 Hidegkuti in 1965 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1922-03-03)3 March 1922 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Budapest, Hungary | |||||||||||||||||||
| Date of death | 14 February 2002(2002-02-14) (aged 79) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Place of death | Budapest, Hungary | |||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.79 m (5 ft 10 in) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Forward,attacking midfielder | |||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||||||||
| 1942–1945 | Elektromos FC | 53 | (27) | |||||||||||||||||
| 1945–1946 | Herminamezei AC | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1946–1958 | MTK Hungária[i] | 314 | (226) | |||||||||||||||||
| Total | 367 | (253) | ||||||||||||||||||
| International career | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1945–1958 | Hungary | 69 | (39) | |||||||||||||||||
| Managerial career | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1959–1960 | MTK Hungária FC | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1960–1962 | ACF Fiorentina | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1962–1963 | A.C. Mantova | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1963–1965 | Győri ETO FC | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1966 | FC Tatabánya | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1967–1968 | MTK Hungária FC | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1968–1971 | Budapest Spartacus | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1972 | Stal Rzeszów | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1973 | Egri Dózsa | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1973–1980 | Al Ahly | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1983–1985 | Shabab Al Ahli | |||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | ||||||||||||||||||||
Nándor Hidegkuti (3 March 1922 – 14 February 2002) was a Hungarian football player and manager.[1] He played as aforward orattacking midfielder and spent the majority of his playing career atMTK Hungária FC. During the 1950s he was also a key member of theHungary national team known as theGolden Team. Other members of the team includedFerenc Puskás,Zoltán Czibor,Sándor Kocsis andJózsef Bozsik. In 1953, playing as adeep-lyingcentre-forward, a position which has retroactively been compared to the modernfalse 9 role,[2][3] he scored ahat-trick for Hungary when they beatEngland6–3 atWembley Stadium. Playing from deep, Hidegkuti was able to distribute the ball to the other attackers and cause considerable confusion to defences. This was an innovation at the time and revolutionised the way the game was played.
Hidegkuti died on 14 February 2002 after suffering from heart and lung problems for some time.MTK Hungária FC renamed their stadium,Hidegkuti Nándor Stadium, in his honour.
Hidegkuti started his career inElektromos FC andHerminamezei AC.
Hidegkuti began playing for MTK in 1947. In 1949 when Hungary became acommunist state, MTK were taken over by the secret police, theÁVH and subsequently the club changed their name several times. Initially they becameTextiles SE, thenBástya SE, thenVörös 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 withPéter Palotás and coachMárton Bukovi, pioneered thedeep lying centre-forward position. With a team that also includedMihály Lantos andJózsef Zakariás, MTK and Hidegkuti won threeHungarian League titles, aHungarian Cup and aMitropa Cup. In 1955, asVörös Lobogó SE, they also played in the first everEuropean Cup. Hidegkuti scored twice as they beatRSC Anderlecht 10–4 on aggregate in the first round. After retiring as a player, Hidegkuti also had two spells as a coach at MTK.
Between 1945 and 1958 Hidegkuti earned 69 appearances and scored 39 goals forHungary. He scored twice on his debut on 30 September 1945 in a 7–2 win againstRomania. Two years later, on 17 August 1947, he made his second international appearance and scored a hat-trick againstBulgaria. On 18 November 1951 he scored another hat trick againstFinland. He became a central player in theGolden Team of the early and mid-1950s; during this time,Ferenc Puskás,Sándor Kocsis and Hidegkuti provided the Hungarians a total of 198 goals.
Hidegkuti was used by theGolden Team as adeep lying centre-forward. In the 1950s, the majority of international sides still used theWM formation, where the defending centre half would traditionally mark the opposition's centre forward – usually whoever was wearing the number 9 shirt. When a defending centre half attempted to mark Hidegkuti, they were drawn out of position, allowing the rest of the Hungarian team to exploit the space. At the time this was a revolutionary tactic, requiring the player in the deep lying centre-forward position to have excellent ball control, distribution skills and positional awareness.
Former England andLeeds United manager,Don Revie paid tribute to the influence of Hidegkuti in his autobiography: "In the summer of 1954 England and Scotland were knocked out of the World Cup series in Switzerland. That competition was won by Germany, but dominated by Hungary, who played with a deep-lying centre forward,Nandor Hidegkuti. Alongside him; Sandor Kocsis and Ferenc Puskas, two of the greatest inside-forwards in the world. But whatever people claim of Kocsis and Puskas, it was the man Hidegkuti who tore the England defence to shreds at Wembley in November 1953. It was Hidegkuti, again playing his hide-and-seek centre-forward game, who shattered England in the return match in Budapest in May 1954, when we were thrashed 7–1."[4]Sepp Herberger, manager of the West German team that would defeat Hungary in the 1954 World Cup final, identified Hidegkuti as the most important player in the Hungarian team (despite Puskas drawing a lot more public attention) and adjusted his tactics for the final to prevent him from playing out his game.
