December 12 2006
SOS Children's Villages mourns FIFA/SOS ambassador Puskás
12/12/2006 - Children and staff from SOS Children's Villages Hungary attended the funeral of FIFA/SOS ambassador Ferenc Puskás in Budapest last weekend, to pay their condolences to one of the country's best ever footballers.
The children from the children's village in Kecskemét carried a wreath with the message: "We are sad to say goodbye to our FIFA for SOS Children's Villages ambassador - SOS Children's Villages Hungary."
Puskas, considered the greatest football player of his generation and a member of Hungary's "Golden Team" in the 1950s, was an avid supporter of the children's welfare organisation and served in the honorary role of FIFA/SOS ambassador since 1998.
Upon accepting his FIFA/SOS ambassador certificate at a celebration at the children's village in Kecskemét on 28 March 1998, Puskás said: "I take my task as a FIFA for SOS Children's Villages ambassador very seriously."
Puskás was a dedicated ambassador who often visited the children's villages in Hungary and became a close friend to many of the children. "I am always willing to support the work of the Hungarian SOS Children's Villages, and when I come to visit I shall be delighted to show the kids some of my old football tricks," he once remarked.