Hungarian football mourns Lajos Szűcs

Lajos Szűcs was born in on 10th December 1943 in Apatin, then in southern Hungary but now a part of Serbia. He grew up in Újpest and started playing organised football there aged 13, naturally in the youth teams of the famous Újpest Dózsa. He seemed set to become a top-flight footballer and was soon selected for the youth national team but after returning from a UEFA tournament in 1962, the Lilac-and-Whites lost faith in his abilities and released him.

Szűcs moved to countryside club Dorog, then coached by former Magical Magyar Jenő Buzánszky, where he made his NB I debut and made 61 league appearances before moving to Ferencváros in early 1966, where he would go on to spend his best days in football. Under the guidance of head coach Károly Lakat, he won two Hungarian league championships and reached the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup final as part of one of Fradi's strongest ever lineups. The year of 1967 saw Szűcs make his international debut for Hungary while also playing for its Olympic team, also led by Lakat.

And that was not for no reason either. Lakat had led Hungary to Olympic glory in Tokyo in 1964 and repeated the feat in Mexico four years later, Szűcs proving himself the best of an excellent squad as he headed the winning goal in the quarter-final against Guatemala and scored three in the semi-final thrashing of Japan on his way to being awarded the Player of the Tournament title. That achievement no doubt contributed to his selection for the FIFA World Select XI alongside countrymen Flórián Albert, Dezső Novák and János Farkas for a gala match against Brazil in Rio de Janeiro in November 1968.

The end of the 1960s saw Szcs request a move to city rivals Budapest Honvéd but Ferencváros blocked the transfer and thus, under the draconian rules of the time, the defender was forced to remain on the sidelines for 12 months in order for his move to finally take place. The 27 year-old was back on the pitch in 1971 though and won his second Hungarian Player of the Year title at the end of that year before he again graced the Hungarian Olympic team, a silver medal the reward for his and his teammates' efforts in Munich in 1972. A fourth-place finish in the UEFA European Championship that year was yet another feather in Szűcs' cap. Honvéd remained his home for another six years before he wound down a stellar playing career at Vasas Izzó and Héviz.

Retirement from playing was the signal for Szűcs to start a 15-year coaching career at Ferencváros, where he worked with both the youth-team set-up and the first-team squad. He never lost his connection with football and was ever-present at events organised by the Válogatott Klubja, an association for all players who represented Hungary at international level.

Lajos Szűcs: (Apatin, 10.12.1943 - Budapest, 12.07.2020)