Ferenc Puskas RIP

FERENC PUSKAS 1927-2006

Hungary legend Ferenc Puskas has died aged 79 after a long battle against pneumonia. Puskas, nicknamed the 'Galloping Major' after being drafted into the Hungarian army, had been confined to hospital for six years with Alzheimer's disease, and in intensive care at a Budapest hospital for the past two months. "The exact cause of death was cardiovascular and respiratory failure triggered by pneumonia," said his biographer Gyorgy Szollosi.

Puskas led Hungary's 'Wonder Team' of the early 1950s, scoring 83 times in 84 matches between 1945 and 1956, including two goals in the Magical Magyars' famous 6-3 win over England at Wembley in 1953. Puskas later took Spanish citizenship and scored 236 goals in 261 official games for Real Madrid's all-conquering side, which claimed five successive Big Cups between 1956 and 1960.

Real president Ramón Calderón said: "This is one of the saddest days for Madrid fans. He had many friends and was a man liked by everyone, admired as a professional and a person." Former England striker Tom Finney was just as effusive. "My memories are that I have never seen the likes of [him], as a team or an individual," he said. "He, in my mind, is one of the greatest players I ever saw ... and a humble sort of person."

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HOW GOOD WAS HE?

Ferenc Puskas's nickname, 'Galloping Major', was utterly appropriate - even if he hardly galloped and, at the time it was bestowed, was only a lieutenant - because he was superb at marshalling his side towards a common goal. "If a good player has the ball, he should have the vision to spot three options," Hungary full-back Jeno Buzanszky said. "Puskas always saw at least five."

Team-mates complained about Puskas's influence over coaches and his constant hectoring on the pitch, but nobody ever accused him of being selfish. Along with everything else, he was a hugely astute leader. In his first season at Real Madrid, for instance, he and the notoriously tetchy Alfredo di Stefano were joint top scorers going into the final match of the season. Late on, Puskas had a chance to score but opted instead to tee up Di Stefano, recognising the problems it could cause for morale if the Argentinian did not finish as top scorer.

Later, after that 1960 Big Cup final, he handed the match ball to Erwin Stein, who had scored two of Eintracht's three goals. Puskas had scored four. To those who complained that he was too left-footed, Puskas answered "you can only kick with one foot at a time. Otherwise you fall on your ar$e."

He is often compared to George Best, not least because Puskas enjoyed a similarly hectic social life. Tales of his drinking exploits with Jim Baxter are legion, and the late Scotland winger maintained that the Hungarian knew just two words of English - "vhisky" and "jiggy-jig". Baxter always enjoyed recalling the time he arrived at a party in Glasgow and found Puskas "jiggy-jigging" in the scullery.

But none of that ever got in the way of his football and, after the two-year exile he served following his defection from Hungary in 1956, he had the self-discipline to lose 18kg before lining up for Real. With an Olympic gold, a World Cup silver, five Hungarian league titles, five Spanish championships and a Big Cup, plus the fact he was top scorer in Spain four times, his achievements dwarf those of Best and almost everyone else in football history.

Read more of Jonathan Wilson's tribute to Ferenc Puskas here.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY

"For those of you who don't know me personally, and have labelled me as prehistoric, a caveman and a bigot, can I ask you this? Is having traditional values $exist? Values such as holding a door open for a woman, helping a mother off a train with a pushchair or up an escalator, worrying what time my daughter will be home and whether she is escorted, buying flowers and paying for dinner, etc. If all of these are sexist and prehistoric then I am guilty of them all" - Mike Newell comes out firing in the official Luton programme for tomorrow's game against Derby.

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THE RUMOUR MILL

The Special One is already sick of the sight of John Obi Mikel and will offload him in January.

Fat Freddy Shepherd will be feasting on the finest caviar when the Jersey-based Belgravia Group complete a £235m takeover of Newcastle United.

And Chris Coleman likes the look of PSV's Finnish striker Mika Vayrynen.

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STILL WANT MORE?

"I have an engaging memory of him on the night of Chile's [1962] conquest of third place in Santiago. With the Chilean fans celebrating ecstatically in the streets of the capital, Puskas was to be glimpsed standing in a doorway, munching monkey nuts, wearing that Budapest urchin grin which would never desert him" - Brian Glanville on the life and times of Ferenc Puskas.

Paolo Bandini on what's gone wrong at Crystal Palace.

Second-Choice Steve might have been wildly happy with England's dull draw in Amsterdam, but Kevin McCarra reckons the fans deserve more.

