rank. Puskás became an officer and was subsequently known as The Galloping Major as a footballer. In his first year for Budapesti Honved, he scored 50 goals and won his first championship title. At that time, Budapesti Honvéd was the best Hungarian team and the national team featured mostly players from this club. Puskás won the Hungarian championship six times with Honvéd, the Easter Cup once (1953), was top scorer four times and set one record after another.
In August 1945 he was called up to the Hungarian national team for the first time. He scored his first international goal on his debut against the Austrian national team. A big part in Puskás' development and success was played by Hungary coach Gusztáv Sebes. Sebes was enthusiastic about Puskás' playing technique and predicted that he would one day be one of the best footballers in the world.
Puskás married in 1949 and his marriage with his wife Erzsébet lasted until his death. They had one daughter, Anikó.
The legendary "Golden Eleven"
The national team around team captain Puskás became the most successful Hungarian team of all time and one of the strongest teams in the world. From 14 May 1950 until the World Cup final on 4 July 1954 at the Wankdorf Stadium in Berne, this team did not lose a single game in 32 competitive matches. The line-up of this legendary team was known by heart by every Hungarian citizen and also by most football enthusiasts abroad: Grosics, Buzánszky, Lóránt, Lantos, Bozsik, Zakariás, Budai, Kocsis, Hidegkuti, Puskás, Czibor. They were called the Golden Eleven (Hungarian: Aranycsapat) and became a legend because of their extraordinary playful superiority and dominance.
This "miracle team" - and thus also Puskás - celebrated their first major title with the Olympic gold medal in Helsinki in 1952.
Their next success came in 1953, when they won the multi-year European Cup for National Football Teams (known in Italy as the Coppa Internazionale), a precursor to the European Football Championship, which included Italy, Austria, Switzerland and Czechoslovakia. Puskás was the competition's top scorer with 10 goals and scored twice in the decisive final away match against Italy, which Hungary won 3-0 in front of 80,000 spectators in Rome.
Then, on 25 November 1953, came perhaps the most spectacular match of the Golden Eleven, soon to be known simply as the "Match of the Century" or simply the "6-3", although the term "Match of the Century" was originally coined by English journalists before the match itself. After the outstanding success of the Golden Eleven, the term was readily adopted by the Hungarians. Hungary met the English, who had been unbeaten in home matches against teams from mainland Europe until then, in the "fortress" of Wembley Stadium. The match was an impressive demonstration of football by the Hungarians. They won 6-3, playing a different kind of attacking football and a 4-2-4 formation that was considered revolutionary at the time (the Golden Eleven's playing system was usually a different 3-2-5).
Puskás scored two goals and the English, who had previously made fun of him (he was ridiculed by opposing fans because he was short, considered overweight, had a weak head and could only shoot left-footed), were shocked. Puskás' goal, worth watching, where he elegantly pulls the ball back, using it to outplay the opponent and shortly after, he shoots into the goal, can be seen in most football documentaries. In Hungary, this goal is often called the "goal of the century in the game of the century". For Puskás, as he later recounted, this game was the finest moment of his career. This and the even higher-scoring 7-1 defeat in the second leg the following May, in which Puskás was again the decisive figure, are considered the worst defeats in the history of English football.
He continued to be successful with his club Budapesti Honvéd.
The Hungarians finally travelled to the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland as high favourites. After a 9:0 victory in the first group match against South Korea, the German team, which had started with several substitutes due to tactical considerations, was crushed 8:3 in the second group match. Nevertheless, Hungary suffered a major setback in this match. German centre-back Werner Liebrich fouled Puskás so badly that he was ruled out for two games with an ankle injury.
The Hungarian national team lived up to their role as favourites in the following matches, even without Puskás, and progressed to the final in Berne. They beat reigning runners-up Brazil 4-2 in the quarter-finals and reigning world champions Uruguay 4-2 in the semi-finals. Puskás was back in the team for the final, but his injury, which had not yet healed, was noticeable. During the match, Hungary took a 2-0 lead after less than 10 minutes (Puskás scored the 1-0 goal), but then lost sensationally to Germany 2:3 (Puskás' second goal to make it 3:3 in the 86th minute of the match was disallowed due to offside). To this day, neither film nor television images have been able to provide any real clarification as to whether the cancellation of the goal was justified). In the World Cup final, of all places, Hungary lost an international match for the first time in four years.
