The last of the Mighty Magyars passes away

Jenõ Buzánszky, the last surviving member of Hungary's formidable 1950s national football side, the Golden Team, died at the age of 89 after a long illness this Sunday. He was elected as one of the 12 'Athletes of the Nation' in 2011.

A press statement by the international football federation FIFA says Buzánszky, a defender who played 49 times for Hungary's famous team, nicknamed the Mighty Magyars, had according to reports been in critical condition since December 12 when he entered hospital for an operation.

He made his international debut in 1950, the start of a period during which Hungary dominated world football, unbeaten for six years until 1956, apart from the 1954 FIFA World Cup™ Final which it lost 3-2 to West Germany.

The team's striker and talisman Ferenc Puskás died in 2006, while in June last year the goalkeeper Gyula Grosics died, leaving Buzánszky as the sole survivor. The only team member not to play for one of the big Budapest clubs, the mild-mannered right-back was noted for his reliability and dashes down the wing to support attacks.

He won an Olympic gold medal with the team in Helsinki in 1952, and played in Hungary's legendary 6-3 thrashing of England at Wembley, England's first defeat at the London venue to a team from continental Europe.

Buzánszky also played in all five games in Hungary's run to the 1954 World Cup. After the shock loss in that game, the Mighty Magyars lost their veneer of invincibility and fell apart for good when several of the team's best players, including Puskás, fled Hungary following the failed anti-Soviet uprising in 1956.