THE two teenagers exchanging imaginary passes in the back streets of Westminster as they ran back to their school dormitory cannot have been a unique sight in Britain on the balmy evening of May 18, 1960.

Like millions of other television viewers, they had been inspired by watching the European Cup final at Hampden Park and wanted to imagine themselves as Ferenc Puskás and Alfredo Di Stéfano, the Real Madrid players who between them had just scored all Real’s goals in the 7-3 demolition of Eintracht Frankfurt.

The performance of the pair ensured that they were the first foreigners to become familiar names on the terraces of Britain’s football grounds. Puskás, who died yesterday at the age of 79, had become well-known when he captained Hungary in their 6-3 win over England in 1953 — the first overseas team to win at Wembley — but it was his partnership with Di Stéfano that lent his name to an even higher echelon.

They had an uncanny understanding as they led Real to their fifth successive triumph in the competition, while giving a glimpse of a brand of football seemingly beyond the experience of most British spectators.

Puskás was remarkable but, of the two, Di Stéfano was the more complete player, perhaps the finest of all time. The Argentinian was as likely to be found in defence as in attack, although it was in midfield where he excelled. In addition, he scored crucial goals in all those five European Cup finals.

In the pantheon of players, Puskás should be judged as a pure striker, who complemented not only Di Stéfano but Francisco Gento, the Spaniard whose pace down the left touchline stretched opposition defences, allowing the Hungarian to find plenty of gaps.

His outstanding contemporary was Pelé, who was just beginning his career and who, in 1958, aged 17, had made such an impact in the World Cup. Puskás was a less elastic player than Pelé, whose sinuous movements and strikes on goal often began farther back than the Hungarian. Pelé was a more accomplished dribbler and superior header of the ball than Puskás.

In the Hungary team of the early 1950s, Puskás benefited from having as his foil Sandor Kocsis, whose ability in the air counterbalanced the sturdier Puskás, who preferred the ball on the ground. With Nandor Hidegkuti, the withdrawn centre forward, supplying many passes, they played up front as forerunners of the 4-4-2 formation that has become so widespread.

As captain of that team, Puskás had an arrogance on the field that was intimidating. In the film of that game at Wembley in 1953, you can observe his attitude by the way he juggles the ball on his left instep before kick-off as if to introduce himself to a new audience. Sometimes that arrogance — not mirrored by his demeanour off the field — overcame his judgment. Injured during the 1954 World Cup, he probably should not have played in the final, which Hungary lost 3-2 to West Germany in a travesty of sporting justice.

Puskás did have limitations. He scarcely used his right foot, although Danny Blanchflower, the Northern Ireland and Tottenham Hotspur great, said: “There is no need for a right if you have a left like Puskás.”

He could, indeed, work wonders with that left foot. In the Wembley victory, he pulled the ball back from the incoming Billy Wright in an action that Geoffrey Green, the former Football Correspondent of The Times, described as “like a fireman rushing to put out the wrong fire”. Puskás then swivelled and shot past Gil Merrick in the England goal.

With his close control, low centre of gravity and bulky thighs, Puskás was difficult to dispossess. He also had tremendous speed over a short distance and the ability to see gaps in an opponents’ defence. In the penalty area, he was like cordite. In his 84 internationals, he scored 83 goals.

Although Puskás was not the greatest footballer ever, or even the greatest of his era, those who saw him play could not fail to be entranced. He is certainly in the squad of those few players who must always be considered as we daydream about our all-time World XI.

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