FIFA, the International Federation of Football Associations, announced a new award on Tuesday, honoring Hungarian striker Ferenc Puskas, who died in 2006 at the age of 79. FIFA President Joseph Blatter made the announcement at a news conference held at the Puskas Football Academy in Felcsut, Hungary in the presence of the soccer legend's widow, Erzsebet Puskas.
FIFA President Joseph Blatter, right, and Erzsebet Puskas, wife of Hungary's legendary soccer player Ferenc Puskas, are seen together at the Ferenc Puskas Football Academy in Felcsut, Hungary, Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2009.
The Puskas Award will be for the "most beautiful goal" of the year and will be chosen by fans in an online poll from among the ten best goals as selected by FIFA' s Football Committee, its website announced. FIFA will post videos of candidate-goals on its website. The winner will be announced on December 21. According to FIFA, the goal must be "beautiful," must be in an important game and must be fair. It cannot be the result of a mistake by the other team.
Ferenc Puskas was a member of Hungary's Golden Team of the 1950s, scoring 83 goals in 84 games for the national team and 514 goals in 529 career matches, making him one of the best strikers in history. He left Hungary in 1956 and continued playing for Real Madrid, where he was known as the "Little Cannon." To Hungarians, he was Ocsi, meaning "Little Brother."
He returned to Hungary in 1993, where he died in November 2006.