Hungarys only Ballon dOr winner Albert dies

Published: 31 Oct 2011 - 11:17:03

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Hungarys only Ballon dOr winner Albert dies

Florian Albert, the former Hungary striker and European Footballer of the Year, has died in hospital at the age of 70, the Hungarian news agency MTI said Monday.

Albert died early morning on Monday following heart bypass surgery carried out on Friday.

He was the only Hungarian footballer ever awarded the 'Ballon d'Or' prize as the European Footballer of the Year in 1967, beating Manchester United and England star Bobby Charlton into second place by 68 votes to 40.

Albert scored 31 goals as part of Hungary's national team between 1959 and 1974. Throughout his career he played for Hungarian league giants Ferencvaros, scoring 255 goals in 351 league matches.

With the national team Albert won bronze medals at the Olympic Games in 1960 and in the European championship in 1964.