Legendary Hungarian goalkeeper Gyula Grosics was greeted on his 88th birthday in Budapest on Monday at the elementary school that bears his name.

Minister of State for Sports and Youth István Simicskó said at the ceremony that while birthdays are usually family events, there are some extraordinary people whose birthdays the entire nation should celebrate, and asked the school’s students to always remember whose name the institution bears.

“My only regret is that except for Jenő Buzánszky, none of my teammates are alive, because they should also be here to receive the thanks of a nation that has suffered so much. I will stop here, because I'm afraid I might start crying” – Grosics said at the celebration.

Gyula Grosics, goalkeeper of the 1950s legendary Hungarian “Golden Team” played 390 times in the national championship and 86 times in the national team. He won silver with the national team at the 1954 World Championships, gold at the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki and three national championships with Budapest-based Honvéd.

He was nicknamed the Black Panther, because he was the first goalkeeper to wear a black jersey, creating a tradition that lasts to this day.

(Ministry of Human Resources)