Flórián Albert

Albert was the heir of the Magical Magyars who never wore the shirt at its greatest hour: born too late for Puskás's generation, he became Hungary's next world-class artist anyway, a long-striding forward with the timing of a matador. In 1967 he shared a World Player of the Year aura with the era's giants and took the Ballon d'Or ahead of Bobby Charlton — the award's recognition that the Hungarian school had produced another one, a decade after the world assumed the production line had closed.

He spent his entire career at Ferencváros, the green half of Budapest, turning down every western offer in an era when defection was the fashionable escape — the emperor who stayed. A city fair's trophy, the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup of 1965, was his club's European summit, delivered almost alone. His stadium now carries his name, and his son later wore the same shirt: dynasties of fidelity are rare in football, and his is the standard.