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 30 September 1945 | Népstadion,Budapest, Hungary |  Romania | 1-0 | 7-2 | Friendly | [5] |
| 2 | 7-2 | ||||||
| 3 | 17 August 1947 | Üllői úti Stadion, Budapest, Hungary |  Bulgaria | 5-0 | 9-0 | 1947 Balkan Cup | [6] |
| 4 | 6-0 | ||||||
| 5 | 9-0 | ||||||
| 6 | 19 September 1948 | Stadion Wojska Polskiego,Warsaw, Poland |  Poland | 2-0 | 6-2 | 1948 Balkan Cup | [7] |
| 7 | 6-2 | ||||||
| 8 | 18 November 1951 | Megyeri úti Stadion, Budapest, Hungary |  Finland | 1-0 | 8-0 | Friendly | [8] |
| 9 | 3-0 | ||||||
| 10 | 8-0 | ||||||
| 11 | 18 May 1952 | Üllői úti Stadion, Budapest, Hungary |  East Germany | 1-0 | 5-0 | Friendly | [9] |
| 12 | 4-0 | ||||||
| 13 | 15 June 1952 | Stadion Wojska Polskiego, Warsaw, Poland | Poland | 3-0 | 5-1 | Friendly | [10] |
| 14 | 28 July 1952 | Olympic Stadium,Helsinki, Finland |  Sweden | 5-0 | 6-0 | 1952 Summer Olympics | [11] |
| 15 | 20 September 1952 | Wankdorf Stadium,Bern, Switzerland |  Switzerland | 4-2 | 4-2 | 1948–53 Central European International Cup | [12] |
| 16 | 19 October 1952 | Megyeri úti Stadion, Budapest, Hungary |  Czechoslovakia | 1-0 | 5-0 | Friendly | [13] |
| 17 | 17 May 1953 | Stadio Olimpico,Rome, Italy |  Italy | 1-0 | 3-0 | 1948–53 Central European International Cup | [14] |
| 18 | 5 July 1953 | Råsunda Stadium,Stockholm, Sweden | Sweden | 4-2 | 4-2 | Friendly | [15] |
| 19 | 4 October 1953 | Great Strahov Stadium,Prague, Czechoslovakia | Czechoslovakia | 2-0 | 5-1 | Friendly | [16] |
| 20 | 11 October 1953 | Praterstadion,Vienna, Austria |  Austria | 2-1 | 3-2 | Friendly | [17] |
| 21 | 3-1 | ||||||
| 22 | 25 November 1953 | Wembley Stadium,London, United Kingdom |  England | 1-0 | 6-3 | Friendly | [18] |
| 23 | 2-1 | ||||||
| 24 | 6-2 | ||||||
| 25 | 12 February 1954 | Prince Farouk Stadium,Cairo, Egypt |  Egypt | 3-0 | 3-0 | Friendly | [19] |
| 26 | 23 May 1954 | Népstadion, Budapest, Hungary | England | 6-0 | 7-1 | Friendly | [20] |
| 27 | 20 June 1954 | St. Jakob Stadium,Basel, Switzerland |  West Germany | 4-1 | 8-3 | 1954 FIFA World Cup | [21] |
| 28 | 5-1 | ||||||
| 29 | 27 June 1954 | Wankdorf Stadium, Bern, Switzerland |  Brazil | 1-0 | 4-2 | 1954 FIFA World Cup | [22] |
| 30 | 30 June 1954 | Stade Olympique de la Pontaise,Lausanne, Switzerland |  Uruguay | 2-0 | 4-2 | 1954 FIFA World Cup | [23] |
| 31 | 19 September 1954 | Népstadion, Budapest, Hungary | Romania | 3-1 | 5-1 | Friendly | [24] |
| 32 | 4-1 | ||||||
| 33 | 8 December 1954 | Hampden Park,Glasgow, United Kingdom |  Scotland | 2-0 | 4-2 | Friendly | [25] |
| 34 | 25 April 1955 | Praterstadion, Vienna, Austria | Austria | 2-1 | 2-2 | 1955–60 Central European International Cup | [26] |
| 35 | 11 May 1955 | Råsunda Stadium, Stockholm, Sweden | Sweden | 5-2 | 7-3 | Friendly | [27] |
| 36 | 29 May 1955 | Népstadion, Budapest, Hungary | Scotland | 1-1 | 3-1 | Friendly | [28] |
| 37 | 15 September 1957 | Vasil Levski National Stadium,Sofia, Bulgaria | Bulgaria | 1-0 | 2-1 | 1958 FIFA World Cup qualification | [29] |
| 38 | 2-0 | ||||||
| 39 | 22 September 1957 | Népstadion, Budapest, Hungary |  Soviet Union | 1-1 | 1-2 | Friendly | [30] |
As a manager Hidegkuti coached clubs in Hungary, Italy, Poland and Egypt. In 1961 he guidedFiorentina to victory inthe first everEuropean Cup Winners' Cup, beatingRangers 4–1 on aggregate in thefinal. WithGyőri ETO he won theHungarian League in 1963 and then took them to the semi-final of the1964–65 European Cup where they lost to eventual runners-up,Benfica. InEgypt, Hidegkuti coachedAl Ahly, introducing a5–3–2 formation, he coached Al Ahly for seven seasons from 1973 to 1980.
For his model behaviour as a player and coach, he was awarded the 1993FIFA Fair Play Award.
MTK Hungária
Hungary
Individual
Fiorentina
Győri ETO FC
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Hungary squads | |||||||||||||
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