Why Ferenc Puskas and Sandor Kocsis are the greatest strike partnership of all time. (Thread)

Let's start with the facts.

Ferenc Puskas scored 84 goals in 85 matches for the Hungarian national team. Kocsis got 75 goals in 68 caps. These are record-breaking numbers. And this was before teams like San Marino, Gibraltar and the Faroe Islands existed so they weren't even statpadding against them.

The pair shone at the 1954 World Cup. Kocsis scored 11 goals, including 4 in an 8-3 win against eventual winners West Germany, 3 in a 9-0 thumping of South Korea, 2 in the quarter-final against 1950 runners-up Brazil, and 2 in the semi-final win over reigning champions Uruguay.

Puskas only scored 4 goals in that tournament, but he only played 3 games, missing the quarters and semis due to injury. He was carrying a knock in the final yet still scored after just 6 minutes, and had another ruled out for offside. He was named best player of the tournament.

The Hungarian football team won the Olympics in 1952, with Puskas scoring 4 and Kocsis scoring 6 as Hungary beat Romania 2-1, Italy 3-0, Turkey 7-1, Sweden 6-0 and Yugoslavia 2-0.

At club level they were just as lethal. We'll start with Puskas.

Ferenc started his career with Budapest Honved, where he scored 358 goals in 350 games. He left in 1956 and refused to return to Hungary, and as a result lost 2 of his prime years due to UEFA suspension. But in 1958 he signed for Real Madrid aged 31.

He scored 20+ goals in each of his first 6 seasons in the Spanish league and won the Pichichi (golden boot) in 1960, 1961, 1963 and 1964. In those 4 seasons he scored 25, 28, 26 and 21 goals respectively. In total he scored 156 goals in 180 league games for Real.

Those goals included 4 hat tricks in his first season, 5 goals in 1 game vs Elche, and 2 hat tricks against Barcelona in 1963. He won 5 La Liga titles in a row between 1961 and 1965, and the Copa del Generalisimo in 1962 when he scored both goals in the final against Sevilla.

Puskas scored 35 goals in 39 games in the European Cup. In 1960 he scored 3 over 2 legs in the semi final against Barca, and then 4 in the final in a 7-3 win. He went on to score 3 more hat tricks in the competition including in the 1962 final vs Benfica, despite losing 5-3.

He also scored 5 over 2 legs against Feyenoord on the road to the 1966 European Cup final, which Real would eventually win.

Ferenc's honours:

Sandor Kocsis began his career at Ferencvaros, where he scored 70 goals in 84 games and won his first league title in 1949. In 1950 he joined Budapest Honved, and had a strike rate of 176 goals in 160 games. He won 3 more league titles and was the league's top scorer 3 times.

He was even the top scorer across all the top divisions in the world on 2 occasions, scoring 36 goals in 1952 and 33 in 1954.

Following the Hungarian Revolution, Sandor left Honved in 1957 and had a short spell in Switzerland, scoring 7 in 11 games for Young Fellows Juventus, before playing another 11 games for Real Madrid, scoring 21 goals.

He then joined Barcelona in 1958 and scored 42 goals in 75 matches. He won back-to-back league titles in 1959 and 1960 and won the Copa del Generalisimo in 1959, with Kocsis scoring twice in the 4-1 final victory. He won it again in 1963, once again scoring in the final.

In 1961 Barca reached the European Cup final and got to play at the unfortunately named Wankdorf Stadium in Bern, Switzerland - the same place where Hungary lost the 1954 World Cup final. Just like in 1954, Kocsis's side lost 3-2, but at least he was on the scoresheet.

At international level Kocsis scored a total of 7 hat tricks, including 2 four-goal hauls. For Barcelona he scored 4 in a 5-2 European Cup win over Wolves in 1960. He also scored all 3 of Barca's goals in the 7-3 aggregate loss against Valencia in the 1962 Fairs Cup final.

Sandor's honours:

Kocsis was only 5'8" but had a fantastic leap. He is possibly the most accurate and powerful header of a ball in history. It's unknown exactly how many headers he scored, but it was a lot - he is thought to have scored more goals with his head than with his feet.

Despite this, he was still perfectly capable of scoring goals with his feet; he was fast enough to get in behind and score from lots of through balls, he was calm in front of goal, and had great technique and accuracy when striking the ball which made him great at volleying.

Puskas was also only 5'8", but was lightning quick, and had one of the most accurate shots you will ever see. Despite his insane goalscoring record, he was actually very unselfish, and would often drop deep and try to pick out a teammate.

He also had a very powerful shot. Ferenc was naturally left footed but could strike the ball so well with his right foot too, better than some right footers. They complemented each other perfectly - both quick and good aerially, with one better than the other at each.

End of thread. Likes and rt's appreciated