Hungarian soccer legend Ferenc Puskas has died in hospital following a long illness. He was aged 79.
Puskas, dubbed 'The Galloping Major', was one of soccer's all-time greats, winning league titles in both Hungary and Spain and three European Cups with Real Madrid.
He was the inspiration behind the 'Magical Magyars', the Hungarian national side that sensationally beat England 6-3 in 1953, the first foreign side to win at Wembley.
His international goal scoring record of 83 goals in 84 games for Hungary was eclipsed recently, but remains among the most prolific in the world.
Born in April 1927, Puskas began his career in the domestic league aged 15 and won his first international cap three years later, scoring on his debut against neighbours Austria.
He was a talismanic member of Hungary's 1950s team that lost just one match - the 1954 World Cup final - in six years.
That side was devastated by Hungary's anti-communist uprising in 1956, after which Puskas went into exile.
In 1958, he resurrected his career at Real Madrid where he formed a lethal strike partnership with Argentine-born Alfredo Di Stefano, winning six domestic titles and conquering Europe.
Puskas scored four and Di Stefano three in Real's mesmerising 7-3 European Cup win over Eintracht Frankfurt in Glasgow in 1960 -- a match that has passed into soccer folklore.
As the last millennium drew to a close, he was voted the 20th century's fourth best player by the International Federation for Football History and Statistics.
Puskas, who was admitted to hospital in late 2000 with arteriosclerosis and was later diagnosed with Alzheimer's-like disease, leaves a wife Erzsebet.
Di Stefano said today that the game had lost one of its greats.
'They called me at home at seven this morning to tell me the sad news. I have lost a friend and a quality player. This is how Puskas was as a person and a player.
'Puskas was one of the greatest football players of all time, but life, my friend, comes to an end when you least expect.'
