FERENC PUSKAS 1954

Ferenc Puskas was the best player in the world in 1954, that summer’s World Cup his expected consecration.

He began the tournament in Switzerland with three goals in two group-stage wins against South Korea (9-0) and West Germany (8-3). In the latter, however, a hack from Werner Liebrich with the score at 5-1 left the Galloping Major in a heap and nursing an ankle fracture.

Puskas sat out the quarter-final and semi-final against Brazil and Uruguay respectively, but insisted on his inclusion for the showpiece with a revenge-seeking Germany.

Barely half-fit, Ferenc opened the scoring after six minutes but could only hobble around as the Mighty Magyars got stuck in the Bern mud.

Nevertheless, he thought he had equalised with the last kick of the game, but Welsh linesman Sandy Griffiths flagged for offside.

“I will never forgive him for that,” Puskas said in his autobiography. “We hung our heads. What could we do? We couldn’t beat him up.”