Ferenc Puskás

Ferenc Puskás was born in Kispest, Budapest. Starting his senior career at age sixteen with Kispest AC (later Budapest Honvéd, the army club), Puskás was given the rank of major, earning his world-famous moniker 'The Galloping Major.' Blessed with peerless shooting accuracy, low center of gravity, and ferocious power in his left foot, Puskás scored 358 goals in 349 league matches for Honvéd.

As captain of the Hungarian national team, the 'Aranycsapat' (Golden Team), Puskás led Hungary to the 1952 Helsinki Olympic gold medal. In November 1953, he captained Hungary in the historic 'Match of the Century' at Wembley Stadium, dismantling England 6-3 with Puskás executing his trademark drag-back goal that stunned the English defense. Hungary remained undefeated for over four years until falling 3-2 to West Germany in the rain-soaked 1954 World Cup final in Bern.

When the Hungarian Revolution erupted in 1956 while Honvéd was touring abroad, Puskás chose exile. Banned by FIFA for two years, he was signed by Real Madrid in 1958 despite being thirty-one and overweight. He formed an unstoppable partnership with Di Stéfano, winning five consecutive league titles and three European Cups, famously scoring four goals in the 1960 final. In 2009, FIFA inaugurated the prestigious FIFA Puskás Award in his honor to commemorate the most beautiful goal of the year.