There are countless rumours and legends surrounding this final. The fact is, however, that after losing the 1938 World Cup final, the Hungarian national team failed to seize another great opportunity to win the World Cup. The Golden Eleven failed to win the World Cup, and after losing the final to Germany, disappointment and bitterness reigned throughout Hungary.
Puskás made a total of 85 appearances for Hungary. On 15 July 1956 he replaced Switzerland's Severino Minelli as the world record holder with his 81st international game and remained so until 19 October 1957, when he was surpassed by England's Billy Wright with his 86th.
Emigration
After the World Cup, Puskás continued to play for Honvéd Budapest and the Hungarian national team. When the Hungarian National Uprising broke out in 1956, Puskás was in Bilbao for a European Cup match with Honvéd. Due to the uncertain situation in Hungary, the team did not return for the time being, but organised an unsanctioned tour that took them as far as South America. When the uprising in Hungary was finally put down by the Soviet army, Puskás decided to stay in Vienna to escape the threat of reprisals back home. That year, the Golden Eleven finally broke apart. Some, like Puskás, emigrated abroad, while others, like Grosics, could not bring themselves to leave the country and returned to Hungary despite all possible sanctions.
In 1957 Puskás signed a pre-contract with Wiener Sportklub. However, after more than a year in Austria - like the other players who had emigrated from Hungary - he still had not received a player's licence, so Öcsi had to end his career for the time being. The Hungarian Football Association had arranged for him to be banned by FIFA for 18 months because of his emigration. Puskás then settled in Italy for the time being, and later in Spain. After his ban expired, he wanted to play in Italy but could not find a club because most managers considered him (who was now over 30 years old and had put on weight) too fat or too old.
Successes with Real Madrid and end of career
In December 1956, Honvéd had played a friendly match against Real Madrid, which ended in a 5-5 draw. The president of Real Madrid, Santiago Bernabéu, then engaged the Honvéd manager, Emil Östreicher, as a sporting advisor for the Madrilenians. His first task was to look for reinforcements. Of course, Östreicher thought of Puskás first, so he went to Italy and had first talks with Puskás about a move to Madrid.
In 1958, Puskás' ban had finally expired. Real Madrid, meanwhile, had become the dominant side in the newly-created European Champions Cup with three successive wins and, on Östreicher's advice, were still interested in signing Puskás. And so it came to pass that Puskás, like his former teammates in the Hungarian national team, Kocsis and Czibor, emigrated to Spain. Together with Alfredo Di Stéfano, with whom he formed a close friendship, he shot Real Madrid definitively to the top of European club football. With him, Madrid won the European Cup three more times and the national championship six times.
In his first year at the club, Real Madrid won their fourth successive European Cup, and Puskás scored the winning goal in the semi-final to knock Atlético Madrid out of the competition. In the final against Stade de Reims, however, Mateos (who justified his appearance in the European Cup final by scoring to give Real a 1-0 lead) was used instead of Puskás. The official reason was injury, but there were rumours that the coach at the time had personal problems with Puskás; for when Santiago Bernabéu learned that Puskás had not been called up, the Argentine coach was sacked with immediate effect despite winning the European Cup. Puskás then made his final appearance in the 1960 European Cup final against Eintracht Frankfurt. The match ended 7-3 to Real Madrid, Puskás scored four goals, and with twelve goals in seven games he became the competition's top scorer. Two years later, in 1962, Puskás, now 35, scored another three final goals in the final against Benfica Lisbon. Real lost 5-3, however, and by then it was clear that Real's dominance of Europe was coming to an end. All the team's key players were over 30 years old, and the hoped-for rejuvenation of 19-year-old Pelé from FC Santos (Brazil), with whom Santiago Bernabéu had signed a pre-contract, failed to materialise because he did not honour the agreement.
