Hungarian soccer great Ferenc Puskas dead at 79

Posted From ESPN

BUDAPEST, Hungary -- Ferenc Puskas, who captained the Hungarian national teams of the 1950s and led Real Madrid to three European Cup titles, died Friday at 79.

Considered one of the all-time greats of world soccer, Puskas died in a Budapest hospital from respiratory and circulatory failure, family spokesman Gyorgy Szollosy said.

Puskas had been hospitalized for six years with Alzheimer's disease and was being treated for a fever and pneumonia in recent days. He had been in intensive care since September.

Nicknamed the "Galloping Major" in reference to his army rank, Puskas scored 84 goals in 85 matches for Hungary between 1945 and 1956. The stocky, left-footed forward guided the "Magical Magyars" to an Olympic gold medal in 1952 and to the final of the 1954 World Cup, where they lost to West Germany.

He starred in two of the most famous games in European soccer history -- scoring twice in Hungary's stunning 6-3 upset over England at Wembley Stadium in 1953, and scoring four goals in Real Madrid's 7-3 win over Eintracht Frankfurt in the 1960 European Cup final.

In 1999, Puskas was voted the sixth-best player of the 20th century, behind Pele, Johan Cruyff, Franz Beckenbauer, Alfredo Di Stefano and Diego Maradona.

The Budapest stadium was renamed Ferenc Puskas Stadion in 2002.