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Ferenc Puskás (Hungarian: Puskás Ferenc, surname first) (born April 2 1927 in Budapest) was a Hungarian football player, nicknamed Puskás Öcsi (öcsi means "little brother").
Puskás started his club career with Budapesti Honvéd in 1943. He moved to Real Madrid in 1958, and played for them when they won the European Cup four times, including the classic final in 1960 when they beat Eintracht 7-3. Puskás scored four goals, with Alfredo Di Stefano scoring three. This Madrid team was considered one of the finest teams to ever play the game. In his club career, he apparently totalled 511 goals, a number believed to be third all-time behind Pelé and Josef Bican. [1] (http://goalscorers.narod.ru/Most_successful.htm)
Puskás played for the Hungarian Olympic team which won the Olympic gold medal in 1952. He made 85 appearances for the Hungarian national team between 1945 and 1956, scoring 84 goals. In the Template:Wc, Puskás led Hungary to the finals. The team was an overwhelming favorite to win the tournament, having gone unbeaten for three years, including impressive 6-3 and 7-1 victories over England. However, in the final group match, they beat West Germany 8-3, but lost Puskás to injury. The team cruised into the final, where Puskás made his return, scoring the first goal in a 3-2 loss.
Puskás also appeared four times for the Spanish national team in 1961 and 1962, but did not score. His 84 international goals were an all-time record (for men) until 2003, when it was broken by Iran's Ali Daei.
He eventually retired from playing in 1966. He would coach teams in Spain, the United States, Canada, Paraguay, Chile, Saudi Arabia and Egypt until, in 1993, he took charge of the Hungarian national side for four matches. Yet the highlight of his career on the bench came in Greece with Panathinaikos F.C., whom he guided to the European Cup final in 1970-71.
Puskás is understood to be one of the most famous living Hungarians and lives now in Budapest in a special care home. Hungary's national stadium was renamed in his honor in 2001.
Puskás was known as the "Galloping Major" because of the post he held in the army.de:Ferenc Puskás es:Ferenc Puskás et:Ferenc Puskás fr:Ferenc Puskas it:Ferenc Puskas he:פרנץ פושקש hu:Puskás Ferenc nl:Ferenc Puskas no:Ferenc Puskás ja:フェレンツ・プスカシュ