Puskás was four times top scorer in Spain and got the Spanish citizenship in 1961, so that he could also participate for Spain in the World Cup 1962 in Chile. However, Spain was eliminated in the preliminary round.
On 23 October 1963, he was called up to the World Cup against England, making his very last game in international selection. In his four games for Spain, Puskás failed to score a goal.
After eight years as a crowd favourite at Real Madrid, he retired as a player in 1966 at the age of 39, ending his career.
Coaching stations
He began his coaching career in 1967, managing Hércules Alicante in Spain and then coaching teams in the USA (San Francisco Gales) and Canada (Vancouver Royals). He then returned to Spain, where he coached CD Alavés. After just one year, however, he left Spain again and went to Greece.
It was there, with Panathinaikos Athens between 1970 and 1974, that he achieved his greatest successes as a coach. In 1970 and 1972 he became Greek champion and in 1971 he led the club to the final of the European Champion Clubs' Cup for the first time in its history. In the final, however, his side were beaten 2-0 by Ajax Amsterdam, led by Johan Cruijff.
In the years that followed, he coached in Spain (Real Murcia), Chile (Colo Colo), Saudi Arabia (Saudi Arabian national football team) and again in Greece (AEK Athens). Between 1979 and 1982 he coached the Egyptian club al-Masri.
homecoming
It was not until 1981 that the "deserter" dared to re-enter Hungary, which at the time was still communist. Above all, he visited the graves of his parents in Kispest. When he took part in the match of a senior team in Budapest's Népstadion (today's Puskás Ferenc Stadium) and the stadium announcer read out his name, the spectators greeted him with thunderous applause - although the communist regime had tried for years after his escape to let the former idol fade into oblivion. From then on, he spent more and more time in Hungary before finally returning to Budapest in the 1990s.
Last stations as a coach
From 1985 to 1986 he was a coach in Paraguay with Sol de América and Cerro Porteño.
A few years later, 1989 to 1992, he was again successful as a coach in Australia. He became Australian champion and cup winner with South Melbourne Hellas.
Between April and July 1993 he took over the management of the Hungarian national team, but failed with his team to qualify for the 1994 World Cup.
Late awards
In 1991 he was awarded honorary citizenship of Kispest.
In 1992 he became the international president of the Hungarian Football Association.
In 1997 he was awarded the Olympic Trophy by the International Olympic Committee. In the same year, he was honoured as the most successful goal scorer of the 20th century at the Footballer of the Century Gala in Munich for his goals in the highest division. He was inducted into the FIFA International Football Hall of Fame in 1998. In 1999 he was named an honorary ambassador of the Hungarian Sports Federation and in 2001 he was voted the best male athlete in Hungary's "Sportsman of the Century" election.
In 2002, Puskás became the third Golden Eleven player after whom a stadium was named (the first two were József Bozsik and Nándor Hidegkuti). The largest and most popular stadium, the Népstadion ("People's Stadium"), where the national team became legendary in the 1950s, now bears the name Puskás Ferenc Stadium. It was Puskás' 75th birthday when this honour was bestowed upon him.
Last years of life
From 2000 onwards, his health began to deteriorate drastically. Among other health problems, he suffered mainly from a special form of Alzheimer's disease. He was also short of money due to the expensive treatments. For this reason, Real Madrid or Alfredo Di Stéfano organized a collection in 2002.
From 2002 onwards he had to spend his days in Kútvölgyi hospital, where his wife visited him every day, but which he was not even allowed to leave on his birthday in recent years. According to the newspaper Nemzeti Sport, Puskás was in intensive care from September 2006 with severe pneumonia. He succumbed to it on 17 November of the same year.
On 9 December 2006, Puskás was solemnly buried in a state funeral at St Stephen's Basilica, an honour previously reserved only for kings and saints. The day was declared a national day of mourning in Hungary. In the hours before the funeral, he was laid out in the Puskás Ferenc Stadium named after him, and tens of thousands of people took the opportunity to pay their last respects to Hungary's most famous sportsman. After Puskás' death, only Gyula Grosics and Jenő Buzánszky remained alive from the Golden Eleven at the end of 2006. Both have since passed away as well.
