Ferenc Puskas. Puskas is barely recognizable if not for the Puskas award. Pele overshadowed every single player in that era. The 60s belong to Pele. Pele is so iconic people forget about Di Stefano and Puskas’s great achievements in the 50s. Di Stefano at least has been recognized as the architect of Real Madrid’s 50s dynasty and winning two Gold Ball’or.
There is no love for Puskas then and now. He scored 84 goals in 85 games he played for Hungary. That scoring record was only broken by CR7 a half-century later. He only played for Hungary until the age of 29. Then in 1956 Hungary Revolution happened.
He refuses to come back to Hungary due to political disagreement with the communist regime. He is banned from playing football for two years. Many thought he would retire. Then he came back. In 1958, when he joined Real Madrid at the age of 31.
He scored 244 goals in 256 games and won 4 golden boots along the way. He won 3 European Cups (UCL) with Real Madrid, but only finished second once in Gold Ball’or. If he lead Hungary to win the 1954 World Cup (The final had many controversies) and Hungarian had a stable political environment.
He might score more than 100 international goals and be compared to Maldonna.
What pissed me off the most is how Journalists and pundits still disrespect the man. In 2020 France Football asked journalists and pundits to vote for the all-time best team. They selected three teams, and Puskas in not in any one of them. Then I realize they are not objective at all. They picked Messi over Lewandovski in 2021, Messi over Van Dijk in 2019 and CR7 over Ribery in 2013. Still, Puskas should be put in the GOAT conversation. He is the man of the 50s.