And in tomorrow's bumper, award-winning, all-singing, all-dancing, £1.30 Berliner theguardian: Donald McRae on how English rugby became so bad so quickly; and Russell Brand offers his latest views on the week in sport.

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NEWS IN BRIEF

Lord Ferg has turned a colour even Dulux can't match after hearing Big (Boned) Phil Scolari accuse Carlos Queiroz of eyeing the Portugal job. "I am sure Scolari goes to watch Porto and Benfica at some point," och-ayed Ferg. "Is he after the guy's job?"

Barrow defender James Cotterill has been suspended "from all football activity"by the FA after he fractured Bristol Rovers striker Sean Rigg's jaw in an apparently unprovoked attack during the two sides' FA Cup tie last weekend. Rigg has said he intends to press charges.

Crystal Palace have taken a novel approach to fixing their current Championship struggles by sending their top goalkeeper Gabor Kiraly on a two-week loan to West Ham.

A survey of British birth certificates has revealed that 36 children in the country are called Arsenal, while three boys have David Beckham as their christian name.

And excitable Italian hacks claim to already know that Fabio Cannavaro will be named winner of the Ballon d'Or. Cannavaro would be the first defender to pick up the trophy since Mattias Sammer in 1996.

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FIVER LETTERS

"Re: Tom Hammett's questions in yesterday's Fiver. I've googled 'Kevin Nolan England call-up' and it seems the only references to the Bolton maestro getting an international call-up are either on his Beeb blog or on other blogs quoting his Beeb blog. Perhaps it's time to add another term to the Fiver lexicon for shameless self promotion - 'doing a Nolan'!" - Anish Patel.

"I've noticed a disproportionately large number of letters referring to Nolan's abysmal efforts at constructing paragraphs of more than one sentence on the BBC. Why do people continue reading it? Is it the innocent hope that maybe it might improve, like cheering on the fat kid at sports day? Or is it the literary equivalent of car-crash TV? Me, I can't get enough" - David Regan.

"Re: the Hunt and Sonko death threats (yesterday's Fiver). A Chelsea spokesman confirms 'there is nothing to suggest these threats came from genuine Chelsea fans'. What, apart from the bit in the letters claiming 'we're going to kill you for what you did to our players'? - Jimmy Ainsworth.

"Do the current Stamford Bridge suits even know any 'genuine' Chelsea fans? After all, those fans are long gone, since they've been priced out of watching their team. Bring back the Shedboys! - Derek Rashfort.

Send your letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today's winner of a copy of the FA Premier League Superquiz with Alan Hansen"DVD: Anish Patel.

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TONIGHT'S TV AND RADIO

Sky One: Football Icon (8pm)
It seems not as many TV & Radio readers work with Gareth Keenan-a-likes as we had initially hoped.

Vinnie Jones' Excellent Adventure (3.30am)
Thankfully Russell Wheeler makes up the deficit by working with a whole office of them.

Dream Team (5.10am)
"I am currently working at an IT company developing websites," admits Russell.

Sky Sports 1: Tim And Kasabian In Da Bungalow's All Sports Show (6pm)
"The level of geekiness here is beyond me. I have tried to instil a bit of banter, but it has only resulted in me getting a mild warning that I'm on the brink of bullying," he continues.

Premier League Preview (7pm)
"The height of banter is a website, programmed by one of our resident poindexters, called clownofthemonth.com, in which if you make a mistake, you get a - wait for it - clown point. Then, at the end of the month, someone is the clown!

Live Football League - Cardiff City v QPR (7.30pm)
"And that's it - there isn't even any kind of punishment, such as getting the beers in.

Radio Five Live: Five Live Sport (7pm)
"The guy who sits opposite me really takes the biscuit. He writes his own blog on which he refers to himself as a social recluse.

Talksport: Kick-Off (7pm)
"The other day he asked if anyone had ever 'invoked Godwin's law', which is apparently the rule that in every internet chatroom someone will eventually mention Hitler or the N@zis."

Newstalk 106FM: Off The Ball With Not Ger Gilroy (7pm)
As you do.

RTE Radio 1: Drivetime Sport With Des Cahill (6.30pm)
Colin from accounting driving you mad with his witty one-liners? Get it all down into an email and send it to the.boss@theguardian.com, marked Who Do You Think You Are Kidding Mr H...

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THE END OF THE WORLD, AT 3.15PM

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