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ARSENAL: Wenger - Puskas was a sensational player

/noticias.info/ By Chris Harris

Arsène Wenger has paid tribute to Ferenc Puskas, the Hungary and Real Madrid legend who died at the age of 79 on Friday morning.

Puskas led the revered Hungary team of the early 1950s before inspiring Real Madrid to a string of domestic and European trophies. He scored 512 goals in 528 games for the Spanish giants and netted 83 times in 84 international appearances.

"As a player he was absolutely fantastic not only from the very little I saw, but also what people told me," said Wenger at his pre-match press conference on Friday.

"I saw a little bit of him at Real Madrid because I had a black and white television. But people told me he was amazing. The fact that he won what he won and he got the respect from everybody as well tells you a lot.

"It tells you a little bit of what life was like at that time. He was one of the two or three best players in the world and at the end of his life he had nothing to survive on.

"People had to put money together so he could be treated in another way because he had Alzheimer's and that's what life was at that time - greatness and difficult times as well.

"As a coach he had a difficult career, he was ill but we have great respect for him because he was a sensational player."

Puskas, who scored four times in Madrid's famous 7-3 win against Eintracht Frankfurt in the 1960 European Cup Final, was part of the Mighty Magyars side which became the first overseas team to beat England on home soil in 1953.

He was voted the 20th century's sixth best player by the International Federation for Football History and Statistics. Wenger believes Puskas would have been a giant of the game regardless of the era he played in.

"I don't like to compare players from different times but I always say the best from their generation would have adapted and would still be the best today.

"It's difficult to ask if he was better than Zidane but I saw a guy today saying he had the brain of Zidane, the determination of Rooney and the skill of some Arsenal players, so he must have been a hell of a player." notas_de_prensa_archivo