One of the world's most prestigious soccer trophies will be in Ballarat on Wednesday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
In Australia for the first time, the Puskás Award will be at Ballarat Regional Soccer Facility as part of a regional Victoria tour.
The award is named in honour of Hungarian legend Ferenc Puskás and is given each year to the player judged to have scored the best goal in world football.
Ballarat District Soccer Association president Herman Bogers said it was great honour have the Puskás Award spending time in Ballarat in a two-day tour also taking in Geelong, Bendigo and Morwell.
Puskás is considered one of the all-time greats of the world game, having scored 598 goals in 614 games over two decades from the 1940s – 83 goals in 84 matches with the Hungarian national team and 512 goals in 528 appearances for Real Madrid.
The Hungarian team of that era was one of the most dominant sides in the history of soccer.
It had 43 wins, seven draws and just one loss between 1950 and 1956.
Puskas, who died in 2006, defected to Spain after the Hungarian uprising of 1956, going on to represent Spain in 1962.
He also managed teams around the world, including South Melbourne Hellas in the National Soccer League South Melbourne Hellas in 1989–1992.
He led South Melbourne to a golden era, with it winning an NSL championship, two NSL Cups and two Dockerty Cups.
To mark his impact on the game in Australia, a bronze statue of the late Ferenc Puskás is to be placed in Melbourne’s Olympic Park.
The statue will be presented to Victoria by the Government of Hungary at an official commemoration ceremony on Saturday to coincide with the tour.
