A bright light

During the 1960's, Florian Albert shone like a beacon in the European football world in a period marked by extreme political tension on the continent and was a worthy successor to his mighty compatriot, Puskas.

Born during World War II in a remote village on Hungary's border with Yugoslavia, the Albert family moved to the capital Budapest in search of a better life, and it was there that the young Florian discovered football.

His innate talent was soon spotted by Hungarian football authorities desperate to fill the hole left by the self-imposed exile of three of the country's legendary players, Puskas, Kocsis and Czibor following the Soviet invasion in 1956.

He joined Ferencvaros as a teenager and was not only rapidly playing regular first team football for his club, but was being considered as a possible marksman for his country.

In 1962 the World Cup was held in Chile and Albert was in the squad, having convinced everyone that he was already ripe for international duty.

In an early group match, he justified the faith of the selectors by cracking in three goals against Bulgaria and never looked back.

In those days, Hungarians expected success as of right and Albert was the man to orchestrate the country's latest five-star product, leading his country in 1964 to third place at the European Championship.

Brazil nut cracked

When the World Cup moved to England in 1966, Albert was at the height of his powers and was too much for even the Brazilians, who watched helplessly as he single-handedly demolished them with a devastating three-goal burst in a group match.

Albert's astonishing career continued right through to the World Cup in 1970 but received a setback in a qualifying match against Denmark when the Hungarian received a serious leg injury in a tackle.

After a final appearance for his country in 1974 Albert began a new career in journalism before becoming a coach, during which period he took charge of the Libyan national side in 1978.