Lajos Détári
He was born on April 24, 1963. He was not yet 18 years old when he made his debut for the senior team of Bp. Honvéd (Pécs vs. Bp. Honvéd 1-1). By the age of nineteen, he was already a regular first-team player. The Kispest supporters quickly grew fond of the blond midfielder. His career followed a steep upward trajectory. Before long, the national team was unthinkable without him. His goals were pure spectacles; suffice it to recall his cool, audacious strike in the World Cup qualifier in Vienna, or his equally cheeky free-kick goal scored against Poland at the Népstadion. He donned the cherry-red jersey 61 times, scoring 13 goals. He was one of those rare players capable of deciding a match with a single flash of brilliance.
On June 13, 1987, in the Debrecen vs. Bp. Honvéd (0-2) match, he put on the red-and-white shirt for the last time. He then signed with Eintracht Frankfurt, and although he departed the Bundesliga after just one year, Frankfurt won the German Cup courtesy of his goal. Eintracht sold him for a record fee of 18 million Deutsche Marks to Greek side Olympiacos. While he did not manage to win the Greek championship, he did lead the Piraeus outfit to a cup triumph. In 1990, he moved to Italy to join Bologna. With the Rossoblù, he advanced to the UEFA Cup quarter-finals. By 1992, he was featuring for Ancona, where he scored 11 goals in 33 appearances. In the spring of 1994, he played for Genoa before departing Italy to settle in Switzerland. He claimed a bronze medal with Neuchâtel Xamax, after which he changed both country and division, joining Austrian second-tier side St. Pölten. Following two years in Austria, he returned home to BVSC. He spent another two years competing in lower divisions, while increasingly turning his attention toward coaching. After six months coaching in Oradea and another six months at Csepel, he took over the Kispest-Honvéd dugout, guiding the squad to a seventh-place finish. Although a truly global giant was missing from his club resume, he remains revered as Hungarian football's last world-class player to date.
Lajos Détári's honours:
Hungarian Champion: 3x (1984, 1985, 1986)
Bronze medalist: 1x (1983)
Hungarian Cup Winner: 1x (1985)
Silver medalist: 1x (1983)
Super Cup Winner: 1x (1994)
Top Scorer: 3x (1985, 1986, 1987)
Player of the Year: 1x (1984/85)
German Cup Winner: 1x (1988)
Greek Cup Winner: 1x (1990)
Swiss League Bronze: 1x (1995)
Best Foreign Player in the German Bundesliga: 1988
Best Player in the Greek League: 1989
Best Player in the Swiss League: 1994
World XI: 6x
World Cup participant: 1986
