Nándor Hidegkuti

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The native form of this personal name is Hidegkuti Nándor. This article uses the Western name order.

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Nándor Hidegkuti (March 3, 1922 – February 14, 2002) was a Hungarian football player and manager. He played as a forward and spent the majority of his playing career at MTK Hungária FC. During the 1950s he was also a prominent member of the legendary Hungary team known as the Golden Team. Other members of the team included Ferenc Puskás, Zoltán Czibor, Sándor Kocsis and József Bozsik. In 1953, playing as a deep lying centre-forward, he scored a hat-trick for Hungary when they beat England 6-3 at Wembley Stadium. Playing from deep, Hidegkuti was able to distribute the ball to the other four attackers and cause considerable confusion in the English defence. This was an innovation at the time and revolutionised the way the game was played. This is now known as SS or Second Striker with players such as Francesco Totti and Wayne Rooney playing there today.

As a manager Hidegkuti coached clubs in Hungary, Italy, Poland and Egypt. In 1961 he guided ACF Fiorentina to victory in the first ever European Cup Winners' Cup, beating Rangers 4-1 on aggregate in the final. With Győri ETO FC he won the Hungarian League in 1963 and then took them to the semi-final of the European Cup in 1965 where they lost to eventual runners-up, SL Benfica.

Hidegkuti died on February 14 2002 after suffering from heart and lung problems for some time before his death. MTK Hungária FC renamed their stadium, Hidegkuti Nándor Stadium in his honour.

[edit] MTK Hungária FC

Hidegkuti began playing for MTK in 1947. In 1949 when Hungary became a communist state, MTK were taken over by the secret police, the ÁVH and subsequently the club their name several times. Initially they became Textiles SE, then Bástya SE, then Vörös Lobogó SE and then finally back to MTK. Despite this turmoil, the 1950s proved a successful era for club and it was while at MTK that Hidegkuti, together with Péter Palotás and coach Márton Bukovi, pioneered the deep lying centre-forward position. With a team that also included Mihály Lantos and József Zakariás, MTK and Hidegkuti won three Hungarian League titles, a Hungarian Cup and a Mitropa Cup. In 1955, as Vörös Lobogó SE, they also played in the first ever European Cup. Hidegkuti scored twice as they beat RSC Anderlecht 10-4 on aggregate in the first round. After retiring as a player, Hidegkuti also had two spells as a coach at MTK.

[edit] Hungarian International

Between 1945 and 1958, Hidegkuti won 69 caps and scored 39 goals for Hungary. He scored twice on his debut on September 30 1945 in a 7-2 win against Romania. Two years later, on August 17 1947, he made his second international appearance and scored a hat-trick against Bulgaria. On November 18 1951 he scored another hat trick against Finland.

Although team mates at MTK, Hidegkuti and Péter Palotás were rivals for a place in the national side. Despite scoring in the semi-final against Sweden and helping Hungary become Olympic Champions in 1952, Hidegkuti did not establish himself as first choice in team until later in that year. On September 19 1952 in a Central European International Cup game against Switzerland, with Hungary 2-0 down after half an hour, he replaced Palotás. Inspired by Hidegkuti, Hungary were level at half time and eventually won 4-2. On May 17 1953 he then helped Hungary clinch the Central European title when he scored in a 3-0 win against Italy at the Stadio Olimpico.

However it was the game against England on November 23 1953 that sealed Hidegkuti’s legendary status. After just forty-five seconds József Bozsik laid on a chance for Hidegkuti, who fire home from the edge of the box. Although England equalised, Hidegkuti then restored the lead when he added a second from a flick on from Sándor Kocsis. He completed his hat-trick in the second half and sealed a 6-3 win for Hungary when he vollyed home a cross from Ferenc Puskás. Hidegkuti scored again against England in the 7-1 win in Budapest on May 23 1954 and went onto to score a further four goals during the 1954 World Cup.

[edit] Honours

Olympic medal record
Competitor for  Hungary
Men's Football
Gold	1952 Helsinki	Team competition

Player

Hungary

• Olympic Champions
  • 1952
• Central European Champions
  • 1953
• World Cup
  • Runner-up: 1954

MTK/Textiles/Bástya/Vörös Lobogó

• Hungarian Champions: 3
  • 1951, 1953, 1958
• Hungarian Cup: 1
  • 1952
• Mitropa Cup: 1
  • 1955

Manager

ACF Fiorentina

• European Cup Winners' Cup: 1
  • 1961

Győri ETO FC

• Hungarian Champions: 1
  • 1963
• European Cup
  • Semi-finalists: 1965 1

[edit] Sources

• Behind The Curtain - Travels in Eastern European Football: Jonathan Wilson (2006) [1]

[edit] External links

• Hungary stats at Rsssf
• Hungary stats
• UEFA obituary
• Observer obituary by Rogan Taylor

v • d • e Golden Team Gyula Grosics • Jenő Buzánszky • Gyula Lóránt • Mihály Lantos • József Bozsik • József Zakariás • László Budai • Sándor Kocsis • Nándor Hidegkuti • Ferenc Puskás • Zoltán Czibor • Coach: Gusztáv Sebes

v • d • e Hungary squad - 1954 FIFA World Cup Runners-up 1 Grosics • 2 Buzánszky • 3 Lóránt • 4 Lantos • 5 Bozsik • 6 Zakariás • 7 J. Tóth • 8 Kocsis • 9 Hidegkuti • 10 Puskás • 11 Czibor • 12 Kárpáti • 13 Várhidi • 14 Kovács • 15 Szojka • 16 Budai • 17 Machos • 18 Csordás • 19 Palotás • 20 M. Tóth • 21 Gellér • 22 Gulyás • Coach: Sebes

v • d • e Hungary squad - 1958 FIFA World Cup 1 Grosics • 2 Mátrai • 3 Sipos • 4 Sárosi • 5 Bozsik • 6 Berendi • 7 Budai • 8 Tichy • 9 Hidegkuti • 10 Bundzsák • 11 Sándor • 12 Kárpáti • 13 Szigeti • 14 Szojka • 15 Kotász • 16 Lachos • 17 Vasas • 18 Monostori • 19 Friedmanszky • 20 Bencsics • 21 Fenyvesi • 22 Ilku • Coach: Baróti