Lajos Kocsis

Lajos Kocsis (born Szeged 17 June 1947 – died Budapest 9 October 2000) was a Hungarian football midfielder, who played for Budapest Honvéd FC.

He won a goal medal in football at the 1968 Summer Olympics and a silver medal in football at the 1972 Summer Olympics,^[1] and also participated in UEFA Euro 1972. He earned 33 caps and scored 7 goals for the Hungary national football team. He was considered as Hungary's most talented footballer since Ferenc Puskás, yet failed to fulfil the expectations of both fans and experts because of his flamboyant lifestyle, which ultimately led to his expulsion from Honvéd in 1977, despite having been one of the most popular characters in Hungarian football, adored both for his high technical skills and good sense of humor. He was particularly feared by his adversaries for his free-kicks and unpredictable, almost Garrincha-type dribbling. HE scored one of his most memorable goals at Vienna's Prater Stadium in a 1974 World Cup qualification match against Austria on 15 October 1972. Following the end of his stay at Honvéd, he played for second-division Gyulai SE. During the last years of his life, while working as a gastronomer and coach of lower division teams, he suffered from health problems that led to his untimely death. He was known to his fans also by his nicknames "Kicsi" (tiny) and "Csikó" (foal), because of his short height.

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